To take the test or not to take the test?

To make a long story short, I was about to work out the accommodations with the TLC to take a practice test. I score on an average scale, which I think is not bad at all. With some studying and and practice at increasing my speed I will do much better. It is the speed that counts and is the most difficult for me. I understand how to go about solving the scenarios, but when you are under a time crunch you overlook obvious clues or spend to much time on one and not enough on another.
The complication this mouth was the accommodations for the real test and that is where think got frustration. On January 8 I sent the LSAC a packet of materials that was about four inches thick. It contained Visual reports, past accommodations reports, SAT scores, letter from Disability Services, and other such documents. The LSAC's deadline was the 11th and on the 10th I received an email stating that I was missing Evaluation form E1. Thinking about it that was a form I gave to my doctor to fill out and he sent it back to me blank. So, I faxed it to his office and asked them PLEASE to fill it out and fax it to the LSAC. I then called the next day to make sure this had been done and the office staff assured me that it had. Yeah, weathered that one, except the LSAC never got it. Now at this point I was pounding the top of my desk because it was to late to get accommodations for the February 12 test.
So, that was not very short but I am looking at it this was, I have more time to study and do better on the June test.

Purpose, what is it good for!

Stereotypes, are they not fun? Sometimes it irks me to think of myself as living up to one of those, sometimes amusing but more often hurtful predisposed views. There are a lot of blind lawyers out there which on one had can be welcome. Seeing more people with disabilities in the workforce increases the level of awareness of accessibility and abilities. In the image to the right Matt Murdock (aka Deardevil) is a lawyer in his mundane life and is here seen in court with a white cane and dark glasses. Hollywood gives us a fine example of what a blind person should be able to do, Be a superhero with great legal skills.

I came across a law school that had an application designed to be more accessible to people with visual impairments. There it was "click here for Visual Impaired Applications" I was flabbergasted. In instances such as this one it makes some of the process easier. However, on the other hand, doing what is expected of me has never been the most concerning to me. I was always the one who did the things no one else would do or at least equally as well as the others. But here it is, the role that could have been assigned to me. You could be a piano tuner or peddel on the street corner, be a shrink or go into law. How do stereotypes come about? For the first two in the above list they were very common in the earlier twentieth century and the last to are very prevalent recently. Why, what changed in society to shift the focus of ability form one to another? Are people who are blind just more lawful? That statement should be met by derisive laughter. Maybe we are so organized and the field of law demands a high level of organization we are drawn to it. Again laughter of the absurd kind inserted here. In Germany PWAB are encouraged to go into massage which is very tactile so you really do not need to see. But, this philosophy of a set path based on one of the five senses is not an answer that I will except. Now I am not belittling being blind and a masseuse, not at all, but I am not interested for myself. I have been told , by a complete stranger nun the less, that I should be a masseuse and argued quite a lot with me when I politely replied that it was not for me. So, where does that leave me? I have and have always had a deep felt duty to work for some over arching stereotype rending, society changing purpose. And here I am ranting.

What I CAN do: Part I

This last weekend I spoke with two people who said very similar statements. “I would not be as capable as you are if I had a disability.” I am paraphrasing but coming from different people in such a short time in varying circumstances set my mind to ponder. I, at the time commented that “you do not know what you are able to do until you are set the task.” or ”No one know innately how to be adaptable.” evolutions since of humor has not allowed for that yet. One of the individuals conceded that you could go on with life if she was shown how, which is the right attitude I think. As I said this it got me thinking, of the various form disabilities take and the accommodations that can be arranged. I am going through some frustrations with the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) around my own accommodations for the LSAT. The medical model of accessibility has been the prevailing understanding for decades. However, I found in the following quote from Micheal Waterstone an associate dean and professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, presents a well stated example of a more sociopolitical model of disability as the medical model is re-examined.

“doctors serve as gatekeepers to benefits: fear of fraud. But starting in the 1960s, another more empowering view of disability began to emerge. Fed up with medical professionals exerting control over their lives, people with disabilities urged a new and different view of disability.
Under this view, it is not entirely an individuals impairments (meaning what is different within their body or mind from a "norm") that create a disabling condition; rather, it is society's response to those impairments. To use a simple example, if an individual who uses a wheelchair approaches a building that only has stairs to the entrance, is the individual "disabled" because they are in a wheelchair, or because a building has been built without a ramp? Many disability rights advocates would urge the latter understanding. “

If you would like to read the intire article it can be found here http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_16200411
More to come on this subject.

Test Prep

I am thrilled that I have received such a welcome. It is very encouraging when situations like the following occurs.
There is a lot of time and effort given to the accommodations process but what happens when the preparation for the test itself is not included. I am referring to the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) of course. I am taking a prep course the the university's Teaching and Learning Center. It is a basic overview of the kinds of problems on the test and strategies on how to go about solving them. At the end of the course is a practice test, which is a great idea due to the rather alien nature of the format. The one element that is repeated like a catechism is “practice under the same condition that the test will be taken under.” Very good advice on the whole. However, when I approached Jenifer, the instructor, after class last night and put it before her that I am to have more time and a reader on the real test, her reactions was disappointing. Now, I am not unused to having to come to some kind of compromise, far from it, and I was all ready to do it here. Jenifer thought maybe taking the practice test at Disability Services would work, which is not a bad idea. “I am not a student any more” I said “and I am not sure they would accommodate a practice test anyway.” She conceded the point ans said she would think on it. I am a non confrontational person by nature (on my own behalf usually) but if everyone is encouraged to have an authentic experience of the test I should as well. Reading the problems myself and hearing someone else do it in a timed format, make for a very different feel.
Problems of this kind are not forefront in the minds of the student nor are they thought to much about by the people who teach you how to be your own advocate. It is all about the REAL thing. Think how much better students would do on the test if they were allowed the same conditions the same predictable circumstances like the rest of the class has learned to expect.

The Begining

One thing that has interested me for a long time has been the laws around service dogs. Since I first knew I wanted to be partnered with a dog with legal protections I started to learn all I could about them. Education of oneself and others (such as my family) is very important when starting off on such a life-changing endeavor. This draw to the service dog world helped to make me more conscious of disability rights outside of my own. Becoming more and more aware of the cross-disability community has shaped my vocation focus. The law is where I belong. Advocating is something that has seemingly come very naturally to and for me. It is time I use those skills to extend the reach of others. This blog is to show the methods I used to get from this point I just described, to working through all of the logistical, accommodations, applications and emotional processes that come with going to law school and being a person who is blind and has a learning disability.