Breaking the Bias: Disability and Mental Health
Updated: May 9, 2022
By Sara Albert, Molly Van Trees, Justin Willett, and Alie Glaser
In response to the growing mental health crises taking place on college campuses, there have been greater pushes by both students and faculty to raise awareness for mental health and disability. Combined with the COVID-19 Pandemic, questions about accessibility for people that require accommodations have been at the forefront of the debate. For this post, we anonymously interviewed several students that have accommodation plans through the University, as well as students who have struggled with their mental health during this past semester. We asked them about their experiences with the disability and mental health services here at James Madison University, as well as their interactions with faculty and their peers. The atmosphere at JMU is one of cautious hope, as the administration has indicated its commitment to bettering access to mental health services, as well as finding ways to better support the students, but students' needs are not always met.
JMU’s Office of Disability Services (ODS) offers accommodations for students with disabilities and provides a variety of services to help students better navigate their workloads. On the ODS website, they have a list of student resources aimed specifically at supporting students and ensuring their success and wellbeing. However, In our interviews with students, we found that there were several areas of concern that came up during our interviews. One of those concerns was about the lack of sufficient information available for students who are trying to get started with accommodations. While ODS does list its services on its website, many students felt that they weren’t aware that the services were available to them. Additionally, one of the students we interviewed explained her experience as such:
“It can be hard to explain your disability to someone else. For a long time, I wasn’t able to get diagnosed because of doctors not understanding me, and I didn’t know how to better explain myself and how I was feeling”
Another concern expressed by several students was the barriers to diagnosis, specifically the economic burden of getting tested. One student explained it this way:
“I knew that I was having trouble focusing in early high school but after speaking with my parents about getting tested, I was told I had to wait because it was going to cost nearly $1000 to get all of the testing done. I was lucky enough to have gotten my testing done and had the documentation for my disability before I got to college, but I can’t imagine trying to shoulder that economic burden by myself.”
One student discussed the gendered aspect of her barrier to diagnosis, explaining why her sex made it so much harder to get documentation of her disability:
“It feels like most of the diagnostic criteria for ADHD and autism are based on boys and young men, which makes it so much harder for girls to get diagnosed. I feel like the manifestations of both ADHD and autism are so different for girls, and I feel like if there were more education on these disabilities, my teachers would’ve flagged me for review like they did the boisterous boys in my class as potentially having ADHD earlier on.”
In order to receive disability accommodations at JMU, you must have extensive documentation of your disabilities, and this acts as a significant barrier to students that cannot afford the testing required for this documentation. If you are a student seeking to get started with ODS at JMU, the ODS disability guidelines can be found on their website here.
Many students struggling with their mental health discussed the lack of sufficient resources for support, however, all of the students we spoke to reported empathy and understanding from faculty while dealing with mental health emergencies, or seeking mental health accommodations. If you are a JMU student seeking support during a mental health crisis or are just simply seeking support, here is a list of resources
The final concern voiced by the students that we interviewed was the social stigma that surrounds disability, accommodations, and mental health. One student said that she often is too embarrassed to ask her professors for her disability accommodations, out of fear that she will be viewed differently, or that her classmates will feel like she is being treated unfairly by receiving special treatment. According to some of the students we interviewed, certain testing accommodations, such as extended test time, or a private exam room, can make a student’s disability feel hyper-visible to their classmates, and cause them to not seek out their accommodations. One student recounted her experience with Professors that just simply didn't understand her accommodations, and were then less likely to try and provide them.
“I have had professors that don’t understand my accommodations and then, because of that, feel like I don't need them. I came to JMU with documentation for my disability, but there is no accountability that I am aware of for professors who don’t honor accommodations and I am left unsupported and without the help I need. As a queer person of color, I already feel ostracized by my identity, I didn’t need the additional burden of feeling ostracized by my professors by asking for the accommodations I am entitled to.”
Accommodations for note-taking proved to be a problem for one student who said:
“I had to miss class one day due to my disability and I tried asking my professor for his notes. He said he does not give out his notes and to ask another student, yet no one was responding to me. He told me it wouldn't be fair if he sent me his notes because he thought I might pass them out to other students”
Greater accountability is needed between academic faculty and ODS, as some students reported feeling very alone in their attempts to receive their accommodations, despite their documentation. With greater support from ODS, and an increase in ODS’ capacity to respond to students’ needs, there is room for much improvement.
It is widely seen that acquiring disability services at JMU is very difficult. While students are able to easily submit their requests for accommodations, having someone of authority get back to them in a timely manner is sometimes troublesome. Universities must provide
additional resources so that the time frame of actually receiving accommodations is much shorter-along with other resources. Universities have the capability to enhance these services but doing so, is not necessarily on the top of their to-do list.
There has been a big push on campus for flexibility and empathy for students dealing with their mental health as well as their disabilities, and while I think there is still a very long way to go, we are witnessing a change in the culture surrounding disability awareness, and moving towards a culture of greater support. This year, JMU’s annual Walk for Hope was held on March 26th to raise awareness for depression and suicide, and this show of community support for those struggling with their mental health provides optimism for the changes to come. Our sincerest hope is that the University’s facilities will soon be able to meet the needs of its students and that our legacy as students can be to help the students that come after us to feel better supported by their JMU community.