Varying Degrees of Equal

Today, disabled students receive the same diplomas as their nondisabled classmates. But the disabled students are not necessarily earning theirs or getting the same education.

As a college student in the 1960s, I was one of only a handful of blind students to have attended my Western “Ivy League “ college. Back then, they hadn’t decided what blind students could or couldn’t do. There was no office filled with people telling me and my professors how I had to learn, from what I had to be exempted and when I was supposed to have what finished. It was up to me to find readers, get the work done, devise ways and means for taking tests and accessing information and communicating with professors and administration to ensure that I got it all done just like all the other students. The idea of being exempted from a math class or written requirement never crossed my mind.

They could have simply exempted me from certain requirements. It was a small private college and they could do what they liked with their students. But a degree from that college had clout. Were I to have been given the degree without the knowledge, it would have been a fraud. I earned my degree as did every other student from my college. Exceptions were made for methods, not for content or accomplishment.

The Americans With Disabilities Act and affirmative action have taken their toll. Special student services often dictate standards and requirements to the colleges and universities being attended by these students, altering the education and degrees these students are given. In too many cases, readers for blind students not only proofread but also edit and rewrite submitted papers and projects. And with note-takers deciding what is important to remember, curriculum is being determined for disabled students by support staff rather than their professors. Because math is difficult to visualize and more difficult to verbalize, blind students are being exempted from math requirements. Still, disabled students are granted full degrees.

What is this doing to the image of disabled graduates? It is making them mere shadows of their peers--equal, but not equivalent. And how will this be seen by employers? Think about it. If a person is excused from schoolwork for the degree, how much of the job work will they need to be exempted from doing? If a person was not required to attain all the standards before being given the piece of paper, how can an employer expect him or her to meet the standards for employees? These mock degrees are doing no favors for anyone with a disability. They are ruining the standing of those credentials truly earned by students in the past and are setting up today’s disabled students for failure in the future.