[Athen] Lab Polices for adaptive/assistive lab

[Ron Stewart]

Kathy I am well aware of the quality of the services you provide, but just
reading the policy on its surface it is problematic.  If you had an OCR
complaint over equivalent access the first thing they would look at is the
policy and then also look into the actual practice.  On its surface the
policy is discriminatory, so perhaps it needs to be modified to actually be
reflective of the actual practice or a procedural document that guides the
policy implementation.

 

Just my two cents, I see a lot of documents like this in my campus
evaluations and I always advice against them just like I advise against
disability only stations in general access labs because it creates unneeded
animosity from other labs users.

 

Ron Stewart

 

From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On
Behalf Of Kathleen Cahill
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 5:44 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network
Subject: Re: [Athen] Lab Polices for adaptive/assistive lab

 

Wow, I guess this must be the reason why no one else has shared their lab
user policy with this list.  Thank you for the unsolicited reviews although
I'm sure we can put some of your feedback to use.  

 

First of all, the Assistive Technology Center is open 24/7, just as
mainstream computing clusters are.   Students have keycard (proximity card!)
access at all times.  We also set our students up to work wherever they want
to, including their laptops or in specific department clusters or lab where
they work.   

 

One reason we have had to be restrictive in the past with guests is that we
had a student who was having tutors, readers and guests in frequently,
disturbing other users.  We could probably stand to remove some of that
wording now that it is less of an issue.  

 

While our lab is a separate facility for students with disabilities, many
still prefer to use it compared to mainstream computing clusters for peace
and quiet.  It is not the only place on campus for students with
disabilities to use assistive technologies but it is one place on campus for
them to do scanning, Braille translation and embossing.  They also can come
to us staff for demonstrations of different products and software that are
not available elsewhere on campus.

 

We're very proud of the services we provide our students and staff!

 

Regards,

Kathy

 

Kathleen Cahill

MIT Assistive Technology Information Center (ATIC)

77 Mass. Ave. 7-143

Cambridge MA 02139

(617) 253-5111

kcahill at mit.edu

 

 

From: Sheryl Burgstahler <sherylb at uw.edu>
Reply-To: Access Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Date: Monday, April 14, 2014 at 4:33 PM
To: Access Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Athen] Lab Polices for adaptive/assistive lab

 

In this policy, it appears that MIT is requiring more hoops for students
with disabilities to go through in order to gain access  to the MIT
technology they need to use when compared with other MIT students. They also
seem to be be only assured access to the specialized technology they need in
a segregated rather than integrated setting and (perhaps) even have fewer
total access hours each week than other students. If a student with a
disability needs the equipment in ATIC to work on a project with a person
who does not have a disability, must this second person come in as a guest
and stay a maximum of ten minutes? Also, is the termination policy
consistent with that for other MIT students?  

 

Are these restrictions contrary to the spirit of the ADA?

 

Sheryl

------------------------------------------------------------
Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D.
Director, UW Accessible Technology & DO-IT, UW-IT
Affiliate Professor, Education
University of Washington, Box 354842
Seattle, WA 98195
206-543-0622          FAX 206-221-4171
http://staff.washington.edu/sherylb
sherylb at uw.edu





 

On Apr 14, 2014, at 8:01 AM, Kathleen Cahill wrote:





Hi Susan,

 

Here is the lab user agreement we ask our students to read and sign.  

 

Kathy

 

Kathleen Cahill

MIT Assistive Technology Information Center (ATIC)

77 Mass. Ave. 7-143

Cambridge MA 02139

(617) 253-5111

kcahill at mit.edu

 

 

From: Susan Kelmer <Susan.Kelmer at Colorado.EDU>
Reply-To: Access Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Date: Monday, April 7, 2014 at 1:31 PM
To: "dsshe-l at listserv.buffalo.edu" <dsshe-l at listserv.buffalo.edu>, Access
Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Athen] Lab Polices for adaptive/assistive lab

 

For those of you with an adaptive/assistive tech lab for student use.we are
in the process of writing a few new policies, and wondered what other people
have in place as far as policy in their lab.  Would love to see them if you
have them.

 

Thanks.

 

Susan Kelmer

Alternate Format Coordinator

Disability Services

University of Colorado

303-735-4836

 

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2013-2014.docx>_______________________________________________
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