Once, when I was seeing one of our university's several ombuds services
(not disability services on this occasion), I remember that one of the
very first things the counselor told me was "I work for the
university." Turns out that was the only true thing I was told
throughout an excruciating process in which I got badly (though not
literally) burned. That's what all these offices, including disability
services do, even when those who work there are well-intended. The
folks who oversee their work and pay their salaries reward their own
efficiencies, which include saving money and avoiding/winning
lawsuits. Their clientele will be served only to the extent that what
are fundamentally economic outcomes are met. That doesn't mean that
clients automatically get nothing. I've had a bunch of money spent on
accommodations (mostly equipment), but there had to be a determination
that I would be more productive if I had them and that, tenured as I am,
they were stuck with me.
Pam Wheelock wrote:
> One of the harder truths in academic life is that some of us are trained
> and educated in how to sound accommodating but may have no true intention
> to be so. It is difficult to know who to believe-- some programs sound
> great on paper but in practice may actually not afford much understanding
> or responsibility. My advice to any student considering a potential
> program is to ask students and users of the system, and to ask
> widely. The
> political environment of some systems is corrupted enough to
> significantly
> blind those immersed within it so that those expounding on access may
> have
> little understanding of what that actually means. Advertisements and
> calls
> for students may be exactly that. Pam Wheelock
> At 01:51 AM 1/3/2005 +0000, [Bertie Mo] wrote:
>
>> [Bertie Mo asked me to transfer this response on to the full list. I
>> hope
>> this gets over ok, because there are some useful points here -- m99m]
>>
>>
>> I think the difference in "personal experiences" has
>> much to do with the "companions/resources that one
>> encounters while under going this journey...."
>>
>> Large public universities often have a variety of
>> resources to address all sorts of disabilities...My
>> nephews with learning disabilities found resources and
>> sympathetic ears within the California State
>> University System...I have found the University of
>> California campuses offer a wealth of resources for
>> those with disabilities of all sorts.
>>
>> At the small public university where I now work, many
>> faculty are quite aware that undergraduates bring many
>> unresolved health and mental health issues to college
>> with them. At faculty orientation, they invariably
>> mention how inadequate they feel about dealing with
>> such issues and how they wish that the counselling and
>> health centers would help them with these issues. At
>> a small campus everyone who can shares the
>> responsibility of dealing sensitively and effectively
>> with these issues.
>>
>> Part of the challenge of being a consumer is learning
>> who you can tell and how much to tell. As someone who
>> also is a trained health educator, I find that skill
>> very helpful in coaching students on successfully
>> navigating the system.
>>
>> For example, I noticed that the disability Ph.D.
>> program at the U. of Chicago was recruiting for
>> students and I mentioned to one of my graduate
>> students that the program seemed willing to work with
>> graduate students with visible and invisible
>> disabilities. This is the type of information that a
>> network such as this list serve might develop.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Bertie Mo, Ph.D., MPH
>>
>> ________________End of message______________________
>>
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>>
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>>
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>
>
> Pam Wheelock
> www.purrfectplay.com
> Naturally purrfect products for your pet companions
>
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> .
>
--
Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music and Jewish Studies
Adjunct Professor of American Studies
Head, Division of Composition and Music Theory
University of Minnesota
2106 4th St. S
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)
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