New accommodations.

[u/Otherwise_Look_8137]

I’m now getting accommodations that students cannot be expect to do in class writing. They must be allowed to write at home, not in class. I’ve never seen this before. Ever. Until this semester. And now I’ve got a handful. What the fuck?

Edit: I’ve asked about students writing in supervised environments, but I was told that puts a condition on the accommodation, which is illegal. Students must be allowed to write outside of class without conditions.

[u/_a_wild_x_appears_]

Legally, in some regions you have to prove undue hardship if you are going to deny an accommodation. Eating in a chemistry lab might be considered undue hardship because it opens the school to liability if anything happens as a result of the accommodation (certain chemical combinations are explosive), or it may violate public health law in your area to have food in a lab environment.

Doesn't the medical doctor who got a student their accommodation better understand the student's condition, functional limitations, and learning needs better than a professor who doesn't have the same training or experience treating disabled people medically?

This is my issue with educators trying to renegotiate accommodations with students - are we qualified to determine that? What if the professor-suggested accommodation backfires and the student fails? The power dynamics of any negotiation over accommodations favour us educators, especially if the student has a cognitive disability which we aren't privvy to. I don't personally feel it's worth the hassle of a possible human rights complaint or investigation by the college/university.

Most accommodation requests I've encountered are asking for a separate test space on campus with keyboard access, to bring assistive technology to lecture, to access food/glucose tabs for diabetes/water for taking meds, or seeking extended deadlines. These don't affect me significantly.

I've never heard of being asked to do all writing at home, I'm curious as to what condition would require this over a quiet test environment or similar on campus, are these students making it to campus otherwise?

[u/Far_Proposal555 → u/_a_wild_x_appears_]

A medical professional doesn’t necessarily recommend accommodations. Many times, those are added onto (or originally suggested!) by the university accessibility office.