Guilty Until Proven Innocent: LSAT accommodations.

For all of us who have had a disability since we were kids- we know the drill. The looks of “Are you sure you actually need this?” or “Well- have you tried _____ or _______?” like they know your disability better than you. But for those of you who don’t have a disability or haven’t started fighting for accommodations yet, the best way to put how applying for accommodations is, is demeaning. 

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In my experience, people either will treat you like you’re taking advantage of a program that you don’t really need, or act like you can’t do a thing on your own. I remember in high school having my I.E.P (Individualized Education Plan) case manager told me that he was impressed I was doing the I.B (International Baccalaureate) program. I was a straight-A student, so there was no reason for him to be impressed by that other than the fact that I am a member of the disabled community. I faced so much ableism in high school that I was too embarrassed to apply for accommodations for the SATS and I am a normal presenting disabled person. 

As I have grown, I’ve become more comfortable seeing myself as a disabled person. I’ve fought a lot of internalized ableism as I was given the privilege of appearing neurotypical to people who don’t know my disability, which is Dyspraxia caused by a Traumatic Brain Injury when I was a child. I had to go to occupational therapy to dress myself and have struggled with spelling and reading aloud since- but due to my normal appearance, I have been able to avoid some more direct forms of oppression. This privilege allowed me to distance myself from the disabled community which fed into my internalised ableism in me which has taken years to uproot. 

Now I’ve decided I should apply for accommodations for my LSAT. Through all of my previous schooling, I was able to take an extended time on state-mandated exams. It relieved my anxiety and gave me time to fight some of my dyspraxia tendencies of skipping words or reading them as different ones. Additionally, it helped some of my mental health problems such as time anxiety. 

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I felt confident that I would be able to obtain such accommodations and began research on how to get them. Unfortunately, it turned out that the LSAC organization which hosts the LSAT is just as behind on confronting its ableism as the rest of the U.S educational system. 

The LSAC organization requires you to submit the information required to apply for accommodations only after you have already paid to take your LSAT. You, therefore, can easily be denied your accommodations but be left with an exam to take. Your options there are to either cancel the exam or take it without the assistance you need. If you opt for the first, you risk law schools discriminating against you as they can see all exams you have applied for and some schools will see taking it multiple times or opting out as a negative sign.  

Additionally, the LSAC organization requires evidence of the disability. At first, this seems fine- then you get into the fine print which complicates it. The evaluation of your disability if cognitive or mental must be within the last five years and by a qualified professional. I personally had my last psychological evaluation in 2008 due to the high cost of them. I do not feel that my symptoms have changed since that evaluation has, I have an incurable disability. This also speaks to classism as it requires your own funds to be spent on said evaluation if your previous ones are too old like mine. 

The factor of a ‘qualified professional’ also complicates the situation. What defines the qualified person is not specified on the LSAC website, and unsurprisingly it is one of the major reasons’ accommodations are refused. The obvious first thoughts are of therapists, psychiatrists, or occupational therapists. But again, the website does not specify what that means to them. For people like me with both a cognitive and mental disability, I would likely need an evaluation from both an occupational therapist and my psychological therapist. Which again raises prices. 

The LSAC seems to have an ableist approach to accommodations, as shown by the timing of the exam and the vague requirements of how to apply for them. Additionally, the accommodation requirements feed into classism which there already is a large overlap between disabilities and poverty. These are all things that the LSAC organization can change with enough pressure. Of course, the LSAT must remain a difficult exam but it should not be harder for those unable to obtain needed accommodations than their unaccommodated peers. 

• accommodation
• disability
• mental health