<p>Yes, but those services and accommodations are obtained by families/students voluntarily disclosing the disability/verified illness. </p>
<p>Very different from a college mandating open disclosure of any disabilities/mental illnesses at the risk of being expelled from student housing and possibly other college imposed sanctions for failing to disclose. </p>
<p>I just can’t see this passing muster with the ADA laws against discriminating against those with disabilities/illnesses as such a mandate will single them out for the disclosure requirement and penalize them if they don’t comply. Those without disabilities/mental illnesses or perceived as such won’t be affected by this singling out and penalties for nondisclosure. </p>
<p>That and I wonder if this could possibly violate laws regarding compulsory disclosure which may violate one’s medical confidentiality/privacy and related ADA/discriminatory laws for nebulous and dubious “fishing expeditions”. </p>
<p>Also, what if the disability/mental illness which manifested itself in ways which does cause roommate conflicts/problems emerged for the first time or was previously undiagnosed? </p>
<p>*
Also, what if the disability/mental illness which manifested itself in ways which does cause roommate conflicts/problems emerged for the first time or was previously undiagnosed?*</p>
<p>Then they take a medical leave or arrange for private accommodations, just as if a physical illness became acute.</p>
<p>I do understand about being compassionate, but it works both ways.
Typical behavior is to be quiet in a darkened room for sleeping for example.
For a dorm, lets say at minimum after midnight.
It might be difficult at best for roommate A to sleep with a stranger in the room, but if roommate B requires an overhead light as well, that is really pushing their boundaries of personal space onto the other roommate.
Rude.</p>
<p>It might be useful to put all this in the context of annoying behavior that does not warrant a required accommodation. It can be a real drag to come back to your room at 10:00 pm to find a sock on your doorknob, but you probably live with it, even if you don’t have a special friend of your own. Compared to that inconvenience, a night-light might not be a big deal at all.</p>
<p>"At orientation, we were told there could be roommate ‘issues’ that the school could not reveal because of HIIPA laws or other privacy laws. For example, they couldn’t tell you if your future roommate had a service dog (nor could you request such a roommate because my daughter would be all over that!). If you couldn’t accept that living condition, they move you but YOU have to move, not the roommate. "</p>
<p>That seems vitally unfair. What if you were allergic to a dog and thus could not live with a roommate’s service dog? For $60K a year, I think you should be informed / given a choice if there is some unusual circumstance like that.</p>
<p>I tend to agree as usual with Pizza. An “accommodation” by definition is an agreement. For someone not to reveal the need for “accommodation” by a roommate until they are all moved in is rude IMO. Accommodations should be requested through the college and if the college cannot accommodate the request then it is not fair to expect that the roommate will grant the accommodation. The roommate might grant the needed accommodation but the roommate does not have to grant the accommodation. I also agree that it is the person “needing” the accommodation that should be required to find the solution. </p>
<p>Minor accommodations occur everyday for instance in an open plan workspace, so the vast majority of people can adjust and grant accommodations to people as long as it is reasonable to the person granting the accommodation. But again one person is requesting it and one person is granting it. To expect an accommodation unequivocally is not an accurate representation of how things actually work. </p>
<p>I was asking that question in the context of colleges implementing rules mandating disclosure of disabilities/illnesses and penalizing non-disclosure in the even of a roommate dispute or other problems caused by non-disclosure/perceived non-disclosure of disabilities/mental illness. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If practices are like my college or the ones I know of, the student with a documented need for a service dog would be accommodated with a special single* or be exempted from dorm residency requirements and be free to seek off-campus accommodations considering most dorms I know of ban pets other than ones like goldfish. </p>
<p>Also, in this case the duty to disclose wouldn’t single out disabled students as most college dorms I know of prohibit allowing ANY STUDENTS from having pet animals in the dorm with the possible exception of small fishbowl with goldfish. </p>
<ul>
