Assistance with accomodation in professional school setting

December 6, 2009

I am wondering if anyone knows what to do in a case like I will explain below. I

am in graduate school and I attend intensives twice a year for one week each. It

used to be that I was reimbursed for not taking part in the catering program

that goes along with the week-long intensive. Now, they have reversed this

policy and I can no longer have a refund. They have made the program cart

blanche and there are no exceptions. This is in light that they are not making

accomodation for my meals, either. Not only do I have to pay for

nonparticipation in the dietary portion of the program, I must haul my own

refrigerator, microwave, hot plate and food supplies for the weeklong. I feel

this is wrong.

I have been working with the administration on this since April and the issue

keeps getting sidelined and my case overpowered by policy. Now, there has been a

change of staffing in the administration and there is a facilitator who is going

to take my case up to see if the catering service can accomodate me.

This is not just about my case, this is about other people who attend the

school, which is one of the founding schools of humanistic psycbology. They have

promoted individual rights, of which the ADA in the mainstream is an

application. The only thing is, when I called to talk to administration about

ADA, they told me to not even think of going legal on this because they had run

the wording of their policy by an attorney in about 16 different ways to make

them not accountable to ADA. I am aghast!

The hotel where we meet offers the school a all-inclusive plan if they get so

many people to stay at the hotel. They count everyone's head whether they use

the meal service or not in order to get a lower price on the lodging, conference

rooms, and meals. I do not think this is fair, do you? The school staff in

charge () of this is planning to go to the hotel to negotiate some

compromise with them. I think that it would be good to know if anyone of the

celiac support group knows of someone who can assist in negotiating and

educating the hotel. #1, are they offering a plan to the school which tempts

them to ignore the ADA or individual rights or cause harm to individuals for the

sake of getting a better deal? #2, is it possible that the hotel could create a

gluten-free, gluten-safe portion of the catering service? This we need someone

more experienced at legal matters, celiac issues, and consultation.

Any help or suggestions are most welcome. A name of a contact person who could

help would be great, too!

Thank you,

Karie

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