Does the timeliness of the disclosure matter?
I have a student who went into a business orientated program where computer use was a large part of the cirriculum. The student is now entering her last term and nearing graduation. She never disclosed that she would require any accomodations at any point along the way. One of the exit requirements is a typing certificate at a particular speed. She has been unable to meet that speed and going into her last term she is now trying to get it waived.
She was able to complete all her classes successfully up until this point. Her intended line of work will require a typing certificate. She is requesting that the typing test be waived now due to a disability. My question is, at what point must the request for accomodations be submitted and does it even matter?
Alma,
Yes... the timeline matters, but I am not sure it matters in this case. Under other circumstances, the general rule is that "both the request and the accommodation must be appropriate and timely." That means that the institution has an obligation to accommodate in a timely manner ONCE THE REQUEST IS MADE (that is, the school had no responsibility to accommodate this student before she disclosed her disability). After the disclosure, the school has an obligation to make REASONABLE accommodations. The question in your case is not "should she have told us sooner?" but "is what she is requesting a reasonable accommodation?" If it ISN'T a reasonable accommodation, it wouldn't matter when she made the request. BUT... someone needs to evaluate whether it would be reasonable at this time. You can't say, "it's the rule, so there is no question." There IS a question -- would waiving the typing certificate requirement constitute a fundamental change in this student's degree program, or only a fundamental change in what you believe her employment chances will be. Nothing is every easy! GRIN
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I had a student who started in one of my classes, by the third class told me he was ADD. Not sure if this was real or not, pulled up the syllabus pointing out that the school would like the info/request in writing to help make any accommodations he would need. He dropped the course giving the reason was he had too much on his plate (course load). I believe this is the first time he mentioned to anyone his condition, and it has been in every the syllabi all along. What does one do?
Rita,
Chances are you did just the right thing. It sounds as though you were put in an awkward position by your institution, if there are no policies in place that would have a student reach out to some institutional authority with information about disability and request for accommodation -- information that would be sent to YOU from an appropriate school party, thus relieving you of the need to "guess" whether or not the request was legitimate. But at the point where the student DID come forward, you informed him of the established procedure. It would have been appropriate for him to have followed that from the beginning (if it is listed in every class syllabus), so that his request to you was not so far into the term that the damage was already done. But all you can do is offer. The student must fulfill their side of the equation as well.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
