WIBTA for filing a federal complaint against my university over Spanish class discrimination?
I (21M) am a college junior studying media. I’m autistic, and my autism has greatly affected my language and social skills throughout my life. While I’ve made progress in speaking English, learning another language has been nearly impossible because of my autism.
At my school, foreign language classes are required to graduate. I’ve tried to meet this requirement, but my grades have dropped in each Spanish class I’ve taken—from a decent B to a mid-C, then a low-C. Based on the increased difficulty and grading, I’m likely to fail the next class.
Speaking and conversational exercises are especially hard for me and make my struggles even worse. This requirement has reached the point where it’s threatening my ability to graduate.
I asked the school to let me take culture-related classes instead, which match my major. These classes would still help me learn about foreign cultures without the challenges of speaking or learning a new language. I gave them proof of my disability and explained how it directly affects my ability to complete this requirement, but they haven’t approved my request.
This has already gone through the substitution request process, an appeal, a discrimination complaint, and an appeal of that complaint. If my discrimination appeal is denied, I may not graduate, wasting years of hard work and ruining my career goals. I’m thinking about filing a federal complaint, as I believe their refusal violates disability laws. I don’t want to escalate this, but I feel I have no other option if they won’t work with me.
WIBTA if I filed a federal complaint?