Stupid university disability centre staff

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The front desk staff there was rude and intolerant to me today. The details are a bit complicated, but now I feel unwelcome and like staff at a disability centre are just as ignorant as the general public. Ugh Why does this happen... Maybe I will rant later on about it some more.

Basically she told me that I cannot be accommodated for my first test, because I don't have an appointment until later, and I can't be accommodated without an appointment. I calmly told her that that's not okay with me, and she snapped at me, told me that I don't understand how universities work, and started acting hostile towards me.

And I'm afraid I have to go through her to get accommodation later on, since she is the front desk staff.

Wow, that's very unprofessional. The centre of disabilities staff are supposed to be very welcoming and friendly. That was rude of her. Maybe next time try contacting one of the actual people that work there instead of the receptionist.

I find that the ones at my college are really nice except when I had my appointment to try and see if I could get an assessment for AS done last week they wouldn't get me one. They said there was nothing I'd be able to do about it anyway and it was a waste of OSAP's and their money basically. They gave me accommodations though. I guess I'm going to have to look for someone in Toronto who will do it for cheap. I think I found someone who might be able to help me, I might be able to get a grant from OSAP but I have to call the place first.

sounds like you behaved well. she shouldn't have anything to hold against you. when you get to talk to the tester. make sure you let them know how the receptionist acted.

Thanks everyone.

lostgirl - that's strange, OSAP should provide money for an assessment regardless of what the university staff think. -->This<-- link covers it I believe, though I don't know why it says it covers up to only 75% of the cost and only up to $1200. As I told you, they covered the whole cost up to $2000 with me. Well at least they gave you accommodations. That's good that someone can help you.

cathylynn- I'm going to email her manager tonight or tomorrow, and address her behaviour towards me. I literally called my parents and cried afterwards that's how upset I was. I was expecting her to be more respectful.

Yeah I wish I knew who else to contact. It seems to me that I can't make an appointment with anyone else just to talk about it, since the other staff are all booked up.

Hmm thanks. I might just print that out and give it to my advisor when I see her on Friday.

What did your parents say about the ordeal?

My parents said that she was rude, and offered to help me write an email to her manager.

Yeah, I'm not quite sure if that was how my assessment was funded, but it must have been some branch of OSAP like that one. I don't really know, I just filled out the forms. The disability centre (at my previous university) had a whole process for it. My sister also went through the same process when she was a first year student, to get her diagnosis of executive functioning disorder, so I thought that all secondary education institutions in Ontario knew about it.

I'm sorry that this happened to you I would be mad too.

If it makes you feel any better, it is worth it to go forward with getting assistance even if the first person you deal with kind of stinks. That is what is happened with my assistance from Vocational Rehabilitation, the first lady I had to meet with was really unsupportive, told me I didn't have Asperger's (she is not an expert by any means), and never had the people who were supposed to help me call me for several months at a time when I was unable to stand up for myself. However, once I was able to make calls myself and follow through with other calls I needed to make, I started getting help from someone MUCH more helpful, who I actually can stand and who is genuinely helpful to me.

So I hope you have luck with the next people in the office. Let us know how it goes!

Good news: I went to the director of student affairs in my program, and she did all the work of talking to the disability centre manager for me. I was then told to ask my prof to contact the manager, and hopefully they can sort out a solution *crosses fingers*. I really hope so. But for now, I will just study.

My interactions with front desk people have generally gone well, although I do snap once in a while if they have been rude. I'm unsure if I have mentioned this on WP before, but I would like to say that front desk people tend to be rude if they have been slacking all day long when you approach them with your request. They will then treat you rudely to show that they have upset that you have disrupted their "slacking time". Strange but true, some front desk people would rather daydream than deal with customers. I think that these front desk people need to change their attitude before they damage their employers' reputation.