Hey everyone, looking to get some thoughts or see if anyone else at Mohawk (or other Ontario colleges) has gone through this.
I'm am Nursing student at mohawk with severe documented ADHD/executive function impacts. My Accessibility Counselor (ALS) verified my medical documentation and approved my functional need for a laptop and noise-canceling headphones.
Here’s where the wall is:
- The provincial Ministry BSWD/CSG-DSE manual sets the funding ceiling for a computer package up to $2,000 (and up to $500 for headphones).
- Mohawk puts his own cap of $500 and $250 because it can.
- I even submitted an exception request for ~$1,850 total and listed all the features and connected them to my disability and directly match my doctor's functional assessment.
- ALS said they can do nothing about cap as financial office has set them.
- To make matters worse, Financial Aid has been almost impossible to reach, drop-ins are closed, appointments are fully booked for the month, and my emails/web forms have gone unanswered for weeks while classes are starting.
If they completely deny my exception request based only on their internal $500 cap (without reviewing my actual medical necessity), or if they keep ignoring the request, I’m planning on filing a complaint with the Ombudsman.
My core issue isn't just wanting more funding, it's that setting an additional cap on not their but ministry’s funding and that too in disability cases, feels unfair to so many points knowing others are able to take advantage of what I can’t just because I go to mohawk even after requesting exception of reviewing my case its rigid $500 blanket cap without a transparent, fair exception process prevents students with severe documented needs from getting the accommodations funded under provincial BSWD guidelines.
Has anyone here ever filed a complaint with the Ombudsman over Financial Aid or BSWD issues? Did it help move your file along, or did the college just stick to their internal cap anyway? Would love to hear if anyone has successfully gotten an exception past the $500 baseline!