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If you require your students to share formal uni paperwork to receive disability accommodations in your class, lemme just tell you this right now: that is a ridiculous, ableist, unfair stance and I am writing a short thread here to tell you why. (1/7)
Accommodations almost always require a formal diagnosis. Barriers to GETTING a formal diagnosis are enormous, expensive, & VERY slow.
It took me 7 MONTHS from beginning the process to getting a copy of paperwork. And that's without trying to give that paperwork to anyone. (2/7)
It took me 7 MONTHS from beginning the process to getting a copy of paperwork. And that's without trying to give that paperwork to anyone. (2/7)
It takes weeks to get a referral to schedule testing (if your insurance even covers it).
It takes months (usually) for the testing to finally happen.
It takes another FULL MONTH to wait for follow-up & diagnosis.
Then, the shuffle with insurance & meds begins. Awful. (3/7)
It takes months (usually) for the testing to finally happen.
It takes another FULL MONTH to wait for follow-up & diagnosis.
Then, the shuffle with insurance & meds begins. Awful. (3/7)
SO: if your student realizes in, say, early February that something isn't working for them, and they IMMEDIATELY contact their GP (let's assume they have one, & have insurance), it's very likely they won't have a diagnosis until late March/April. The semester's, like, over. (4/7)
During my process, I was constantly following up w/ referrals, appts, etc. I also fought for weeks w/ insurance (tg I HAVE insurance) about meds, then had to survive meds titration while still working. Students have to take all these steps too, and it's. so. much. (5/7)
& y'all, I did all this w/ a Real Job, a stable home life, good insurance, & plenty of support at home. Students, who enduring diagnosis process, are doing so mostly alone. And again: it. takes. months. The anxiety of the waiting is its own nightmare. It's soul-crushing. (6/7)
So before you make students show you paperwork so that you'll flex a deadline / whatever it is they need, just remember that even if they started in NOVEMBER they probably wouldn't have the paperwork you wanted by APRIL.
& then get over yourself & do the decent thing. FFS. (7/7)
& then get over yourself & do the decent thing. FFS. (7/7)
Wait wait wait I forgot to make clear: Getting a diagnosis is NOT the same thing as getting 1) medication, 2) a copy of their own diagnostic results to give to the university, or 3) university approval for accommodations.
I had a TEN WEEK WAIT between DX & getting paperwork.
I had a TEN WEEK WAIT between DX & getting paperwork.
So while I am not seeking formal work accommodations, please know that I literally COULD NOT HAVE EVEN BEGUN SEEKING THEM until ten weeks after my diagnostic appointment. People, your students do not have this long to wait if they need your help / flexibility now.
