Barriers to the accommodation request process of the Americans With Disabilities Act

Journal of Rehabilitation, April-June, 2005 by John Jay Frank, James Bellini

   The university disability counselor first said they couldn't
   photocopy my textbooks because it was against copyright
   law. Then he said the school couldn't afford to enlarge the
   texts. He tried to make me pay for it. Then he attacked me.
   He berated me for not assisting with enlargements. He was
   screaming at me. I would classify that as harassment and a
   hostile environment. He was nasty and belligerent. He said,
   "How dare you come in here and demand accommodation."
   It was a nightmare. I was ready to quit. I heard later from
   my VR counselor, that this sort of thing is common.

Irene's state vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselor told her that abusive behavior toward students with disabilities who request accommodations was common at universities. The counselor confirmed Irene's experience, framed the issue as a normal problem, not the fault of her behaviors, and congratulated Irene on her fortitude in enduring the abuse, unlike others who simply quit. The VR counselor had advised her to request accommodation knowing the request might not be well received by the university. She shared this with Irene after the fact. In 1998, Ms. Jenkins was thrust into a battleground with no preparation other than the statement that she had the right under the ADA to request that the school put her texts into alternate formats. Today, Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CRC) need to inform their clients of both the limitations and the risks of a course of action they recommend (Blackwell & Patterson, 2003).

The failure of a VR counselor to provide complete access to a state rehabilitation services contract was a costly omission for a Braille instructor. As Ms. King stated:

   My VR counselor read very little of the state contract to me.
   She did not read me the part that said you don't get
   additional travel expense beyond the amount that you bid
   for teaching. My counselor helped me fill it out. She said,
   "You should bid low" We put in $20 dollars an hour. Across
   the state the average was $70. My driver earned more than I
   did. I paid $7 an hour for my driver and 30 cents a mile.
   That year the driver made $8,000 and I made $5,000.

Bob Cole considered the refusal of his local telephone company to Braille his bill to be a typical barrier to print access. He engaged that battle. His outrage came after the representative for the state Human Rights Department informed him that, although his case had merit, the agency would not get involved because the case was too small. Mr. Cole said the issue was dollars, not the harm being done by discrimination. He understood that the state agency was labeling him "insignificant." As Mr. Cole noted:

   The state is ignoring the fact that I am hurt by not having
   equal access. Unless you have some egregious kind of harm,
   nobody is going to spend resources to settle your complaint.
   It's worth going through the effort once, but it is not worth
   it when your own State Human Rights Department says
   you've got a case but they're not going to do anything about
   it. It is not about what the ADA was set up to do. It never
   will be. It's about dollars.