Lawrence Veregin (1L) and Angela Pagano (1L)
Mental health disorders are unlike any other disabilities. They represent a broad spectrum of categories, such as schizophrenia, depression, personality disorders, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). They are difficult to recognize and diagnose. They are often chronic. They carry significant stigma. They are largely invisible.
The need to accommodate students with physical disabilities is never questioned or met with suspicion. No-one glares at a student walking with crutches if they arrive late to class; no-one expects a student with a broken writing arm to be able to take their own notes; no-one doubts the necessity and usefulness of classroom technologies that enable students with visual or hearing-related challenges to take courses alongside their peers. In contrast, students whose mental health conditions affect their academic function are often reluctant to seek much-needed accommodations for fear they will be negatively labelled, or worse, disbelieved.
These concerns may be well-founded. Caseworkers at Downtown Legal Services’ University Affairs division report that administrators frequently question the legitimate impact of mental health symptoms on academic functionality. Students diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be denied assignment extensions, notwithstanding that the condition’s hallmark symptoms include difficulties with distraction, organization, and deadlines. Students coping with acute episodes of severe depression may be subject to harsh consequences when appointments or emails are understandably missed.
Moreover, as part of the appeals process, students may be put in the uncomfortable and demeaning position of having to explain their symptoms to a skeptical committee, comprised mainly of individuals who are not mental health experts, and possibly even a student representative whom the appellant may know personally. Altogether, this climate of mistrust can deter students who are legitimately struggling with mental health issues from seeking assistance or disputing unfair sanctions for fear of exposure, discrimination, interrogation, or institutional reprisal.
People with mental health disorders face stigma and discrimination in almost all aspects of life. The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) developed a new policy in 2014, the Policy on preventing discrimination based on mental health disabilities and addictions, specifically to combat these problems. The policy recommends that accommodation-seekers should only be required to disclose to institutions that they have a general mental health disability, without having to divulge their specific diagnosis, symptoms, or treatment plans. The guidelines suggest it should be sufficient for a medical practitioner to confirm that there is a mental health disorder, and to identify what the appropriate accommodations are. The OHRC also stresses that organizations should never second-guess a doctor’s medical opinion.
Despite the urgent nature of the OHRC recommendations, post-secondary institutions across the province have been slow to implement changes. Recently, Navi Dhanota, a PhD student at York University, launched a challenge at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. She claimed that, contrary to the OHRC guidelines, York refused to provide academic accommodations to students unless they disclosed their formal Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) diagnosis. The University relented and agreed to develop a new policy in consultation with Ms. Dhanota and the OHRC. Thanks to Ms. Dhanota’s efforts, students at York may now choose whether or not to disclose their diagnosis when registering for academic accommodations.
As for U of T, if its policies are in accordance with the OHRC policy on mental health accommodation, it makes no effort to advertise this fact. While procedures and obligations vary somewhat across the St. George, Mississauga, and Scarborough campuses, all three implicitly require a qualified practitioner to provide a certificate outlining the student’s diagnosis, any medication they are using (as well as its side-effects), all other treatments the student is undergoing, and any recommended accommodations. There is no indication that this disclosure is optional. Both the UTM and UTSC forms acknowledge that students may prefer not to disclose their diagnosis, but also warn that a diagnosis will be required in some instances. There is no clarification provided as to what these instances are. As of publication, none of the campuses have responded to a request for clarification on their accommodation policies.
Before the new policy was implemented, York University defended its diagnosis disclosure requirement, arguing that it allowed the administration to design better accommodation plans for students. The various U of T Accessibility Services materials also encourage students to disclose as much information as possible to their accommodation counselors (and in some cases, even their professors) in order to construct a “personalized” plan. It is unclear how a university bureaucrat (or faculty member) would be better positioned to make an assessment of a student’s accommodation needs than their own health-care provider. It seems that, despite the OHRC recommendation that post-secondary institutions accept applications for mental health accommodations in good faith, many universities continue to feel entitled to their “second opinion.”
Both the Faculty of Law and the University of Toronto go to great lengths to demonstrate institutional awareness of mental health issues, and pride themselves on their various wellness initiatives. Unfortunately, openly adopting the new OHRC mental health accommodation guidelines is not one of these initiatives. There is no question that Doggie Days, yoga classes, foot massages, and free candy make wonderful acute stress-relievers for temporarily overwhelmed students. But for students with severe and ongoing mental health challenges, the university is failing to provide a more meaningful remedy: the opportunity to receive academic support with a bit of privacy and dignity.
UPDATE: Shortly before publication, Accessibility Services at U of T’s St. George campus updated its policy on mental health accommodation. Students no longer need to disclose diagnoses, prescribed medication, and treatments to receive accommodation. (This is noted at p. 5, para. 3 of the “For Mental Health…” document.)
