16 Ease the accommodation process

Students and faculty highlight the need to dismantle systemic barriers in academic accommodations processes, particularly, the reliance on medical documentation. Access leaders emphasized that alternative documentation should be accepted in lieu of medical documentation in applications for academic accommodations and that the cost of documentation requirements cannot fall on individual students.

“The big dream [is that] students don’t have to be requesting and proving need for accommodations. Yeah, and also, the seeking of costly and very difficult to get quote, unquote diagnostic paperwork.” –  Cynthia Bruce (Faculty)

Additionally, interviewees emphasized that the accommodation process itself must be accessible. There is an urgent need to lessen the labour of academic accommodation processes. This includes the administrative work associated with taking and retaking medical assessments, booking appointments, coordinating with multiple offices, and completing significant loads of paperwork.

Our findings suggest that accommodation processes can reduce the labor placed on students if they shift from scrutinizing students to supporting them. Students want to be met with care, understanding, and a commitment to co-creating practical accommodations that meet their access needs. Institutions need to orient away from charging students with medicalized and labor-intensive documentation in exchange for accommodations. Instead, students need to be trusted as experts on their lived experiences and access needs.