Can anyone help - College living and Disability Services not helping.

[Tinker'n'Fun]

My son is going away this August to college. We found out about 4 weeks ago that he need reconstructive surgery on his ankle. Long story short it will be done in December and he will need some very specific accommodations to make sure the surgery is a success. Note recovery can take up to one/two YEARS.

Student housing is the most important. He has been faxing and sending all the paperwork they required plus a doctors statement with his exact needs on it. Today they are stating they can not help him. I called Disability Services and the woman was terribly rude to me. First she said she only helps children who need assistance taking tests etc, so I asked who I needed to speak to for physical disabilities, she said I do that. I stated for a second time my son's needs are not being met as per his surgeon. She said to speak with Resident Life again. I stated that they are the one's denying the doctor. So I said "If I got my son a lawyer to help him since I won't be there.. (sentenced not finished) and she broke in and said "Don't threaten me and you have no grounds to sue us". I tried very hard to explain I had no intention of suing anyone just need to figure out how to get my son's needs addressed and pretty much she was just very rude and hung up on me. I know you probably think I was being rude of said something but I swear I didn't. I was very nice, please and thank you's and it was my first call to the college. My son has been trying to do this on his own but at this point he is in an area that is not what is required for the surgery and I am at a total loss.

Can anyone help me? I feel like a horrible parent knowing my son's life has totally changed and I can't help him. Note the surgery is being done just so he is able to WALK. Not to get him playing sports or anything like that. He had no stability in his ankle, is in a brace until surgery and the surgery was moved to December under very strict conditions. Thanks and sorry about rambling, I am really upset right now. He is still only 17 so underage based on the College website.

 

[Foodallergymom]

Do you mind me asking what state the college is in?

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Do you mind me asking what state the college is in?

Florida if that helps. (Tampa area if that is even better)

 

[Gracie09]

You need student services or student affairs. Be prepared for them to say your son has to make the request etc as he is an adult and there may be ferpa issues. Have him call explain the situation and they should direct him to the correct person. Then he can say so and so in student affairs sent me to you an it may help get things moving.

 

[SteveMouse]

What is the nature of the accommodations request? (ie disabled-accessible room and restroom, no stairs to class, etc.) Or other things?

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

What is the nature of the accommodations request? (ie disabled-accessible room and restroom, no stairs to class, etc.) Or other things?

The doctor's statement is: low floor, close to classes, double room not triple.

He was originally placed in a dorm room that met all the requirements but for some reason was transferred to a dorm hall farther from classes on the 6th. floor.

He is under age at this point so they do speak with me and that has not been a problem.

After the surgery we are not sure where he will be. It can be in a full cast, non-weight bearing, short cast non weigh bearing, and or he may be in a walking cast that is actually his physical therapy. Simple "slow walks" and stretching exercises will be used for 6 months to 2 years based on how it goes.

Until the surgery is over we will not know. But he is in a walking boot/cast right now. It supports his ankle so he can walk. He needs to stay away from curvy roads walk on the inside as to not roll his ankle and damage it any more. Each roll now can make the surgery more complicated.

He went to a concert this weekend. He was just standing and did a few walks as per what the doctor requests. At the end of the day his ankle was 3 times the size and all stability was gone. He was unable to walk for 16 hours after that.

Thank you everyone. I am hoping it will just work out and this will have just been my mental therapy writing it out, but he has worked so hard to get to his dream college and I just can't fathom the disappointment if he has to change schools because of a dorm room. Sounds drastic but he really does want to strengthen his ankle and be able to walk normally and I get that!

 

[lanejudy]

The doctor's statement is: low floor, close to classes, double room not triple.

Well, "low floor" shouldn't be hard, though if there are elevators the school may not understand the need for low-floor. Does the current 6th floor assignment have an elevator? One would assume a dorm with that many floors would, but never safe to assume...

Close to classes - this could be trickier, depending on the campus layout. While he may have registered for Fall2013 classes, likely there's no way of knowing what/where his classes will be for Spring2014 so the school may not be able to accommodate that as easily, since dorm assignments are generally for the full school-year overlapping semesters (or even tri-mesters if that's the system used). As a freshmen, he's likely taking primarily his gen-eds which could be all over, as opposed to an upperclassman who is heavily registered for classes in a particular area of study (engineering, science, etc.) that might be more concentrated in one or two buildings.

