This may be of interest, and show aspects of the future under the DDA.

Celia

>Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 21:17:12 -0400 (EDT)
>From: pmaster <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Speak Softly . . . (fwd)
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>X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'leave dyslexia' to [log in to unmask]
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>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 00:23:51 -0500 (CDT)
>From: 
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Speak Softly . . .
>
>. . . and carry a big crutch. See below.
>
>-
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>
>>DYSLEXIC WOULD-BE LAWYER SUES OVER BAR-EXAM TIMING
>>By TAMAR LEWIN
>>
>>  In the newest legal battleground over what assistance must be
>>given to learning-disabled students, a dyslexic 1996 law school
>>graduate has sued the California committee of bar examiners,
>>charging that its refusal to allow him double the normal time to
>>take the bar examination violated federal anti-discrimination laws.
>>
>>  The class-action lawsuit, filed by Robert Mueller on behalf of
>>all learning-disabled law graduates, said the state had illegally
>>thwarted his career by failing to accommodate his disability, which
>>makes him a slow reader.
>>
>>  Precisely what accommodations the federal law requires for those
>>with learning disabilities has been an increasingly contentious --
>>and litigious -- issue among educators and testers since 1992, when
>>the federal Americans with Disabilities Act went into effect. 
>>
>>  As the first wave of students determined to have learning
>>disabilities moves through graduate education, they are charting a
>>new frontier, demanding that accommodations like extra time, a
>>quiet room or use of a computer when they take professional
>>licensing exams in law, medicine or accounting: 
>>
>>  -- In June, in a West Virginia case against the National Board of
>>Medical Examiners, a federal district judge ruled against three
>>medical students with attention-deficit disorder who had sought
>>extra time and a separate testing room on their medical boards. 
>>
>>  -- In July, in a New York case now on appeal, a federal district
>>judge ruled that the state bar examiners had wrongly refused
>>accommodations to Marilyn Bartlett, a 1991 University of Vermont
>>law graduate who lost her law-firm job in 1992 after failing the
>>bar examination three times, and sued the state in 1993. The judge
>>ordered, among other things, that Ms. Bartlett get double time, use
>>of a word processor and the right to circle multiple-choice answers
>>on the question sheet, rather than fill out a separate answer
>>sheet. 
>>
>>  -- In August, in a closely watched case involving Boston
>>University, a federal judge ruled that although the university had
>>the right to set academic standards, its crackdown on
>>accommodations to learning-disabled students had been based on
>>uninformed stereotypes. The judge overturned the university's
>>policy of accepting diagnoses only from certain professionals and
>>ordered the university to reconsider whether its foreign-language
>>requirement was essential to its view of liberal arts education. 
>>
>>  The California bar examiners granted accommodations to 305
>>applicants taking the July examination this year, down from 335
>>last year -- but up from only 91 in 1990. While some of the
>>accommodations are for students with physical disabilities, the
>>majority are for those with learning disabilities or attention
>>deficit disorder. 
>>
>>  Lawrence Ashe Jr., the lawyer representing the state bar in the
>>lawsuit filed last month in U.S. District Court in Oakland, said he
>>believed the bar's handling of Mueller's request was proper -- and
>>he suggested that reading at a normal rate might well be a
>>legitimate qualification for becoming a lawyer. 
>>
>>  Increasingly, he said, the bar examiners are turning to outside
>>professionals for help in evaluating accommodation requests and are
>>developing new procedures for handling requests. 
>>
>>  Erica Moeser, president of the National Conference of Bar
>>Examiners, said: "Matching disabilities to the appropriate
>>accommodations is not an easy task, but I'd say most examiners do
>>their best to truly level the playing field for people with
>>disabilities. It has been a thicket, but my sense is that most
>>disabilities are accommodated, although perhaps not to the level
>>requested. Nationally, California has developed reputation for
>>being among the more generously accommodating of jurisdictions." 
>>
>>  Sid Wolinsky, the lawyer representing Mueller, said California's
>>reputation was well-deserved -- until late last year. 
>>
>>  "Up until the period leading to the February exam, we never
>>received a single complaint about the bar's failure to give
>>accommodations," said Wolinsky, a lawyer with Disability Rights
>>Advocates in Oakland, who also represented the students in the
>>Boston University case. 
>>
>>  "But at the end of 1996, we had a rash of complaints, all of them
>>from learning-disabled students who'd had accommodations in law
>>school, but were being denied for the February bar. Then we had
>>another set of complaints from people denied for the July exam.
>>I've gotten the distinct impression that they're singling out
>>learning disabilities, and cracking down." 
>>
>>  Mueller's case, he said, is typical of the recent denials. Now
>>44, he was found to have dyslexia in 1994. According to his
>>psychologist's 1994 evaluation, Mueller's reading rate is in the
>>bottom 3 percent of college seniors and his timed reading
>>comprehension is in the bottom 5 percent. Untimed, however, his
>>reading scores are in the high average to superior range. Mueller's
>>disability was not recognized when he was in elementary school, at
>>a time when much less was known about dyslexia. 
>>
>>  But after years as a photographer, Mueller became interested in
>>law and his diagnosis allowed him double time on the Law School
>>Admission Test. As a student at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, he
>>got double time on all his examinations. In 1995, he took the
>>Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination with double time
>>-- a requirement for admission to the state bar -- and passed. 
>>
>>  But the California bar examiners, based on their own expert's
>>review of the documents he submitted, said Mueller could only have
>>time and a half for the examination. Mueller took the exam under
>>those conditions in February, and failed. He took it again in July,
>>but later asked that the examination not be graded.
>>
>>  Ashe was critical of that request. "I don't think that requesting
>>that your exam not be scored is consistent with someone who wants
>>to be admitted as soon as possible and is mitigating his losses,"
>>he said.
>>
>>Copyright 1997 The New York Times
>>
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Welfare & Information Officer, King's College London, Macadam Bldng,
London WC2R 2LS Tel: 0171 873 2530   Fax: 0171 873 2754
Produced using voice activated software; apologies for uncorrected errors.


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