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DISABILITY-RESEARCH  December 2004

DISABILITY-RESEARCH December 2004

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Subject:

Re: Invisibile disabilities and the disability card

From:

Claudia Malacrida <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Claudia Malacrida <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Thu, 30 Dec 2004 15:08:37 -0700

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (129 lines)

Hi,

I sit as a faculty representative on the Special Needs Advisory Committee at
my Canadian university. The kinds of procedures others have outlined as
policies in their US and UK institutions are also enshrined on paper at this
university. However, the special needs committee  frequently hears of
situations wherein students who have indeed gone through the lengthy and
careful process of obtaining disability-related assessments and
recommendations for accommodation are not responded to appropriately by
their professors. Examples of this include such things as being refused the
use of tape-recorders in lectures, being provided inappropriate examination
facilities (e.g., putting students with conflicting needs - one with
distractibility issues who requires silence alongside another who has
Tourette's - in the same room to write an examination), refusing the
admission of a scribe for a student with expressive learning disabilities to
a registrar-scheduled exam, etc.

Again, these kinds of situations seem to be related primarily to students
with 'invisible' and/or deligitimated disabilities. We are in process of
devising educational programs for faculty members, but I worry this may not
suffice. At other committee meetings I attend (faculty councils, etc.), I
hear tremendous resistance from a core of the professorial staff whenever
these topics come up, including comments to the effect that students
requiring 'special' (read: privileged) accommodations really do not belong
in post-secondary institutions, period.

I believe that, while policies are helpful, they do not suffice in terms of
engendering adequate accommodation, because cynicism about these types of
disorders undermines efforts at implementing a level playing field.

Cheers,
Claudia Malacrida

----- Original Message -----
From: "slamp1" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2004 1:38 PM
Subject: Re: Invisibile disabilities and the disability card


> Hello all,
>
> Liz wrote:
> "As someone taking a few difficult classes at uni, the only way you can
> get an
> extension at my college is if you have a detailed doctor's note giving
> details
> of reasons for an extension.  Simply crying to the lecturer cuts no ice
> here!"
>
> David responded:
> "Well, I'm not sure that's  how it work everywhere."
>
> Here's my 2 cents:
> My experiences in the U.S. sound more comparable to Liz's experiences in
> the
> UK. In the U.S., university student accommodation requests are handled by
> an
> Office of Disability Services (or something similarly named) located
> within
> the university. In general, the function these offices serve is to control
> disability accommodations. When it comes to nonapparent disabilities,
> multiple
> layers of documentation and test results are required to support an
> accommodation request, which is then challenged, denied, or accepted by
> the
> Office of Disability Services. The cost of these tests and physician
> documentation is the student's responsibility and the time-consuming
> process
> of proving your nonapparent disability can easily become the equivalent of
> a
> part-time job. Finally, "acceptance" of your nonapparent disability, does
> not
> guarantee that the needed accommodation will be provided.
>
> As for approaching an instructor to ask for a last minute accommodation,
> (such
> as an extension on an assignment) and without the prior approval of the
> Office
> of Disability Services-oh my. In general, I would expect such a request to
> wither on the vine and leave the requester thoroughly shamed and exposed.
> Our
> only hope in these cases is that the instructor has some knowledge of
> disability policy, has familiarized themselves with the flaws in the
> standard
> university accommodation system, and cares about the disabled student's
> progress. There are such professors but I have found them to be the
> exception
> rather than the rule.
>
> Things may be different in Canada as you say. However, in the U.S., the
> notion
> that accommodations for people with nonapparent disabilities are a
> "privilege"
> and are easy to come by is a harmful myth-although a prevalent one. In
> fact, a
> fellow student in disability studies was confident that they would be able
> to
> "play the ADA card" at another university. However, the student neglected
> to
> take any ADA policy courses and did not adequately explore the experiences
> of
> those who attempt to negotiate university accommodation systems. Like many
> people, this student will probably not understand a real-world disability
> experience in terms of accommodation requests until they actually attempt
> to
> "play the ADA card". In the meantime, this negative disability stereotype
> continues to be perpetuated and is really not helpful to disabled people.
> Best, Sharon Lamp
>
> ________________End of message______________________
>
> Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List
> are now located at:
>
> www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
>
> You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.
>

________________End of message______________________

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