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Chronic Illness And Academic Accommodation: Meeting Disabled Students' "Unique Needs" And Preserving The Institutional Order Of The University, Karen E. Jung

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

People with disabilities are just one of the groups designated for special attention in relation to equity in postsecondary education. This paper explores the way in which policies that provide academic accommodation for students disabled by chronic illness unfold in practice. As part of the administrative regime of the university, these policies are typically designed to reconcile the interests and relevances of the law with the interests and relevances of the academy. When a disabled student "activates" the policy, regardless of whether or not services and assistance are provided or are useful, the student becomes situated within social relations that …