Are colleges and technical institutes obligated to take extra measures to help those with learning disabilities?
Asked by
EnzoX24 (
1991
)
October 22nd, 2008
My girlfriend is going to a Veterinarian Technician Institute and she is dyslexic. She does well in all of her subjects, except for one during this term. She aces the multiple choice questions, but fails the test because the teacher deducts points for spelling and structure. My girlfriend has gone to the teacher and informed her of her disability and the teachers response was “In the real world spelling counts and they don’t care if you have dyslexia.”
My girlfriend claims if she fails one class she is kicked out of the school, and her final tomorrow might determine that. Can this teacher get way with such a thing, knowing full well that my girlfriend has a learning disability? I told her if she fails out because of her disability I will do everything in my power to rain Hell down on that school.
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9 Answers
She should be talking to the chair of that particular department, or should have before the test. Your riding in on your horse like Lochinvar from the West is not a good idea; if she has time, she should get to the dean, posthaste. If she fails, there must be some recourse other than the teacher, who sounds like he needs some help with his teaching skills.
As we have seen here, in the real world, spelling often doesn’t count; the horse or cat certainly won’t care. And someone can help her with reports. Does she have medical or some kind of documentation about her learning disability?
In the U.S., institutions of higher learning that receive federal funding are required to follow guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. There are specific provisions that are required for enabling equal access to education for all students. This would include special provisions for supporting student assessments, as well as support services for studies and delivery of information using technology.
If you google the ADA laws, you should be able to view the specific codes that describe the provisions. Also, there should be one or more officers appointed to deal with cases of ADA compliance in the instructional environment at your college. It may behoove you to contact them as well.
Just a follow-up, the guidelines may vary from state to state, but in addition to ADA compliance, there is also a Federal Rehabilitation Act that gives further guidelines concerning accomodations for the education sectors. For California (my state), I have located a guidebook based on the federal standards that you can access at:
http://www.pai-ca.org/pubs/530901.pdf
Good luck with that.
my college has my iep that documents about my learning disability.
@tocute; does IEP stand for? How do your professors help or cut you a little slack? Untimed tests? Help with proof-reading before handing the paper in? An older student as tutor or spell-checker?
(*too*cutetolive?)
is basically a document that just tells wat special things i get. like extra time, and stuff like that. i forget the words all the teachers do is let me take tests in another room. that’s it
*Individualized Education Plan
ya that what it is. lol. i use too know it. but i so forgot
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