Toto, I have a feeling > Who's In Charge?
The student is ultimately responsible for managing their own education, understanding their functional limitations and requesting necessary accommodations for a disability.
As adults, all students go through a process of learning about themselves. They develop the skills of self-determination, including confidence enough to advocate for the things they need in order to thrive and achieve. In the case of a disability, that includes advocating for equality -- their civil right.
Disability Services for Students (DSS) endeavors to promote this kind of self-knowledge. With respect to disability, each individual must be able to explain their functional limitations. That is, how their disability affects them or limits the ways in which tasks are performed. Students must also understand how those limitations can be effectively accommodated to create a level playing field for them in school. They will need to be prepared to insist at times, and to be firm in their conviction that what they ask for is reasonable.
It is in the development of these skills that DSS can best guide the student with a disability in their educational growth. These skills are critical, because it is the student, not DSS, who will approach instructors, other staff, and even other students to request the accommodations that are reasonable for them to receive. Clearly, these are the skills all students need to have when they leave The University of Montana-Missoula and move successfully into their chosen careers.