I'm not seeing how a double versus triple or quad has much impact - that's entirely up to the students in the room who sleeps top bunk or whatever. Of course, each school/dorm/room may be set-up differently, but I'm not sure how having 2 roommates would be more detrimental than 1.

I hate to say it, but it almost sounds like the doctor's note is much too vague - something like the vagueness many doctors will write for WDW guests to request a GAC. Is it possible for you to make an appointment to visit the school in-person and discuss the options? For example...this dorm is closer to the classes for his major so it would be best, or this dorm is twice as far from the dining hall so it's a problem. Unfortunately, asking the school to make an accommodation now for a potential (unknown) need 6 months or a year from now is probably the stumbling block. I would think an in-person visit might help if at all possible - puts you in front of someone face-to-face to discuss your concerns, the doctor's concerns, and your son's living arrangements at school.

And I apologize if I'm not understanding...just seems to me (a lay person somewhat familiar with disabilities and accommodations) that the doctor's "orders" are vague, and therefore the school personnel may also be having trouble understanding specifically the impact of his placement.

Good luck.

 

[Schmeck]

He should use a wheelchair or a scooter - the school should be accessible for that. I believe that would be what the college would expect your son to do if he has a mobility issue. Even if his dorm room was on the first floor, it could be a long walk just to get to an entrance, or around a building, or across campus. How is he going to handle all that walking?

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

He should use a wheelchair or a scooter - the school should be accessible for that. I believe that would be what the college would expect your son to do if he has a mobility issue. Even if his dorm room was on the first floor, it could be a long walk just to get to an entrance, or around a building, or across campus. How is he going to handle all that walking?

Sorry not going to multi-quote but will answer questions. In a triple they are NOT allowed to stack beds and there is not enough room to move around. With the surgery he needs to walk afterwards once he is given the okay which should be hopefully around a week or so into Spring Semester.

He will not be in a wheelchair and carting him around is not the answer for this type of surgery and recovery.

No sixth floor even with elevators. If there was a malfunction of the elevator he would never be able to get out. They have dorms that are two and three floors all of which will work for him.

As for close to classes that is important this semester too, almost more as he will not be casted and will have to be very careful with walking. He already has his classes so the dorm that is closest is already noted and most of his classes next semester will be in that building as he already has his Gen-Ed classes done. He is already at core classes.

 

[kathyk2]

Your son needs to contact the Resident Director for his dorm to discuss the size of his room. He also might need to contact Disability Services to get his classes moved if they are located in a building without an elevator.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Sorry not going to multi-quote but will answer questions. In a triple they are NOT allowed to stack beds and there is not enough room to move around. With the surgery he needs to walk afterwards once he is given the okay which should be hopefully around a week or so into Spring Semester.

.

Sorry, but I still think you need to be flexible on this. There is no reason he can't stay in a triple and walk the dorm hall a little bit if he needs to walk around. This could be the thing that is keeping your son from getting all the other accommodations he needs.

 

[Gracie09]

Your son needs to contact the Resident Director for his dorm to discuss the size of his room. He also might need to contact Disability Services to get his classes moved if they are located in a building without an elevator.

Most rds are grad students who have little to no input on room assignment. It seems like disability services at this school only handles issues related to academics or testing . The dean of students/student affairs/student services tends to be an overarching area of student life. They will be able to guide the op about where to go and who to speak with. As for moving buildings for classes that may not be possible depending on the classes ops son is taking.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Most rds are grad students who have little to no input on room assignment. It seems like disability services at this school only handles issues related to academics or testing . The dean of students/student affairs/student services tends to be an overarching area of student life. They will be able to guide the op about where to go and who to speak with. As for moving buildings for classes that may not be possible depending on the classes ops son is taking.

Thank you to the quoted poster.

He does not want his classes moved at all. He will walk around in his dorm room and if his room is at the end of the hall that is not a problem.

