[nabs-l] Is providing tutors or aids under the ADA forpublic colleges?

Sun Dec 8 06:57:39 UTC 2013

Hi Brandon,

Such is the life of a music major... running into these types of
problems with scheduling and classes getting in the way of each other.
 :)

I agree with Lillie, Arielle, and Minh on their suggestions on looking
things up on bookshare for yourself.  I don't know how far into your
language you are, but at this point looking for anything would help.
If you're just beginning, a basic book would be very good at
explaining everything.  I had to do as Minh described in a level III
Spanish class, and it was much more difficult to find an online
upper-level textbook than a basic one.

I don't know how much time you have left before your finals, but I
would try to meet with that advanced student, or someone who is
majoring in the language specifically, as much as possible between now
and then.  Which, by the way, brings up a fantastic suggestion; have
you looked for an upperclassman with that major who could tutor you on
a mutually convenient schedule?  That might be something to try for
the future.

Unfortunately, I am not sure about the requirements for aids.  At my
university disability resources can set up certain things like lab
assistants and notetakers for you, because they end up getting paid by
the Office of Learning Resources.  However, they will not specifically
set up aids or tutors.  You are free to hire your own readers and
tutors outside of what the university provides as you deem necessary
for your success, but you can't get those through the OLR itself.
But, my university is private, so there is a chance that they do even
what they do because they have the budget to foot the bill.  Have you
thought of paying a notetaker out of pocket and not going through the
university?  Even something like five dollars per week, or some sort
of transaction each class would be an improvement over $45 for the
entire quarterr.  Those kinds of deals might make them more willing to
take notes for you, and you would cut out the disability services
middle men.

Overall, if this professor is not working for you, I would try to find
a class with a different instructor.  See if you can talk to them
beforehand so that they have a perfectly clear understanding of what
you need from them before you even walk into their class.

On 12/7/13, minh ha <minh.ha927 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I want to echo what Lillie suggested about looking into alternative
> study materials. My Italian professor this semester is not that great
> about verbalizing things either so I turned to looking things up on
> the internet/bookshare/any resources I could. I find that as long as I
> have the notes that everybody else gets, I'm not worse off than any
> other student if I'm resourceful about my studying. You did mention
> having an advanced student work as your note taker, I think this
> should be a sufficient accommodation for your university to provide,
> not the tutor however.
> Minh
>
> On 12/7/13, Lillie Pennington <lilliepennington at fuse.net> wrote:
>> Instead of a tutor, you could try finding your own study materials.
>> Textbooks for foreign languages often have vocabulary glossaries and
>> explain
>> grammar concepts. Many textbooks often have edition all independent study
>> materials. This has worked for me in my Spanish classes. Hope this helps.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Dec 7, 2013, at 12:48 PM, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Also, it's hard to know if the reason you're struggling is because of
>>> not seeing the pictures, or because the teacher is just not very good
>>> at making the content user-friendly for anybody. I suspect that maybe
>>> other students are also struggling in the class. Is it possible to get
>>> a different teacher for the next two  quarters?
>>>
>>> In my own experience (majoring in biology, taking lots of science
>>> classes along with foreign language) everything that was important was
>>> either verbalized by the teacher or written down in the textbook, or
>>> both. If something wasn't in the text and the teacher didn't verbalize
>>> it it usually wasn't important. However, your particular teacher might
>>> not be very good at verbalizing what is important. You may need to
>>> meet with her several times and nudge her to make the verbal part of
>>> her class more accessible to you, e.g. by spelling new words out loud
>>> slowly. This is something that would help everyone not just you. If
>>> you want to advocate, I think working with the teacher or finding a
>>> new one is a more effective tack than trying to persuade the school to
>>> provide tutor service which isn't directly related to your disability.
>>>
>>> Arielle
>>>
>>>> On 12/7/13, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> The K-12 schools aren't required to provide aides specifically.
>>>> They're required to provide whatever the IEP team decides the
>>>> particular student needs at that particular time. Often that plan
>>>> includes an aide, but not always.
>>>>
>>>>> On 12/7/13, Brandon Keith Biggs <brandonkeithbiggs at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Hello,
>>>>> If the part of the ADA I quoted is not the part the colleges follow, I
>>>>> would love to know. Section 504  also deals with grade school and high
>>>>> school, so much of the text says children rather than student.
>>>>> If what I did quote is indeed what the colleges have to follow, I have
>>>>> enough of a legal leverage to require an aid if not a tutor as well.
>>>>> My
>>>>> mom works in the lower education schools and they are required to
>>>>> provide aids for students.
>>>>> Thank you,
>>>>>
>>>>> Brandon Keith Biggs
>>>>>
>>
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>
>
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-- 
Kaiti