Admittedly I have only limited experience having applied to only two
universitys recently however I am familiar with the format of the form.
One could of course go semantic on them and protest one does not have a
disability but a condition that leads to one being disabled by societal
devaluation but even I have not gone that far.
It is a tick the box affair with a nebulos category to fill in if one has
more than one disability. It is not for admission purposes but because most
(maybe all) universities do have disabilities offices these days where one
can sort out the help or accomodations one needs. Also I guess in the UK
(not from overseas where funding is different) it relates to ones applying
for disabled students allowance.
I doubt my ticking the boxes affected the outcome in either case for me. In
case number one I would have been offered an interview on completion of a
pre interview essay task, however I rejected the course as unsuitable (that
means crap in my language.)
In the second case, it made no difference to being accepted, ability to pay
being a far more important determinant. The information I doubt much was
passed to the department teaching the course, all I recieved was some invite
to discuss things with the disabilities office.
I guess it realy makes no difference to your rights whether you fill it in
or not because you usually have to fight for them anyway.
Personally I see no reason not to actually accompany the form with a letter
saying that you do not wish to disclose whether you do or do not have a
disability for ethical reasons on the grounds you are outlining here and so
are leaving it blank. That way they would probably initiate a discussion on
it so you could gain clear assurances in writing that you could later pursue
if you believed you had been discriminated against.
Larry
> -----Original Message-----
> From: The Disability-Research Discussion List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Ron Amundson
> Sent: 18 August 2003 21:35
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: "Outing" disability on college entrance applications
>
>
> Dear List --
>
> I have a former student who is applying to graduate school at several
> British Universities. Each application asks the direct question: "Do you
> have a disability" and then gives a list of disabilities.
>
> The student is accustomed to the U. S. (of course) where it is up to the
> individual whether or not they self-identify as disabled. She
> prefers to do
> so only after she meets people. She is worried about the
> implications of the
> direct question.
>
> 1) Might outing herself on an entrance form hurt her chances for
> acceptance?
>
> 2) If she lies and says "no", might that disqualify her for disability
> services if she is accepted?
>
> 3) If she lies and says "no", might that be grounds for deportation, and
> transportation to Australia or something?
>
> In case it's relevant, she's considering applying to the University of
> Hartfordshire, the University of York, and St. Andrews.
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
> Ron
>
>
> Ron Amundson
> University of Hawaii at Hilo
> Hilo, HI 96720
> [log in to unmask]
>
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