Triple rooms are very, very condensed. He would not be able to walk around the room on crutches at all and depending on his roommates it could be a hazard to him. Same with the sixth floor. It is not every day living that would be a problem it would be if there was a malfunction of the elevators he would not be able to get out. If he was to be in a wheelchair for some reason it would not fit in a triple.

Thanks to everyone who gave suggestions. I put a message in to the Provost. Human Services asked me to. I will wait for her return call. I realize that she is on the "Academic" side of the college but a very nice person stated she will direct me to the correct person and that my son's doctors requests were not out of the ordinary.

I also called the ADA who also went through the legal side and his doctor's requests while vague are not to be overlooked. Since they have not moved in yet each of the requests should be met. With contacting the two I am hoping to get some answers in a few weeks. If not the ADA said they would take the complaint. I really hope it doesn't go that far.

 

[kritter47]

I'm going to attempt to break down what your son's doctor is really asking for in order to help you brainstorm about how you might be able to work with the school for accommodations.

"Double room" - Your son will need room to maneuver on crutches and some space in which to walk each day. Given those needs, your son can be reasonably accommodated in a triple room by doing his walking in the hall and keeping his room, triple or double, reasonably clean. A double room with a very messy roommate could be much more of a hazard than a triple room with two clean ones. You can have a surprisingly small turning radius/space needed to maneuver on crutches. Of the three, I would put this in the middle of the "needs" because a slightly larger space could provide some ease of use for your son. However, there are other ways he can accommodate his needs if necessary.

"Close to class" - your son will need to do some walking around campus as part of his rehab, and he prefers not to use a wheelchair. For this, he can be reasonably accommodated in other ways - notably breaking down and using a wheelchair for longer travel. I realize he does need to walk at some points during the day for his rehabilitation, but if the problem is distance traveled while walking, it is completely legitimate to suggest he needs to use other mobility aids at times. Think of how WDW accommodates standing/stamina/walking needs. Pushing a collapsible wheelchair (which would pretty easily fit in a closet or indoor bike storage area) allows him to walk as much as he wants but wheel himself when walking gets to be too much.

Additionally, class is likely to be one of just a few areas he walks to as a freshman. He will also spend large amounts of time at the dining hall, the student rec center, professor's offices and other places on campus. Class is only 50 percent of the battle, and if your son's school is like many others, there's almost no way to be centrally located to everything. Regardless of where he's put with a dorm, he will need some sort of strategy for other excess walking. This would be the lowest-ranked of the "needs" in my book because there are very simple other ways to help him avoid too much walking.

"Ground-floor" - The sixth floor request with no other way to evacuate, on the other hand, does seem reasonable. I would emphasize with the housing people that you are concerned about your son's ability to evacuate in an emergency given that he cannot move up and down stairs. This would be the only one that stands a chance with an ADA complaint, as there is no other way to reasonably accommodate him with regards to emergency exit ability.

Also, FWIW, the Disability Services people told you the correct thing - you have to contact Resident Life for such things. At the vast majority of schools, Disability Services is an academic branch. You brought up lawyers when the DS woman told you that, though, and that escalated the situation. I know you think it may have been delivered nicely, but as soon as you bring up potential lawyer involvement, you're essentially delivering a threat to a woman who could not help you other than to point you to the right people. That's going to shut down anyone who possibly could have been an ally immediately.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Kritter thank you for your thought out response. I really do appreciate it.

I will keep all you said when working with the school but I would like to clear up something that seems to be what I can not get expressed properly.

The triple is not a problem for my son to need to walk around each day, he physically will not be able to get from one area to the next in the triple. It is the same size of the double room with 3 of everything. So getting around in the room without tripping and or falling is the concern, not getting around.

We are more than willing to pay for the double. Money is not the option, but getting to the bathroom safely is. Those rooms really get cramped when you have 3 beds that you are not allowed to stack, 3 desk area's, 3 small dressers and all the stuff each of the kids bring.

He will be new to the crutches and only a few weeks out of surgery when he goes back so I am not sure how he will handle it.

Your post made sense and I am grateful. I think we will work for low floor double and drop the close to classes for now. The 6th. floor triple just won't work.

 

[gilesmt]

I am going to attempt a few things here, and hopefully Sue can import since it has been a while for us in a w/c.

