And they don’t enforce it well enough – when my pain is at 9.99999 people walk by my door! /pain exaggeration

In all reality, “quiet” anything is worthless without enforcement. I’ve lived on “quiet” floors all 3 years, and so much random screaming. At night. Bah. While, I, worried they would enforce the rules posted everywhere, actually tested the volume level on my TV by going in the hallway to make sure the whole floor or anyone passing by didn’t have to suffer.

For the longest time, the web site and informational pamphlets for my university’s psych services office claimed that the only way to be seen by the office was to do a telephone intake.

I have auditory processing issues that make it very difficult to comprehend unfamiliar voices over the phone. I really did not want to discuss psych issues via relay service– I was depressed enough already at that time, and a relay call would just be an exercise in frustration for me, the receptionist, and the relay operator…

It turns out that they were willing to make an exception and do an in-person intake for people with hearing and speech disabilities. But apparently they had never bothered to mention this little bit of information on their web site or in any of their informational brochures. (It’s since been fixed after I pointed this out to them in a disability advocacy meeting.)

Also, on that note: 24/7 mental health support. I seem to always get most depressed on nights and weekends– i.e., when all the available resources are closed!

Inclusiveness in the student handbook. At my medical school, the handbook only mentioned testing accommodations for students with learning disabilities. There was no mention of students with physical disabilities or any acommodations besides those related to exams.

Not requiring recent doctor’s notes for static, long term conditions. If I couldn’t handwrite an essay in 1999, at the age of 23, chances are pretty good I still can’t handwrite one in 2003 at the age of 27. But my note was more than 3 years old.

Listening to the student’s individual need, not “what we do” for a given condition. People with the same condition may have different needs.

Permitting students to discuss their own disability with professors. I was told that bringing up my disability and asking what the course would require (so that I could determine whether I would need an accommodation) was in itself an acommodation, and so I would have to go through the accommodation office. A student should not be required to make a formal request for an accommodation to say to the professor, “I have trouble with handwriting, are there going to be essay exams in this course?” or “I have poor balance, how long do students typically stand up during their clinical experience with you?”

Freedom from ablist comments in the curriculum would be nice, but that may be asking too much.

[My uni, bless, offers this every other year. I understand why they do that. But I still want it every year because there's a need.]

And seconded on the need a doctor’s note. Luckily, they could fax it in, but I still had to go see my PCM. “Still in pain?” They only required it when I spent a month at home on the couch, not at the beginning of each semester, when I have to meet with them and get a sheet of paper for each professor and I never ever remember to make the appointment until school is started…

Sweet Machine, yes, exactly. I may need to draft another email specifically about that. My understanding at my university is it can take up to 8 weeks to bring in software that students with accessibility needs would require.