How do students advocate for themselves in order to ensure they receive appropriate accommodations?

Again, in order to ensure a level playing field, students must advocate effectively for the accommodations they require at UM. This necessitates that the student understands their disability and the ways in which it limits their functioning at the University. The limitations of the disability, not the disability itself, are the reason accommodations are recommended and provided.

So that's the first step--knowing what accommodations are reasonable and why. DSS provides some of these accommodations, known as auxiliary services. (See Expect Access for a list of auxiliary aides and services.) For some accommodations, however, the student makes the request of the instructor. For instance, when using a scribe for an exam, the student must identify themselves to the instructor and make the request. The student and the instructor determine the best arrangements to make. The instructor can make the arrangements in the academic department or the student can make arrangements with DSS. The student, if they wish, may want to provide a scribe with whom they have successfully worked in the past. That is, if the student prefers to work with someone whose skills are familiar and adequate. In any case, the student should ensure that the accommodations provided give them the most level playing field to them on that particular exam.

In some cases, students have not been provided with the accommodations they have requested. Other times the accommodations are inadequate. In those instances, DSS will work with the student in order to find the best resolution. (See also Expect Access on ADA Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy, or ADR and Grievance Procedure.)

The next step for students is to acknowledge that discrimination against people with disabilities exists. It takes many forms, including paternalism and sometimes indifference. Much of the access at UM has come about because students with disabilities have joined together to cause positive change to happen. The Alliance for Disability and Students at The University of Montana (ADSUM) was formed in 1988 to combat widespread discrimination and lack of access on campus. ADSUM's success can be measured today by the fivefold increase in students with disabilities attending UM and graduating, and by the greater attention the University now gives to access. ADSUM, which in Latin means "I am here," is still active and remains a driving force that links the promise of civil rights for students with disabilities to the reality of causing change in the interest of equality.