Lawmakers step in after Coloradans with disabilities are denied testing accommodations on professional exams

The Americans with Disabilities Act is supposed to ensure people with disabilities can fairly compete for jobs, in part by requiring testing accommodations on professional exams, including extra time, large print or distraction-free rooms.

But in Colorado, that's not always happening.

There are more than 300 professional exams in a wide range of fields, including law, medicine, finance, engineering, and the trades, and some of those industries are making testing accommodations almost impossible to receive.

Sam, who asked that we not use his last name, is among those who were denied an accommodation for the bar exam despite documentation of his disabilities dating back two decades. He suffered a traumatic injury that left him blind in his right eye when he was 8 years old and then was diagnosed with severe ADHD.

Despite his challenges, he graduated from college and law school thanks in part, he says, to testing accommodations by the institutions.

"They sat down with me. They discussed my needs. Their own experts reviewed my own medical documentation and I received accommodations that were appropriate for me," he said. 

His accommodations included extra time on tests. But when he applied for the same accommodation on his biggest test, the bar exam, he was denied and said due to insufficient evidence of disability. He says he received extra break time only. After failing the test, he tried to get sufficient evidence by undergoing a seven-hour, $3,000 neuropsychic evaluation.  

He reapplied for the bar exam and accommodation.

"I had submitted independent medical records, tests, reports, clinical interviews -- you name it, it's probably in there -- spanning two decades from at least five separate entities that all independently evaluated me over the years. The expert consultant decided that there was insufficient evidence still," he said. 

Sam isn't alone. Republican state Rep. Matt Soper of Delta says he's heard from many Coloradans with disabilities who have been denied testing accommodations. 

Soper, and Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Bacon of Denver, have introduced a bill that would prohibit testing entities from requiring additional medical evaluations for Coloradans who have a disability that is recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"What we're saying is that if you've been granted a testing accommodation on another high stakes exam that's a gateway exam for a job that we want the same testing entity to recognize that past result," said Soper.

Under the bill, test takers with disabilities would only need to submit a note from their doctor and proof of previous testing accommodations on a standardized or high-stakes test to receive an accommodation on a professional exam. 

The bill passed the House Committee on Business Affairs and Labor unanimously and is headed to the Appropriations Committee. 

The bar exam is administered by the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel in the Judicial Department. 

Fiscal analysts estimate it will cost the department nearly $164,000 per year to investigate complaints by people who are denied accommodations for the bar exam, to provide additional testing space, and to hire additional proctors for exam.

If the bill becomes law, it would be a first of its kind in the country.

Sam took four months off work to study for a second bar exam. He took the test in February and will get the results the end of the month. Meantime, he is pushing for passage of the bill.

"And I think this bill would allow qualified candidates to make our legal profession here in Denver much more robust, much more diverse," he said.