Yes, my experiences are very similar to Claudia's. I worked for a Canadian
university arranging accomodations for psychiatric survivor students. Many
professors / sessional instructors exporessed reluctance in providing
accomodations. I recall being told that depression was not a REAL disability
and that providing "preferential treatement" was unfair to other students! I
was particularly incensced in one situation because the student had been
hospitalized for a large part of the term and had a medical report to
support their request for accomodation.
Asking sessionsals to provide accomodation was even more complex. Sessional
instructors are often the backbone of an undergraduate education. Unlike
tenured professors, sessionals are only paid for the hours they work in a
particular term. They were reluctant to provide extensions because they
might then be providing their services to the student for free. This is a
labour issue which should be addressed by the sessional instructors' union.
Overtime should be paid if sessionsal accomodate disabled students. It may
not be the practice however.
Finally, when I was a teaching assistant myself, I wrote an introductory
note for my students describing such things as contact information, office
hours, etc. I also specifically welcomed disabled students into my class and
asked that they inform me of any need for accomodation at the beginning of
the term. Much to my amazement, at the beginning of my second class, I had a
large number of new students wanting to attend my tutorial. I was
oversubscribed and could not figure out why. Towards the end of the term, a
great deal became clear. A number of teh students had invisible
disabilities, wanted accomodations but did not wish to go through the formal
registration process normally required by the university. They were afraid
of "coming out" and at the same time had immense difficulties.
In my experience, most students resisted using the 'disability card". Some
went so far as refusing to use the university's drug plan to pay for their
very expensive medication. They were afraid of being "exposed" and being
unable to find a job once they graduated. This desire to hide their
psychiatric disability resulted in the student then having to go to a
foodbank in order to eat.
It seems to me both from my professional and personal experiences that
invisible disabilities allow the privilege of passing but simultaneously
inhibit the connection of those similarly affected by disability/ stigma.
Perhaps more importantly, by introducing the notion of invisible disability,
we challenge the traditionally accepted notions of disability itself. Lilith
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