Friday, June 26, 2015

Update

So I eventually did mange to get accessable study materials form ETS to take the GRE and my teaching exams.  It turned out that ETS had some materials but had not trained their customer support staff to know of its existence.

There now seems to be more readily available audio study materials  that can be read by a screen reader.  I don't know if you read using Brail but they also have brail materials (which was the only alternative study material that they offered me originally.  As you can imagine it was very useless to me).  

I also have the email address of the assisted director of disability policy at ETS.  I honestly don't know if she is still at ETS but I have had some success getting ahold of her in the past.  Feel free to contact me for her email address and contact information if you need it.  She requested that I not post it on the internet.  


The thing that has not really improved in testing  for people with LDs, IDs and TBIs  the need for a full nuro-psychological evaluation to provide accommodations which as you might know is very expensive to get accommodations for one test. Also, as of a few years ago, people who got accommodations for a reader still needed a human reader as apposed to just a screen reader which I still don't think is fair.  It certainly decreases the independence of people taking the test.  I don't know if that has changed.  I really want to do something about with of these issues but need to get more people behind me to make a good argument for it. 

Friday, September 18, 2009

My Mission

My mission is to attain equal opportunities for individuals with disabilities. I am well acquainted with the struggles and triumphs that accompany having a “disability”. My main focus is raising awareness the lack of accessible information such as study materials for standardized tests. The Educational testing service claims that they do no need to provide accessable study materals or practice exam. One of my goals is to change the Educational Testing Service's (ETS) current policy regarding accessible materials and to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities. I believe that all students are entitled to a fair opportunity to succeed. I would also like to address the difficulty of getting accommodations, the injustice of discrimination, and the general experience of having a “disability”. Please share your experiences. I will periodically post information and respond to questions/comments.