First your doctor has a problem with his request, and second you have some unrealistic expectations. But in no way do I mean that the school can not accommodate and help.

First you need to think over the course of temporary disability, 6 to 24 months. This is where sue could step in, back in the days a disability had to last for 12 months to be covered, but I am not up with the laws anymore. So what you are asking from the school falls under 504 and housing laws.

That being said, if they provide an elevator than they are covered under 504 and housing. If the elevator goes out, they have a generator, and they are not discriminating against your son, they won't have service for anyone. I am blind I always ask for bottom floor, I have always been told by housing that w/c are a priority for bottom floors, so I have never recieved on, even if my doctor asks.housiing has provided an elevator so in all I have gotten use to it and I rather like not hearing the people above me so I learned to live with it, and I never even use the elevator.

Second it is not a reasonable request for a doctor to say all classes close to dorm. That is not a reasonable accommodation. If a class is on a 6th floor with no elevator than you can ask for an accommodation, but to say all classes need to be close, what does that mean, 50 ft 500 ft. College campuses can be huge and I think your doctor does not understand the law. The school can take the request for needing a way to get to the classes without walking a long way and accommodate by giving him a w/c and someone to push it. Wdw tells people to rent w/c for st anima problems, these people can walk, but they need help. According to you, your son needs to walk, and according to the doctors wording, he is saying your son can not walk far, so if the school provides a way by means of w/c to classes than by law they reasonably accommodated him.

Third your request for a double room, again the doctor is not saying why, you refer to it as his need to move around, well he has halls, he has walks to class. Usually in housing when a person request with a doctors note for more space it is for a need, such as a handicap room in a hotel has more room for a w/c to move around, a bathroom has a role in shower ect.

That being all said, my first suggestion to you is to call the doctors office and ask if there is a social worker or case manager working with him and talk to her, she can get the doctor to write more realistic accommodation needs. Second, it is better to talk in person with the school and yes, to you it may be important to get this in place before his surgery, but until his surgery he is not in need of many things you ask for. So if he will not need low floor housing until dec, than the school is thinking why give it to him in August, wait until the crowds die down and move him when he returns after Christmas. Third I think the real problem you have is they fact that know one knows until surgery what he really needs and what would benefit him.

I don't mean this rude, or disrespectful, but you are thinking reasonable accommodations means you get what the doctor ordered, and that is not the law. I am blind, I would love the phone, electric and cable bill to come in large print. I would love to see a newspaper read to me the day it is written, or like the tv gives closed caption, I would like to have visual captions on all tv shows, but that is not going to happen, ever. But all my bills say they need to call me if not paid on time before they send them to collections, because I can not read the bills. Also with computers I now can go on line and get them thru a program I had to pay for read to me. That is how I get some daily news thru computer and doc reader programs, and someday maybe I will have visual clues on movies.

Last I will say, this is why I choose a private college when I went to school, they were much better accommodating me than any public school. I wish you all the best, I am not trying be mean, but I believe the lack of knowledge from your doctor and the lack of understanding from you is causing the problems. Also, schools know the law so they always think you are threatening when you question them. I think personally even with a better doctors note, your school is reasonably accommodating your son with what information they have now, and they won't change, because your sons disability which is temporary up to 6 months at the moment, is not going to have them place any money into the situation since he can find reasonable accommodations to fit his needs with there offer, a sixth floor with an elevator, hallways to walk, and a way to get to classes without walking to far.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

Based on my experience trying to get accommodations for a mobility disability in college, here's my take on things.

1) Schools never want to deal with things before they're actually true. This may be a big part of your issue right now. It's not uncommon for people to move their room between semesters as different rooms become available, etc. Are there any of the accommodations that he'll need pre-surgery? It sounds like he's having some pretty severe issues if they're talking about surgery.

2) There is someone on campus (and it is supposed to be part of the disability resources) will be in charge of dealing with physical accommodations due to disability. If there isn't a person there who does this at all, they are in violation of the law. Whether they're any good is another story. The woman who ran things for my college (I went to a small private school) had almost no experience dealing with physical disabilities. It was messy, but we worked it out and I paved the way for future students who used wheelchairs.

