So, the romance languages department at my school does not accommodate disabilities, so if you feel that you have one that makes you incapable of passing the requirement you must petition the academic standards board for a waiver or substitution of the requirement, and include with your petition the following materials:

- Letter from any previous language faculuty
- Documentation of disability from diagnosing physician, and a letter from them as well
- Modern Languages Aptitude Test (essentially a dyslexia and auditory processing deficiency test)
- Letter to Board explaining the reason for the petition


I did this earlier in the year because I have processing deficiencies all across the board, including auditory, that are associated with a plethora of learning disabilities (as well as ADHD, which I believe isn't technically classified as an LD.) At the time I didn't know I had autism..\

Even though everything I submitted made a strong case for a substitution, they ignored everything to focus on my MLAT score. I scored in the 40th percentile (of all women who take the test, that's how it's measured) on the MLAT and that was too high.

This was three months ago, and I have continued in Spanish. It continually kicks my ass and though I THINK I will pass this class, I don't think I will be able to pass the next two courses in the sequence. I am barely clinging to this course and won't have the background to move on. This is the third time I have taken this class.

Today I discovered that our final oral exam will consist of myself and a partner being told a topic of conversation at the time of our exam, with no chance to prep, and then we have to "engage in a conversational manner" and "make small talk" and "sustain normal conversation" and "ask appropriate questions and use appropriate tone of voice" for seven minutes. This is graded jointly. Anyone see the problem?

I asked someone at the disabilities office WTF I am suppose to do now, and he said to repetition and add the information about autism. So I guess I am going to do that. But I am still waiting for the center to mail me my documentation, and my oral final is next week, so I doubt I can complete the process before then. Furthermore, now that I've had almost a full semester with a new Spanish professor they are going to want to have a letter from her too, and I have been sick all semester so I have five unexcused absences (which personally I think isn't that bad for 11 weeks of a 4 day a week class, but I digress) and she is probably going to mention that and then the board will think I am just not trying and I'll lose. And we don't really have any forced conversations outside of this exam, I just don't get to volunteer to participate in class much, so she hasn't even witnessed the behavior I am describing AND if I pass the oral final they will use it against me. So in order to not be stuck in classes I am doomed to fail next year, I have to fail this final. There is no way to win this. Uggggh. I don't know what to do.