UVA, Stop Failing Disabled Students

UVA’s Student Disability Access Center (SDAC) supports, in its own words: “The University’s commitment to accessible education.” Each year, the Center provides special attention and adjustments for students with physical, mental, and learning disabilities to ensure a smooth and equitable experience throughout the course of their education. For some of us, however, the standards by which SDAC and the University’s schools provide these accommodations have held back students from demonstrating their full potential.

My Story

As a person who has been diagnosed with both learning and anxiety disorders, coming to UVA was unsurprisingly terrifying. Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits disability discrimination in federally assisted activities, I had received a tailored education plan since elementary school. It held me on track with my peers and allowed me to make my way to one of the most prestigious public universities in the world. During this transition, my family and I communicated my needs and history with SDAC. I hoped to have the whole process over within a month so that I would only have to worry about my dreaded midterm essays. Little did I know that my troubles would continue throughout the next two years.

After being issued temporary accommodations, I was told that keeping my aid beyond my first year would require getting a signed Verification of Disability form and a new diagnosis. This hurdle was due to an SDAC requirement which states that applicants must have had an updated diagnosis within five years of admittance. Mine, of course, was conveniently a decade old. 

While solving this may sound as easy as booking an appointment, many offices that offer the needed evaluation have slim openings, even slimmer windows to book, and — in my case — a nearly $600 setback, even with insurance. After monthly calls, hours of research, and a multitude of lengthy drives, I finally received the needed testing — only to be given the exact same diagnosis as before.

This process became an unnecessary burden on me and my family. Despite applying for funding through the University twice, we never received help in getting back what we were forced to pay to satisfy SDAC. Not only have the requirements for receiving accommodations been a hassle; general education standards have further complicated the situation.

I am someone who is incapable of understanding foreign languages as easily as my peers, making the requirements set by the College of Arts & Sciences a particular challenge. This is the third semester I have had to deal with the humiliation of exploring Italian, which is supposedly among the easiest languages offered by UVA.

For the last year, nearly all of my exam grades in the class have been a C or below. I have only survived these courses through extra credit and attendance points, making my F-level work work out to a B. Despite accommodation, the rapid structure of these courses keeps my comprehension behind as the grades continue to drop and days of seemingly worthless, tearful studying continue to pile.

One solution that SDAC has in place for my problem is called a World Language Memo. It functions as a tool to adjust language checkpoints around the immovable four semester program. Under this plan, a student must pass through five steps: first, request a memo; second, await word on approval; third, demonstrate a “good faith effort” in the next level of their chosen language for six weeks; fourth, meet with the chair of their language program to request a Credit/No-Credit grade; and fifth, take other courses on the cultures or translation of that language in order to substitute the remaining levels of the requirement. 

During the intake process and temporary provision period, I repeatedly expressed my anxiety over foreign languages, but it was only after two semesters and the scheduling of a psychological evaluation that I was walked through the Memo process. While I am now in the Credit/No-Credit stage, I still must finish the semester in shame and fear, knowing that I am not the only one who has seen similar barriers. Mine is by far not the most unfortunate case. Disabled students through the years have had to go so far as to extend their education to meet the College’s general education requirements after being thrown in circles and giving far too much of their time to fix issues that they never created.

A Demand for Revision

The grievances we have with these systems grow day by day. It would be impossible to represent and list the full breadth of misfortunes dealt to those with differing needs, but there are three hurdles which appear to affect the majority of SDAC users. 

1. One of the largest complaints is the amount of responsibility placed on the student in securing proper accommodation. Each semester, it is up to the student to schedule their exams through SDAC, inform the professors about their needs, ensure that professors uphold proper support, and retrieve all proper evidence needed for approval. These issues can oftentimes complicate the situation of applicants, especially those without immediate access to updated disability information.
2. There is a lack of coherence in how the system works. Students report confusion on the purpose of meetings with their accessibility coordinators, and SDAC operates in a manner which severely delays proper communication and mishandles the provision of adjustments for many applicants. In one case, a recipient who applied in May was given a message stating her accommodations had been delayed until October due to a “technical issue” on the Center’s end, leaving aid only available just before the start of major exams. The repeated failure to work with the schedules of applicants and the unnecessary reliance on recent documentation has left many to struggle alone for months or even entire semesters.
3. Many classes do not have the proper resources to keep students on track in carrying out one of the most common accommodations — the taking of notes by a fellow student. Professors are not mandated to provide tailored material beyond their classes, meaning that people with disabilities often must rely on the volunteer work of their peers in order to remember the material, and such notes may not be up to par with what is required to succeed in class. If not done by a human hand, note taking is relegated to an AI-powered program for recording each course, presenting ethical concerns over the sustainability of AI use and the potential to not capture the full scope of meaning within a course.

Why is it not the inherent duty of educators and schools to ensure we receive a comprehensive, timely, and equal understanding of course material? It is disappointing that these burdens are placed on students already in need of support to simply continue their studies. While the professionals at SDAC do wonderful work for the UVA community, it is time that the system gets a refresh. We have worked through educational and social challenges our entire lives; it’s far past time that we should be served better by this institution.

The all-too-common threat of academic failure, unnecessarily long processes, and debilitating humiliation we must suffer are unacceptable. Each complaint is nothing more than the tip of the iceberg. Students with dozens of highly diverse mental and physical conditions are facing similar walls in their experience here at UVA. Our center for “accessibility” as well as the individual schools of the University must re-examine their policies, resource allocation, and commitment to the success of disabled students. Furthermore, SDAC must pledge itself to transparency with all students, provide a more in-depth explanation as to why so many delays occur, and take steps to mitigate the responsibilities of both current and incoming applicants.