<li>At my college, there were a small number of apartment style dorms usually set aside for visiting faculty fellows. Those dorms would also be used to provide accommodations for situations like students with guide dogs on a space available basis.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>^I would think that many students would not consider themselves disabled/mentally ill due to not wanting to sleep in the dark. If asked the generic question “Do you have any mental illness/condition that will require special accommodation on the part of the college?” they might well not think to put that down, or want to be labeled with something that others have to “accommodate”</p>
<p>Quite a few disabilities are covered under ADA. I think the narrower question relates to people who have phobias and other mental illnesses that impact their ability to function within the minimal expectations of the college community housing system. It is those people that I feel would benefit from being honest with housing rather than waiting to see which way the wind will blow with a roommate. Reasonable people can make decisions such as a night light vs. a fully lighted dorm room or absolute quiet after 8 PM vs. absolute quiet after midnight. Some things are reasonable and some are patently not reasonable. Most people can make those distinctions. </p>
<p>Sylvan I think not wanting to sleep in the dark is wanting an accommodation. The vast majority of people sleep in the dark. </p>
<p>My oldest is a slob. A major slob. No two ways around it. He put down on his housing application many years ago that he was a slob. It behooved the housing staff to take him seriously and not put him in a room with someone with hyper sensitivity to cleanliness. But if kids aren’t honest, colleges can’t help. They put him with another slob and the two happily co-existed their freshman year. </p>
<p>I’m not necessarily disagreeing with your statement above. </p>
<p>My question is whether it’s a good idea for colleges to mandate such disclosures and penalize students who fail to do so when problems arise. </p>
<p>Especially considering from my non-lawyerly understanding of the ADA, doing so could open such colleges up to potential ADA discrimination lawsuits from affected students/families along with further negative publicity/backlash from outraged groups concerned with the sanctity of an individual’s right to not be coerced by non-medical/judicial institutions to disclose one’s disabilities/illnesses. </p>
<p>Especially when doing so is highly likely to result in being discriminated against by those exhibiting great prejudice/ignorance of such disabilities/illnesses. </p>
<p>It is up to the college to make the accommodation, not up to the roommate. If this was not known until the student arrived at school, then the student should be moved to a single or moved to a room with another student with similar needs. Or who works midnight shift, or something. </p>
<p>My son’s school asked on the housing app if you had allergies to pets or any other issue that would prevent you from being able to live with a service animal. Doesn’t seem that complicated. </p>
<p>I think that a lot of times the student with the phobia or special need and their parents are fully aware of the issue, may have been working on it at home, and HOPE that the student will either improve or at least maintain their level of progress. Unfortunately, under the pressure of starting college, the student may regress.</p>
<p>I think we’ve seen a lot of threads here where this scenario would fit. A number of which involved students on the spectrum or students with depression or anxiety. I feel for them and their parents. AND for the roommate, who is only 18 and probably having their own adjustment issues.</p>
<p>Colleges don’t need to mandate anything - they are already asking whether their are accommodations needed. People just need to be honest. It’s only complicated if a student isn’t honest. Most 18 year olds know by now if there are living conditions that they would have issues with. If you have issues, it’s respectful to be honest with others. Expecting people to be honest and respectful is not lacking in compassion for the person with issues…it actually sets the stage for a successful outcome with housing and an open dialogue.</p>
<p>I don’t think that needing to sleep with a nightlight is any stranger than requiring total darkness, and I don’t think either one is something that one would think of “disclosing.” Actually, if anything the total darkness kid is weirder. What, no moonlight, starlight, porch lights reflecting on snow? No light under the door, no tiny electronics lights? </p>
<p>I don’t think anyone’s said that a nightlight is strange or something warranting inclusion in the accommodation section. OP said that a student wanted to sleep with the OVERHEAD light on, lighting up the entire room, which I think some misread and took as a nightlight. Wanting to sleep in the dark typically doesn’t mean absolutely no light at all, but having a roommate wanting to sleep with all the lights on is a little much.</p>
<p>There was, but it was spearheaded by only one poster; most everyone agreed a nightlight was not intrusive, and I don’t think it was suggested it should be “disclosed”.</p>