Look, no one said college should be easy. You’re training for a career. In a lot of ways, you’re training for life. Of course, it’s going to be challenging. It shouldn’t be more challenging for some students than others, though. Everyone deserves a fair chance at an education.
If you’re an NYU student with a disability, you should know that there are programs in place to help level the academic playing field for you. Not “give you an advantage”—level the playing field.
NYU doesn’t simply offer these programs out of the goodness of its heart. The law—the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), for example, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973—requires schools to provide you with equal education. That doesn’t mean every instructor and administrator follows the law. It doesn’t mean you’ll never run into discrimination or prejudice.
When you do, the LLF National Law Firm is here to help. Our Education Law Team was founded to help protect student rights. Whatever the situation, we’re on your side and committed to getting you fair treatment. We know how NYU’s disability services programs work, and we can show you how to make the most of them. We’re also familiar with all the university’s policies and procedures, and we can guide you through them any time you’re feeling a little lost. We’re dedicated to your success, and we have the background and experience to help you make the most of your education.
To find out more about what the LLF National Law Firm can do for you, call 888-535-3686, or take a few minutes right now and fill out one of their online forms.
NYU’s Disability Services
NYU offers a wide range of disability services. In fact, you have so many opportunities as a student with a disability that it can sometimes be hard to make sense of them all.
For the most part, the Moses Center for Student Accessibility coordinates all of these services. As the name implies, however, the Moses Center doesn’t just exist to provide accommodations. It’s actually devoted to disability studies. You can even minor in the subject. There are programs specifically aimed at students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The Center offers regular lectures and seminars on subjects related to disability studies. There’s a Disability Student Union, and a library devoted to disability texts. It can all be a little overwhelming.
Of course, your first concern as a new student at NYU is to register with the Center and make sure you have appropriate accommodations in place. Keep in mind that you’re not in high school anymore, and no one is going to do this work for you. You have to take charge of your disability and your education, and it may even be necessary sometimes to demand fair treatment. Here’s what you can expect from the registration process, for instance.
- First, you fill out an online application.
- Within 7-10 days, an Accessibility Specialist will contact you about setting up an appointment to discuss your application.
- You can provide documentation of your disability when you apply. However, if you’re not sure what to provide, the Accessibility Specialist can help you get organized at the meeting.
- The meeting is also an opportunity to discuss what accommodations you might need.
- Following the meeting, the Center will develop an accommodations plan and issue any letters you may need for course instructors.
You hope this process goes smoothly, but there are sometimes bumps in the road. It’s not always easy to come up with the right kind of documentation, for instance, and you never know what kind of red tape you may have to cut through. Likewise, the Center can sometimes be conservative in what type of accommodations it recommends.
Whether you need us to help you get organized, review an accommodation plan, or simply make sense of the NYU system for you, the Education Law Team is here. We can serve as a basic resource if that’s what you need.
We can also be fierce when it comes to protecting our clients’ interests.
Always remember that you have the right to reasonable accommodations. You should never let anyone deny you these rights for any reason. The Center should always approve the accommodations you need; instructors should always be willing to implement these accommodations; the university should always supply you with the proper materials and resources. Any time anyone is unwilling to do their job, the LLF National Law Firm doesn’t mind reminding them of their responsibilities.
Issues With Invisible Disabilities
Federal disability laws apply not just to physical disabilities like sight impairment and cerebral palsy but also to so-called “invisible disabilities. If you have a learning disability like ADHD or a diagnosis of ASD, you have the right to necessary accommodations as well.
It can sometimes be the case, though, that invisible disabilities get overlooked. Again, you have some responsibility for letting the university and individual instructors know about your disability. However, if a professor decides to ignore your disability because it’s not “obvious” or simply forgets to implement it, we are always glad to step in and hold them accountable.
Of course, because invisible disabilities are invisible, students sometimes don’t even realize they have them. We can help here as well. If you suspect you might have a disability, the Education Law Team can make sure you get properly tested. We can work with you to get documentation of your disability and pressure the Moses Center to move quickly to get accommodations in place for you. Fixing your GPA could be simpler than you think.
It may even be possible to convince NYU to drop low grades from your transcript after the fact. If you took a course before you realized you had a disability, you may have struggled in that course without proper accommodations. Even if you didn’t know you needed those accommodations, you had a right to them, and you can always ask the university to allow you to retake those courses without penalty. We are always glad to help with this and similar university processes.
Formal Procedures
LLF National Law Firm attorneys are well-versed in the art of negotiation, and many university problems can be solved just by sitting down with an instructor or an administrator and having a conversation. We’re always willing to do that or help you do that.
However, you may occasionally encounter situations where it’s necessary to make a more formal complaint. There are a variety of ways to do this, depending on the specifics of your situation. If, for example, you feel an instructor has treated you unfairly as a result of your disability or failed to implement appropriate accommodations, you can always file a grade appeal once the semester is over.
Ultimately, though, any time you struggle to get NYU to respond to your complaints, you always have the option of filing an official grievance with the university’s Civil Rights compliance officer.
Whatever path you take, the team is always willing to stand up on your behalf and fight for your rights. We can help you prepare your case, and we can stand beside you as you make it.
Disciplinary Misconduct Issues
It’s never easy to navigate a university’s disciplinary system, but it can sometimes be especially challenging for students with disabilities. That starts with the rules themselves. NYU’s Code of Conduct doesn’t always take into account student disability, and that can interfere with your ability to get justice.
- Students sometimes find themselves accused of a rule violation that is actually related to their disability.
- Students with disabilities can become the targets of explicit or implicit discrimination and harassment.
- Students with disabilities sometimes grow frustrated with the system itself, and this can lead to conflict.
Beyond basic issues with the rules themselves, though, students with disabilities can also face accessibility issues with the disciplinary system itself. NYU’s Code of Conduct doesn’t actually mention disability. However, just as with every other aspect of campus life, university officials have an obligation to ensure you’re treated fairly and given the accommodations you need to properly defend yourself.
The Education Law Team can help protect you any time you’re accused of a disciplinary misconduct offense, no matter what the charges–no matter what the specifics of the situation. We’ve helped hundreds of students respond to allegations, and we can work with you to build your case, from collecting evidence to outlining what to say at your hearing. We can also make sure the university treats you fairly and provides you with the resources you need to respond to charges.
Trust the LLF National Law Firm
It’s hard enough for any student to get fair treatment from a university like NYU. Institutions can be a complicated tangle of rules and regulations. When you’re a student with a disability, it can be particularly challenging to convince faculty and administrators to honor your rights. Even just ensuring your professors treat your disability confidentially can be difficult.
You don’t have to deal with your university alone, though. Whatever disability issue you might be dealing with at NYU, the Education Law Team is here to help. We know what to expect from colleges and universities, and we’re always on your side, whatever the situation. You can count on us to use every resource at our disposal to ensure you the best possible outcome.
It’s unfortunate, but sometimes, you have to fight for your educational rights. You don’t have to do that alone, though. To find out more about how we can help, contact the LLF National Law Firm today at 888-535-3686. Or, fill out our online questionnaire.