[nabs-l] Accommodation Rights and Not Using Disability Services

[Jameyanne Fuller]

I know my undergrad's policy was that accommodations had to go through the
disabilitites services office. In grad school where I am now, you have to go
through the accessibility office because exams are anonomous so your
professors can't actually know what your accommodations are. What you're
asking for seems definitely reasonable, and the best course is probably to
approach your dss office and have a conversation about your issues, but as
has been said already, I don't know your specific circumstances. Either way,
you'll likely have better luck working with the DSS office than breaking
away from them completely.
HTH
Jameyanne

-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vejas
Vasiliauskas via NABS-L
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2016 1:46 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Accommodation Rights and Not Using Disability Services

I just had another thought. If I really felt that I needed to leave them, I
would do so if both parties could remain on friendly, or at least speaking,
terms.
I dn't know your exact situation, but your requests are very reasonable. If
you are not careful, though, they might perceive you as the "enemy" so to
speak. There may come a time during  a later date at this school where you
may need their help.
Did you sign anything to allow communication between the DSS office and
teachers/other staff? If you did not, then they are not within their rights
to communicate with your professors.
Vejas 

> On Dec 18, 2016, at 10:03, Ellana Crew via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
wrote:
> 
> Hi there,
> 
> I am a community college student about to start another semester of
classes, but more recently, I have been thinking of breaking away from using
the disability services office at school because of all of the troubles I
have had in the past with DSS offices and mixups and failures on their end.
However, before I decide to go through with this, I'd like to have some more
information on what exactly I'm entitled to still as far as accommodations
and the law if I choose not to go through disability services and give my
professors the official letter requiring their compliance.
> 
> Is there anybody who may be able to give me a little information on if
professors are still required to accommodate me reasonably if I do not go
through disability services and give them an official letter from them,
especially in regards to test taking? I am concerned that perhaps they may
not be obligated to provide me any sort of accommodation at all without an
official letter from disability services requiring them to, or that perhaps
there is a limit on how much they are allowed to grant me, and especially if
that limit is when it comes to tests.
> 
> I am particularly interested in being able to take my tests in the
classroom with the rest of the class instead of going through the hassle of
coordinating a scheduled time in the testing center and dealing with more
failures to properly prepare my test or not prepare my test in time for the
scheduled appointment in the testing center, and being forced to
automatically be at a disadvantage by having to take my test in a different
setting while the rest of the class is able to take their test in the same
environment in which they learn the information which has been proven many
times to improve the persons ability to retrieve the information they
learned in that environment, and I have known some people who have talk to
the professors and been able to take their tests in their classrooms in this
way, but I want to be sure that I would not be in violation of anything in
that I know my rights when it comes to this if my professor does not know
themselves if it is OK or is hesitant to work with me on this particular
factor.
> 
> If there is anybody here who may be able to give me some useful
information or connect me with somebody who may have that information, I
would be incredibly grateful.
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Ellana Crew, Vice President
> Maryland Association of Blind Students
> 
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.
> _______________________________________________
> NABS-L mailing list
> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
NABS-L:
>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/alpineimagination%40gmai
l.com

_______________________________________________
NABS-L mailing list
NABS-L at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
NABS-L:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/jameyanne%40gmail.com