The Disability Access Office

Juan has a meeting with Hank Baker at the University's Disability Access Office to discuss available services.

Hank - Okay Juan, do you know much about our office?

Juan - The Access Office? No, not very much.

Hank - Well, we work with any students with disabilities and help them get the academic accommodations they need. That's all part of the ADA, and the University set up our office to make sure the accomodations are available. So in your case, we would work on the accommodations that you would need to allow you to perform at your highest functioning ability at a university setting. We help you with things like extended time on tests, readers, writers, note takers, those sort of things. Basically, our job is to meet you where you need us and help you get accommodations - to level the playing field

Juan - Okay.

Hank - So do you know off-hand some of the accommodations that you would need?

Juan - Probably just note taking, and maybe some tutoring.

Hank - Okay. Let's start with note takers. Usually we ask the student to find someone in the class to take notes for them. And we have carbonless paper so that person can take their normal notes and then just rip you off a copy. As for tutors - anyone registered with our office can get tutors free of charge through the Learning Center. So you can definitely do that and I will show you how to do that once you get started here.

Juan - Okay.

Hank - And then as far as testing accommodations, I don't know if you'll need anything for testing --

Juan - Probably. I'm not sure how the tests are done here - whether they're done with the little circles you have to fill in...

Hank - Some of them are, it depends on the class. And it also depends on you and the accommodations that you need. Would you need someone to write or do you use computers or - what do you do?

Juan - I can probably write some, but to keep up... I don't know. I don't know how fast I'd have to write.

Hank - Okay. We can just see how that works out for you. Obviously, I think extended time for taking tests would be a good possibility to improve test situations for you. There's also the Adaptive Computer Center, which you can look into as well. A lot of people with physical disabilities like to use their services for tests and such. They have things like dictation programs, where you can talk into the computer and it types what you say. If you can type some, they have these little macro programs that you can use to take notes if you'd rather do that. It's just more independence for you, you know.

Juan - I see. Yeah.

Hank - But we can definitely work with you on that and find what would be the best thing. You may have a class that's all multiple choice and fill in the little circle. Obviously you'll need different accommodations there than you would need on an essay test. We'll look at it on a test-to-test basis.

Juan - How does extended time work, because that sounds like what I would probably need on the circle tests ...

Hank - Generally what we would do is provide people either time-and-a-half or double time. So, depending on the length of the test, we could say double the time for you.

Juan - But the professor would go for that?

Hank - Yeah. Because, of course, the ADA law requires accommodation, and the way our office is set up, they would go for that. What we do is, you have to register every semester you're with us, then we have this form that you give to your professors for that semester. The form doesn't state what your disability is, it just states that you qualify under the ADA for these specific accommodations. So it shows them that you're not making this stuff up - this is actually what you need, and we're backing you as an office.

Juan - Okay. But what if I have an essay test? That might be more than I can do, even with extended time. What happens then?

Hank - Again, it depends, it's a very individually based thing. We have some students that use a scribe - someone who takes dictation and does the writing for them. We also have students that would rather use a computer and do it that way. And we have students who would rather write. So it depends --

Juan - What if I don't have a computer? Do I check one out and bring it to the class? Can I take one home?

Hank - Not exactly. There are computers in Adaptive Computer Center, so you can go and use their computers. Actually, anyone can use those computers, but people with disabilities have first priority to them. So you go over there, you meet with them. They have very flexible hours and can teach you the technology. Then they let you use it and do what you need to do.

Juan - And there's no problems with professors letting you take tests over there, or do any of these other accommodations?

Hank - I've never had trouble with any professors since I've been working here. I've been very impressed. But if you ever do run into trouble, you'd come see me and, if we needed to, we'd go to my director. And if that didn't work we'd go to the University lawyer and the ADA Coordinator and we'd get it straightened out. But we've never had to do that.

Juan - Okay, good. What do I need to do to register and, like, document my disability? I know we had to do that with VR eligibility.

Hank - Documentation for physical disabilities is obviously a little different than LD (learning disability) and that sort of thing. So for physical disabilities we would just need something from a physician or a doctor. It doesn't have to be anything big - just something from a professional, on their letterhead, that states what the disability is. Now, with something like LD, especially, we really need the professionals to say, "These are the accommodations." But even that is something we work with all the time. It's a little bit more lax with the physical disability.

Juan - That should be no problem. Are these accommodations being used by many students?

Hank - Yes and no. There's a lot more students with disabilities enrolled at the University than are using our office. There are a lot of students who, for example, are paraplegic and who do fine. They use manual chairs and they just take care of what they need themselves. So we don't ever see them, which is fine. We make sure they know about us, and let them decide what if they need our help. We serve about 1 percent. Right now there's close to 20,000 students at the University, and we have about 220 students.

Juan - Wow. That's still a lot of people you help.

Hank - That's what we're here for, so the more people we can help, the better. Now, one thing I haven't talked about is the accessibility of the campus. We have an accessibility map that shows all the ramps, curb cuts, elevators. We have a pretty accessible campus, as campuses go. So as far as you moving around, you can feel very comfortable and confident in getting there and not having problems

So that's pretty good. Not all the dorms are accessible, but most of them are and Housing, of course, will get you into the ones that are. And there is someone in Housing who handles all the special needs housing issues. So if you need specific things, for example, in the shower stall, they make sure you get them.

Juan - Okay.

Hank -And another thing we should talk about is transportation. We do have a disability services bus provided by the University for students with disabilities. It has the accessibility ramp and all that, but most importantly it has a guy named Wilson. He's the bus driver and he's just great. Wilson can take care of getting you where ever you need to go for classes. So you would call us when you know your schedule and tell Wilson what it is, and after that you can count on the fact that he will pick you up and drop you off when you need it. Or say you want to go to the library and it's a rainy or icy day and it's not on your schedule. You just call us and we page Wilson and he'll be there to pick you up.

Juan -That'd be nice to have.

Hank -Another thing that all students registered in our office get is priority registration. Because, if there's ten minutes between your two classes-- it's one thing for an able-bodied person to get across campus, but if you got to deal with a lot of other stuff, you may need an hour. So this gives you priority in trying to spread your classes out.

Juan - That's far out. That really is. Because that'd be part of the problem - hoping they have the class available at the times I can handle. I know I'll have a lot of questions when I first get, start getting registered -- It's been, it's been a long time since I've been in school. So I want to take it slowly. I mean -- do you also have a counseling service? In other words, people that advise as to what classes I should take?

Hank - Well, we don't do academic advisement typically. Depending on what degree program you enroll in, you will be assigned an academic advisor to sit down with you every semester to review some of those issues. But I do a lot of counseling, too, actually, with students both with physical and learning disabilities. I help them just dealing with issues - academic issues and social issues and that sort of thing, in a college environment. So most definitely you can come with questions like that.

Juan - Good. Because what I'm saying is, I want to go slow. Take classes that I know I could probably do well. In the beginning anyway.

Hank - That sounds like a good idea. And we will do our best to help you. One of the things that I hate about universities is, because it's so big, there's always the office runaround. You know: "Oh, you need to talk to this person." "Oh, you need to talk about this person." I hate that. So if you call me with something, I'll try and find the answers.

Juan - Okay, cool.

Hank - And I'm going to give you a copy of our brochure, but if you have questions that aren't in there, give me a call.

Juan -Okay. I'm definitely going to read over this material. Thanks for all your help.

Hank - You're welcome. That's why we're here. I'll be looking for you at registration time, Juan.

Juan - Thanks. See you then.

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