Disability, Accommodations, and Education- Jennifer’s Story

 Disability, Accommodations, and Education- Jennifer’s Story

By Jai Abbott, Disability Justice Educational Intern

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On July 6th, I had the pleasure to speak to Jennifer (pseudonym), a young adult going into their junior year of college. Jennifer has cerebral palsy, a group of conditions caused by brain damage, usually before birth (Mayo Clinic). For Jennifer, this causes balance issues, a lisp, and limited functioning in their right hand. Jennifer also has dyscalculia, a learning disability that affects their ability to understand number-based information and math (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). They explain, “I have a bunch of stuff that’s probably undiagnosed or just under vaguely learning disability” as well as probable autism and ADHD.

Jennifer and I sat down to discuss their experiences with disability within educational institutions. They attended a public elementary school, private middle school, and arts magnet for high school. As a college student, they attended a small liberal arts college for the past two years, but following a closure, they are in the process of transferring to a large public university. I thought that their history with a variety of different kinds of educational institutions, combined with both physical disabilities and neurodivergencies, would lead to insight into many of the ways these institutions succeed and fail to work with disabled students. 

Jennifer is a bright and funny young adult, with dyed hair and gothic makeup. They’re honest, almost blunt, when referring to their background, and are quick to make themselves the butt of the joke at times. I use their own words as much as possible in this piece, so as to not misrepresent their ideas and experience. 

Jennifer never particularly liked school, “I wanted to kill myself” they joked “Don’t call the mental health people”. They repeatedly experienced bullying from classmates, and sometimes were unable to get teachers and staff to understand and accommodate their disabilities. They also struggled academically, particularly with STEM subjects, explaining, “It’s so absurd how little math I can do. It’s really a lot and it’s made like, [...] the idea of doing any kind of math or science really scary.” 

Jennifer received accommodations in all levels of schooling. They had both a 504 plan, and an IEP or individualized education plan during different parts of their education. An IEP provides specially designed curriculum and instruction to meet personalized goals, while a 504 plan provides accommodations to remove barriers to learning without specialized instruction (Understood, 2016). In elementary school, they received speech therapy at the school, as well as individualized math education, and physical assistance such as with carrying lunch trays. In middle and high school, they continued to utilize some individualized instruction and a designated space to do assignments. They were given physical assistance in the form of an elevator key, however this was not provided until several months after it was put in their accommodations plan. They also accessed additional time on tests, and later assignment deadlines. However, these accommodations were not always enforced, “for high school it really depended on the teacher. Some people would follow it and some people wouldn’t”, This is despite the fact that breaking 504 plans or IEPs violates federal law (US Department of Education).

Jennifer was able to access their accommodations because of parental advocacy. Their mother worked with each new school to provide documentation and information that became the basis for Jennifer’s accommodations. In college, however, Jennifer had to go through the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services. Colleges are not covered under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which provides the legal basis for IEPs. Colleges are subject to 504 regulations, however, they are not required to honor 504 plans from high school or create new versions of these plans. Instead, disability services offices at colleges and universities are allowed to use their own criteria to determine who is eligible for accommodations and what those accommodations can be (National Headache Foundation). 

Thankfully, Jennifer found the college accommodations process to be simple and straightforward, “I had to write out a thing that was like this is why I need this and it got accepted and everyone was chill with it.” They had one professor who would not follow their accommodations list, but all others were easily cooperable. When transferring to a second college, this process included an interview, but was also fairly simple and allowed Jennifer the accommodations they requested. At this point, Jennifer had accommodations for a single dorm, extra time for assignments, note taking assistance, the ability to use a calculator during math instruction, and additional excused absences. 

When asked whether their accommodations were sufficient to meet their needs, Jennifer responded “Well, it’s like one of those things where it’s simultaneously yes and no, because I still feel like it would’ve been hard either way no matter what.” They agreed that the physical structure of accommodations was there, but it wasn’t enough to change the culture they experienced with fellow students, or to make being disabled easy. Jennifer was bullied throughout all levels of school “people were horrific towards me”. While they weren’t discriminated against explicitly for their disabilities, it seemed clear to Jennifer that those were a motivating factor “it’s like ‘oh I’m not bullying you because you’re autistic but it’s coincidentally [for] autistic traits.’” They also made several friends in each school they attended, and had several teachers they enjoyed, but this wasn’t sufficient to make school feel welcoming. 

One of the most disruptive events was when Jennifer was held back a year in middle school. “Basically I was having a lot of trouble adjusting and I didn’t know how Google Classroom worked because I was like 10 years old, so I had a lot of trouble turning in assignments and stuff. And I was really emotionally [...] disturbed. And I don’t think they knew how to deal with that” They explained “I don’t believe there’s nothing they could’ve done [...] private schools can do whatever they want.” This caused Jennifer to feel academically behind their peers. They felt embarrassed, and so didn’t reach out to their support system for either compassion or advocacy.

Jennifer’s experience improved in higher education, they found an accepting environment and befriended other disabled students. “Everyone had accommodations,” they said, “It was lovely”. However, when they talked about growing up disabled with their friends, a lot of their stories sounded the same. “I feel like with a lot of people at college when I would talk about this they’d feel like very similar things and experiences so I feel like it was really common. To kind of feel a little bit neglected in that way.”

Finally, I asked Jennifer what they think is important to understanding disability in education. They responded “It’s just a question of what can we do to make students look at it less as a mechanical streamlined process and more for the individual student.” To rephrase, accommodations and upholding legal obligations are important, but the attention to the cultural acceptance of disability, and taking the time to talk to specific students about their needs, may make an even greater difference to students and families.

At Mentor A Promise, we seek to provide educational resources to help students succeed, and unaccommodated or unaddressed disability is a significant reason why young people struggle. In the United States, roughly half of all homeless people have a physical or intellectual disability (US Department of Housing and Development 2022), however these issues are rarely addressed together. Amplifying the voices of disabled young people will strengthen our understanding of educational and social barriers so we can find the best methods to address them.