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

[Dan Burke]

Brandon, You're in a tough position with your language class.  I have a friend who teaches French at the university where I used to work, and she talks about the latest theory in teaching second or third language - use visuals on the board or slides without ever speaking English.  This is all well and good for sighted students, but of no use to a blind student when the instructor points to a banana and asks you a question about it.  The accommodation should occur right then and there because the method inherently discriminates against the full participation of a blind student.  Whether that is in the form of someone slating out the Braille for "banana," of the teacher changing the method to ensure that you know what the visual depicts in every instance, or some other variation will depend on the class and level of instruction.  

To answer the matter of tutoring, tutoring is not included in the list of auxiliary aides that higher ed should be prepared to provide under Section 504. Here's what the regs say:

(2) Auxiliary aids may include taped texts, interpreters or other effective methods of making orally delivered materials available to students with hearing impairments, readers in libraries for students with visual impairments, classroom equipment adapted for use by students with manual impairments, and other similar services and actions. Recipients need not provide attendants, individually prescribed devices, readers for personal use or study, or other devices or services of a personal nature.

-- http://www2.ed.gov/policy/rights/reg/ocr/edlite-34cfr104.html#S44

Your guess is absolutely right - 504 regs for K-12 and higher ed are not the same, and what may go in K-12 for students with disabilities has absolutely no bearing on what higher ed is required or expected to do.

So, typically tutoring is not provided by Disability Services offices as a reasonable accommodation, even though some may do it.  Tutoring services on campus, however, must be accessible to and usable by students with disabilities; it's just not a modification that is a standard requirement.

Having said that, it can be provided, though it might get into the realm of being apersonal service.  

The other possibility, other accommodations notwithstanding, is that VR can pay for it.  

So you see, nothing is black or white in this case.

1. Call VR and talk to them about paying for tutoring because of the nature of the class.
2.  Talk to the teacher and the DS office about what would be a reasonable accommodation in a class structured this way.  Remember, it has to be accessible to you.  They need to think harder too.
3.  If you've already tried 2 without success, or you don't find success, investigate your school's due process options; that is a complaint.  One way is to ask - don't threaten - the DS office what your due process options might be.

Best,
Dan



Dan Burke
Academic and Youth Services
Colorado Center for the Blind
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-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of minh ha
Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2013 6:04 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Is providing tutors or aids under the ADA forpublic colleges?

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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