<p>My office is the campus disabilities office, and murky is a good way to describe the landscape. The murkiness lies in the wording “reasonable” accommodations. Because that word, “reasonable” applies to more than just what is reasonable for the student in question. It is reasonable to allow extra time, verbal tests, distraction free testing so the student with a disability can take the same test. It may not be reasonable to demand a professor write a separate test as one can argue, then, that the disabled student is being asked to (or allowed to) meet a different standard. Is it reasonable to demand a professor essentially teach the class again for one person in the event of multiple absences? And these are questions that a college has to answer. </p>
<p>A broken arm, though, probably doesn’t meet the definition of disability under the ADA.</p>