It takes Romi Loffler 30 minutes to write a single sentence. Using her eyes, she says what she is thinking, letter by letter, on a screen. Romi, 21, from Scotland, has a genetic condition called Rett syndrome which leaves her unable to walk or speak.
Rett syndrome is a genetic disorder that primarily affects girls and women. It affects speech and movement. It can also cause seizures and other health issues.
For Romi, eye-gaze technology has given her a way to communicate and complete her schoolwork. After months of hard work, she completed the National 4 history exam last year. This year, she wanted to go further and earn her National 5, which meant taking an exam.
Her family and college approached Qualifications Scotland and asked for accommodations that would make the exam accessible. They proposed allowing Romi to answer one question at a time over several weeks or months. They also asked for a bank of pre-approved words so she would not have to spell out every answer letter by letter.
Qualifications Scotland rejected those requests. Romi told BBC Scotland News she was “angry,” saying other students had been given the chance to earn their National 5 and she had not. “I deserved the same chance as everyone else,” she said.
There is something deeply troubling about a student who wants to show what she knows but is struggling to find a way to prove it. Romi lives in Scotland. However, that part of her story feels painfully familiar to me as a disabled person in the United States.
Disabled children in the U.S. are entitled to a “free and appropriate” public education under The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. I was able to attend public school for twelve years. I had many wonderful teachers, therapists and paraprofessionals along the way. I have fond memories of field trips and other school events, experiences that would not have been possible if I had not been allowed to attend school.
College is different, and students often find themselves having to provide documentation and advocate for the accommodations they need. During my freshman year, I learned what can happen when someone listens. I was taking psychology and did poorly on my first exam because of my visual processing difficulties. I knew the material, but the format of the test did not meet my needs.
I was terrified to approach my professor because it was the first time I had advocated for myself in college. He listened and suggested that someone circle my answers for me. I went on to excel in the class and make the Dean’s List that semester. Nothing about the material became easier. I had a way to show what I knew.
Not every experience has been so simple. Years later, I enrolled at the local community college. I was told that peer note-takers were not available for remote learning. That explanation did not make sense to me.
Later, the former director of disability services told me I had “misinterpreted” my accommodations agreement. After I expressed my frustration in an email, the college’s former provost suggested that I transfer to another college.
For many disabled students, accommodations are what make college possible. Yet there is still disagreement about their place in higher education. Justin Noia, a visiting professor at Providence College in Rhode Island, argues that disability-related accommodations are undermining the quality of disabled people’s college education. He writes that “nearly everyone agrees that there are some disabilities that should not—or could not—be accommodated.”
Romi’s story makes me wary of drawing that line too easily. With the help of assistive technology, she is able to communicate, engage with others, and take exams. Disabled people deserve the opportunity to show the world who they are and what they know.
That is what can get lost in arguments about accommodations. Access does not necessarily make education easier. Sometimes it simply removes a barrier that never needed to be there.
Romi is not asking for someone to give her a qualification. She is asking for the chance to earn one. She wants to have the same academic opportunities as everyone else. It takes her 30 minutes to write a sentence. That fact tells us something about how she communicates. It tells us nothing about her intelligence.
Sources:
Adams, Lucy. “Student Who Spells by Blinking Is Denied Chance to Sit Exam.” BBC News, 13 Oct. 2026, http://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6zxj8grer7ro.
Mims, Catherine. “Rett Syndrome: The Epidemiology, Clinical Features, and Management.” Pediatrics in Review, vol. 46, no. 10, Oct. 2025, pp. 586–88, https://doi.org/10.1542/pir.2024-006437.
Noia, Justin. “Giving Students Accommodations Is a Disservice to Employers.” Times Higher Education (THE), Inflexion Private Equity, 22 Oct. 2024, http://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/giving-students-accommodations-disservice-employers.
Yell, Mitchell Louis, and M. Renee Bradley. “The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Clarifying the Relationship Between Free Appropriate Public Education and Least Restrictive Environment.” Journal of Learning Disabilities, vol. 58, no. 4, 2025, pp. 246–56, https://doi.org/10.1177/00222194241305352.