DAIS Online

February, 2007
Volume I, No. 7

(PART II - the all-important **HOW** -- will follow in the February newsletter. Watch for it late next week. JEJ)

I finished the January newsletter with the words above. Well... it's still February, right? I am not TECHNICALLY late, right?

In Part I of the article, we spoke about the Who-What-Where-When-Why of notes (and, by extension, notetakers) as an accommodation for students with disabilities. I hope that I was able to defend my contentions that (a) the accommodation is a set of notes for a student who is not able to take notes on their own, because of disability, (b) that students with a variety of disabilities may have need for the accommodation, and that just as the reason for needing the notes may be different so, too, the manner type of notes they need may be different, and (c) this is a classroom accommodation, so if the student isn't IN the class maybe we shouldn't be providing notes as an accommodation for that day. All three of those understandings are necessary to follow the rest of what I'm about to say.

*HOW* Could The Accommodation Be Delivered?

I originally subtitled this section, "How SHOULD the Accommodation Be Delivered?" I changed the word "should" to "could" because it is important to remember that there are no single answers here... there are lots of methods in use for the delivery of this accommodation, and so long as they accomplish the purpose - providing equal access - it would be inappropriate to suggest that one is inherently better or "more right" than another. What you are about to read is my opinion as to how and why I would organize such services. (I would remind you that I have no more authority in this area than any other individual service provider, but I AM old, and have seen a lot of options, so I probably should get credit for experience, if nothing else!)

The question of whether to use paid or volunteer notetakers, and the question of whether the notetaker should know whom they are taking notes for is intertwined (kind of like the chicken-or-egg controversy). For lack of a better place to start, I'll begin with a discussion of payment, since $$$$ is always of interest.

The question of paid v. volunteer has both practical and philosophical implications. There are some DSS providers that object because they feel that having accommodations provided by a volunteer somehow perpetuates a stereotype of the "poor handicapped kid" who needs others to do things for him/her. They believe it is in some way demeaning. The flip side of that argument is the idea that students who need notetakers in classes will likely need notetakers (less formally) on a lifelong basis. Whether it is sitting at staff meetings, or professional conferences, or your child's IEP meeting, or with their financial advisor or accountant, if they couldn't take notes independently in classes, it is likely they won't be able to take effective notes in theses later situations, either. Thus, the argument goes, doesn't it make sense to have the student become comfortable with learning how to ask for assistance in this area as part of student development?

There is more. If the notetaker is a volunteer, then he/she is obviously a member of the class. There are some service providers who feel that it is inappropriate for students to share notes for a class they are in - that if there is to be a notetaker, their purpose should be specifically to take notes. That automatically suggests payment for services. Then, too, folks believe that the service provider has more control over the process (and thus a better chance of delivering on their mandate for equal access) if the individual is being paid for their services... it gives you "clout" to make sure that the notetakers are following through on expectations. The flip side of THAT argument is that if the notetakers are responsible to the service provider (since the service provider is paying for the service), then they are not as involved with the student using the notes, and thus the student isn't learning much in the way of managing his/her own disability-related needs.

Then there is the issue of the quality of notes. This is, in my experience, actually a NON-issue. There is an unfounded assumption lurking out there that the notes that are paid for will be better than the notes that are provided by a volunteer. Not true. In fact, I could make a good case for saying that the notes provided by a volunteer who will be taking the same test as the disabled student next week are more likely to be germane to the purpose than those of a non-classmate who isn't necessarily as concerned with making sense from the notes as he/she is about getting things written down.

And how are you going to pay for those notes/notetakers (if you decide you are going to pay for them)? I have heard of everything from an hourly pay scale, to a minimal stipend/honorarium, to a gift certificate to the school bookstore, to a letter of recommendation/service for the student's file, to the granting of some perks that make it worthwhile for students to volunteer (from allowing priority registration for next semester to assigning a locker in the DSS office that a student on a commuter campus can use to park their stuff while on campus!). The answer, once again, seems to be that there IS no single right answer, but I have to admit that I do worry when I hear people talk about huge amounts of their budgets being devoted to the pay of notetakers. If you are laying out big bucks, you are going to need to be careful about resource utilization. That means you are likely to look harder and longer at the appropriateness of assigning the accommodation for a student (that is, looking for significant evidence of need in the documentation) than you would probably do if the student was using volunteers, in which case you might assign the accommodation more casually if it SEEMED indicated, without the "show-me-where-it-says-that!" response.

As you may have guessed, from reading the foregoing discussion, I'm a proponent of volunteer notetakers, but I do understand that it is not always possible to find them, that on some campuses the climate doesn't support the use of volunteers, and in some circumstances you NEED to consider paying because you need the notes in a certain format (though I favor volunteer notetakers for most students using notetakers, I would want paid notetakers for Deaf students because they need the notes structured and presented in a different way). While I have my preference, I don't feel strongly about the issue one way or another, and I have seen both kinds of systems work well on campuses. I DO feel strongly about this next part, though.