3) While I don't know exactly what was in the doctor's letter, what you've given here may just not be enough info. The school can ask for detailed justification, general idea of test results (specific results if it's an educational disability), etc. as part of the documentation.

4) A request for a double rather than triple is probably one that just plain sounds odd. While the double will have more space, the other posters are right that with the wrong roommate it could be more problems than the triple. It might actually be better if he just plain wrote for a single room.

5) It's worth asking if they have alternate escape plans in case of an emergency for that sixth floor room. There are ways to safely evacuate people with mobility impairments from higher floors and if they're saying he can live on the sixth floor, they better have them in place and be willing to trial them with him.

Last I will say, this is why I choose a private college when I went to school, they were much better accommodating me than any public school. I wish you all the best, I am not trying be mean, but I believe the lack of knowledge from your doctor and the lack of understanding from you is causing the problems. Also, schools know the law so they always think you are threatening when you question them. I think personally even with a better doctors note, your school is reasonably accommodating your son with what information they have now, and they won't change, because your sons disability which is temporary up to 6 months at the moment, is not going to have them place any money into the situation since he can find reasonable accommodations to fit his needs with there offer, a sixth floor with an elevator, hallways to walk, and a way to get to classes without walking to far.

I had the opposite experience with a private college vs. a public university. I had a horrible time getting my accommodations at two different small private colleges, but friends at public universities didn't have nearly the level of the problems I did getting their accommodations. As well, because of the larger sizes, the public universities had more resources and far more experience in giving accommodations. Their buildings were also much newer, which helped. I took a couple classes at a public university as a commuter student while on leave from full time college and getting accommodations there were so much easier.

 

[Piper]

Thank you to the quoted poster.



I also called the ADA who also went through the legal side and his doctor's requests while vague are not to be overlooked. Since they have not moved in yet each of the requests should be met. With contacting the two I am hoping to get some answers in a few weeks. If not the ADA said they would take the complaint. I really hope it doesn't go that far.

This has me confused. The ADA is an act not an agency. I am wondering who you called.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

This has me confused. The ADA is an act not an agency. I am wondering who you called.

I googled American Disabilities Act and was brought to this website:
http://www.ada.gov/. There was a page with contact information that brought you to people who could answer questions re: what is legal, what is not, what you can expect, etc. I have been typing and responding and while I know it is an Act, it is where I got the phone number/contact. Hope this makes some sense.

 

[disfan07]

I don't have time to write out a long response right now but 2 things stick out to me as someone who used disabilities services for my 3 years at my school...

1) your son needs to be the one to talk to disabilities about what services he does and does not qualify for. Not you...your son. As far as I know, at my school, disabilities counselors will not talk to parents unless there is some extenuating circumstance. I know this because we had to deal with that issue up front because I had brain surgery the summer before school started so I was not able to fully function while recovering....after I met with diabilities right before surgery, I filled out a form that stated that my parents and specific physicians had to be allowed to talk to disabilities if necessary in the case of emergency surgery, intubation, and extended pain med need (because it created "brain fog"). We had to use that form a couple of times for my situation. Otherwise, the counselors will not talk to the parents without the student present because it's not high school anymore.

2) there's a chance they will not make accomodations until AFTER the surgery. Maybe right before depending ont he accomodation. I know that our disabilities services would not make accomodations for a situation that did not exist yet. It sounds like your son won't need accomodations until spring quarter.....so that's when accomodations would go into affect. At least that's how it happened here. Physicians had to fil out a disabilities accomodations form that stated the illness/injury, how it was diagnosed, the treatments, the limitations, and whether it was permanent, temporary, or length of college education. They had to put the date of start and end of illness/injury if it's not permanent and that's when the accomodations would start.

Oh....and I know here disabilities services requests a LOT of information. And they have the right to call the physician if they feel necessary or require more information. I know that happened with one of my physicians because a reason it was determined that I needed testing accomodations for was a little unusual. It all worked it fine, they just had to check with my physician about what exactly was necessary to ensure things were safe for me.

I don't mean to be rude but after using disabilities services myself and doing some volunteer work in the office, I think you might be expecting too much. I think your idea of reasonable accomodations may not be what is actually deemed reasonable by the school.