It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.
      - Justice Felix Frankfurter

This time of year, with so many graduations taking place, I decided to write about the accommodations that I received from Vanderbilt University through their Opportunity Development Center because of my medical issues. The first major accommodation was that I was provided a copy of the professor's lecture notes or power point slides before class began. This was because taking notes is difficult for me; I lack the fine motor skills to write at any speed for any length of time and even typing can become tiresome. The school offered a note taking service, but I found this lacking because of several reasons: 1) Handwriting, 2) the notes did not have to be turned in until a week after a class session making it difficult to study for tests, and 3) what one person needed to note may not be what I needed to note.I was also allowed to tape record class sessions to review at a later date and improve my notes. One professor even allowed me to leave a tape recorder with one of her TAs who would record the class session for me if I was absent.
The second major accommodation was for taking exams. I took all of my exams by computer with extended testing time. I used a computer because of the previously mentioned difficulty with writing. The extended testing time was to allow for the speed of typing and for any glitches such as printers getting stuck. Some Profs had me take the test via laptop in the classroom, some had me use a computer at the ODC, and others had me use one of several computers in a small never utilized lab.
The third major accommodation was transportation on campus. At that time I was unable to walk on the hilly campus from one side to the other (a good mile) in the time allowed between classes. An offer was made to purchase a power wheelchair for me, but I refused because I wanted to maintain as much independence as possible. So after a LOT of problem solving, the university arranged to have the medical shuttles transport me from one side of campus to the other and back again on schedule with my classes. A few times I was forgotten and left stranded some place but overall it worked well.
The fourth major accommodation was student housing. Freshman year I was supposed to have a single (one person) dorm room in a dorm with elevators and washer/dryer. I ended up on the 3rd floor of a walk up dorm. When I tried to talk to my RA about this, she told me that there was no way a change would be made and basically to suck it up and deal. She also told me I would not last through the first semester. I wanted to pin my first semester 4.0 report card to her forehead. So when housing arrangements for Sophomore year came around, I had to meet with the dean of housing. It turns out he had accidentally put me in the walk up dorm and would have fixed it immediately; he even offered to fix it then but it was the beginning of April and school ended the beginning of May. So I was allowed first pick of the dorm rooms prior to the lottery assignment system due to my medical needs, and I chose a single (one person) dorm room with a private bathroom. It was the largest of the 3 rooms like this on campus. I needed special housing because of the need to sleep during the day, the need to reduce germ exposure, and the need to have my own bathroom for bladder problems, I was able to keep this room for the remainder of my time in college.
The fifth and final major accommodation was with the class registration system. Because when I selected classes, I carefully planned out a schedule with time for breaks and rest in between class sessions, I needed to be accepted into the course numbers and sections I selected. So the computer system was given a code with my name that guaranteed I would be allowed enrollment in any course I requested. This way I could not be bumped to another section meeting at another time, or wait listed for a course.
These accommodations did not give me an unfair advantage, instead they helped level the playing field with my peers so that I could perform to the best of my ability without symptoms of my illness/disability limiting my abilities. There are many more accommodations that someone with a disability can request if necessary, including having textbooks on tape, having exams read to them, using dictation for exams and papers, visual door bells for someone with a hearing impairment, braille textbooks, and wheelchair accessible dorm rooms.