*** Confidentiality and Notetakers ***

I am always amazed and amused by the lengths that many DSS providers are willing to go to respect the confidentiality of students with disabilities who want notes (and therefore are requesting notetakers) but don't want anyone in the class to know that they are a person with a disability, and thus they don't want the notetaker to know who is receiving the notes they are taking. It doesn't make logical sense to me, it doesn't make practical sense, it isn't legally necessary, and the potential for abuse is (in my mind) very real.

Let's start from the bottom and work forward. Every service provider I've ever discussed the issue with agrees that students with disabilities aren't entitled to the notes for a given day's class if they aren't IN the class on that day. Remember - this is a classroom activity. The notes are provided because the student's disability prohibits him/her from taking notes independently. If they weren't in class, they weren't having trouble because their disability prohibited anything - ergo, no notes! If a student doesn't show up in class, he/she can get notes the same way any other student gets notes for classes they miss - by borrowing them from someone in the class who WAS there on that day. (Yeah, yeah, I know... the issue is complicated when the student is given an accommodation of leniency in attendance and is missing from class for a legitimate disability related reason and ALSO has the assigned accommodation. YOU figure that one out! I'm talking about the typical student with a disability who should have been there and just didn't show up.)

If the system is arranged so that the notetaker brings the notes to the disability services office, where the notes are put in a folder for the student with a disability to sneak in and pick up under cover of darkness (Ok, I know it doesn't happen that way, but when you start talking about randomly assigned code numbers for identification, it always sounds a little "James Bondish" to me), then the service provider has no way of knowing whether the student SHOULD be allowed to access those notes or not, because you have no way of knowing whether the student was in class that day. And since then notetaker doesn't know who the student getting the notes is, the notetaker has no way of knowing whether the student was in class that day and should be allowed access to the notes. That means that the student with a disability gets the notes either way. If the faculty member doesn't take attendance in class, then why should the student with a disability feel any obligation to put themselves out to be there if they get a better offer for something to do???

The alternative would be to have the student who is taking notes know who they are taking notes FOR, and turn those notes over to the student on the spot at the end of class (there are logistics in how you get the copies made, but that's do-able). If the student is not in class to receive the notes, the notetaker knows doesn't provide those notes. Some fear that this puts the notetakers in the position of being asked to monitor a fellow student and perhaps to say "no" when asked for the notes. Make it easy on yourself (and them!). Set it up so that the notetaker is to give the notes to the student at the end of class. If the student is not there to give the notes to, the notetaker should bring the notes to your office and drop them off with you, earmarked with that student's name and the date. If the student with a disability wants the notes for that day, he has to come to you and explain why she/he wasn't there, and you get to decide whether to provide the notes. The notetaker isn't in the awkward position of refusing the student, because the notetaker no longer has the notes to give. (And if the student with a disability never comes to you and explains why he/she wasn't there and asks for the notes? That's their prerogative. They have the same freedom to cut classes that anyone else does - and are subject to the same consequences. They should be no more "obligated" to go to class just because they are a student with a disability.)

Why is it that students don't want the notetaker to know who they are. USUALLY, it is because they are embarrassed (at having a disability? At needing someone else's notes?). My response to that would be to tell the student that they may have the accommodation if they need it, but that the accommodation is made in response to their status as a person with a disability. If they are not ready to acknowledge that they ARE a person with a disability, they don't have to, but then they will not get the notes because that is how your system is organized. If the student says, "I have a right to confidentiality," remind them that they don't (there IS no right to confidentiality granted under 504/ADA). If the student says, "it's none of their business what my disability is," tell them they don't have to share anything about their disability with the notetaker. You aren't going to lay their file in front of the notetaker any more than you would before a faculty member. You aren't identifying anything other than this student's status as a person with a disability. If they are so uncomfortable with that designation that they are willing to pass up accommodation in order not to be identified, then someone needs to have a long talk with them. But it doesn't change my belief that the accommodation of getting usable notes from the class is best handled in the "keep-it-simple-stupid" mode, which means having the notetaker hand the notes to the student after class, on the spot. Period. (Alright, NOT "period." Like everything we do, there WILL be exceptions. There will be unique situations in which students have legitimate reasons for asking not to be identified and for the system to be set up in a different way. I am the last one to resort to an "always" or a "never" when it comes to procedures. I concede the point.)

I could go on. I usually do! But that's enough pontificating on the subject for right now. Maybe we'll revisit the issue again. I just have one more thing to offer...

... Years ago, AHEAD had a "Survival Kit for Students With Learning Disabilities" that included a series of little pamphlets on topics such as "how to use taped texts" and "how to take a test." One of the pamphlets was entitled, "How To Use Someone Else's Notes" (which included tips for the care and feeding of notetakers - that is, how to be appropriately polite and appreciative) and one of which was called, "OK, I'll Be Your Notetaker. What Does That Mean." It was meant for the student with a disability to give to the notetaker, to help them understand their role. I have gotten permission from ahead to revamp and update these two pieces. As soon as I'm done, I'll post them to the DAIS website and you'll have ready access to download them and spread 'em around at will!

Until then...
(End of Newsletter)