cosmicfish

And sometimes they are just trying desperately to make it seem like it isn't their fault. This is why documentation is important. If it is too embarassing or problematic to give specifics, they can ask their doctor for a letter explaining what their limitations are without specifying the ailment, and see if the department will keep that on file. If it comes on letterhead and can be confirmed as originating with a licensed physician, it might fly while still maintaining their dignity as much as possible. But there are too many shady students to give someone such a big free pass without some kind of proof.

EPTR

I agree with cosmicfish. If it is a legitimate medical condition, the professor doesn't need to know specifics if somebody in the administration gets a letter from the doctor and passes the students limitations on to the professor. I teach public school and have situations where I will be told that a child has permission to leave for the bathroom without permission, that a child needs flexibility, etc without anyone telling me the specifics.

Anyone can say that they have a need for flexibility, etc.

masslou

Realizing this means extra work for the teacher, could an alternate written assignment be assigned to this student in lieu of class participation?

Future problems might be avoided by including a disclaimer in the syllabus suggesting students inform you if there are reasons, medical or otherwise, that might preclude their consistent attendance. If this student had been proactive, you might not be questioning the legitimacy of the situation.

I get that you wouldn't be happy recording class discussions as they are typically expected to be kept confidential and that's difficult when discussions are recorded.

razorsharp

The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act apply to colleges. The school's administrators should be the ones looking at this problem and making determinations.

FlyMeToTheMoon

If he is close to reaching the limit of unpenalized absences, that suggests that he HAS attended a number of classes. Has he been able to sit through the entire class of those he has already attended? To me, that is the key. If he has been able to sit through an entire class thus far, and at this point in the semester, that would be a fair number of classes, then why suddenly has he decided it is difficult to sit through the class. I don't think you are being obtuse. Your intuition is telling you something else is going on. I'd find out what is happening in the other classes he is taking.

Marian

I think he has brought up the issue now simply because he is close to reaching the limit.

I suspect the problem may be gastrointestinal, such as irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease. With these kinds of conditions, an individual may have hours or days with minimal symptoms and other times when urgent trips to the bathroom are necessary. These disorders are also a lot harder to talk about than, say, a back injury that makes it difficult to remain in a sitting position for 50 minutes, and they can't be addressed by standing in the back of the room instead of sitting.

If your student had a back problem, he would have come right out and told you about it. But if the problem is intestinal, that's a different story.

cosmicfish

Another possibility for the lack of details is because there aren't any. As someone who had a gastrointestinal ailment that lasted through a solid year of school, it is indeed unpleasant to talk about it... but if you need and want special treatment you have to talk about it to somebody, because even at great school there are unscrupulous students who will use a false ailment to get special treatment.

NewHope33

Amesie - Kick this problem up to the Dean. It's a no-win situation for you to deal with it. (JMHO of course.)

NJSue

Tell the student to register with the Disability Services office on campus and get the needed paperwork. Accommodations may be legally provided for physical illness, mental illness, or learning disability. Then you will be able to give him appropriate accommodations as recommended by the professionals in that office. You don't need to know, nor will you be told, the details of his condition or the rationale for the accommodations.

PS Students with chronic physical conditions like Crohn's and asthma should really register for accommodations even if they end up not needing them. It's much easier to have the paperwork in place; also, accommodations can't be legally provided retroactively, but only from the point in the course where the student registers and self-discloses.

PPS Professors aren't qualified to determine appropriate accommodations based on documentation from a doctor presented to them by the student directly. That is not the way to do it. The student needs to go through Disability Services.

mini

The Romans said you should never teach children any more than what they can learn standing up.

Hunt

I agree that there are really two separate issues here: one is the procedure for giving and getting accomodations, and the second is whether the student can really do the work of the class without attending. On the second question, it seems to me that there are some classes that you can't really do without being in class--an example that occurs to me is a creating writing workshop--the whole point is the class interaction. A lecture class is at the other end of the spectrum.

rmldad

The ONLY issue here is adherence to departmental policy. The OP states, "Fortunately for me this is a problem that my dean will have to deal with--I give students a set number of unpenalized absences (5 per semester; actually this is a department policy)."

If the professor waives the department policy for a student, then the professor is open to charges of favortism. Any decision made by this professor concerning any student will necessarily be subject to review, since he will have established a precedent for granting waivers.

There are reasons that policies and procedures are in place. Five absences is not an arbitrary number - it has been agreed upon by the department and approved by the university administration based on years of experience and accumulated wisdom.

There should be clearly delineated exceptions to departmental policies for medical conditions that must be strictly adhered to. If the policies are unreasonable, work to remedy them, but do not arbitrarily ignore them.

lookingforward

Most colleges have written polices re ADA and implementation- and "attendance accommodaton" is often covered. Some say a student should both be fully registered with the disability office and make needs known to profs within 7 days of the start of class or very soon after the problem arises, depending. It is clear that this is not a professor or dept decision, but a matter of the school and the regulations. This popped up first, as one example, from a google look. Attendance Accommodation Student Disability Services | Allegheny College - Meadville, PA

Luckily, the school will decide for you, but I can see your concerns. And those of students.

raiders83

I would confirm that said condition is real, and see if you could get the doctor or student to expand on how else it might affect them. Then I would make the appropriate consessions to accomadate them. I think you have to be suspect at first, but I also think that if they really do need it then you should do everything in your' power to help someone who honestly trying to gain an education.

ordinarylives

What NJSue said. Our SSS director is also the campus disabilities officer. No one but her EVER needs to see a student's documentation. We use a card system. If the student presents a card with an accommodation, the instructor is legally obligated to provide the accommodation. Questions are addressed to the disabilities officer, not the student. Send the student to the disabilities office. Do not deal with the student directly. If that office determines there is no disability to accommodate, adhere to departmental policy regarding attendance.

With all the talk of disability, remember that college is not the same as high school wrt level of accommodation. College accommodations are about access, not success. A professor can be required to allow students to miss more than the "allowed" amount of classes, but the professor cannot be required to recreate a classroom experience at another time. A test can be given orally or with extended time, but a professor can't be required to write a whole new test. Privacy issues and the rights of other students will be a problem in taping discussions. If discussion/workshop/practice/activity is an integral part of the learning experience, and if poor performance on exams is a likely result of missing that activity, your student may suffer some negative consequence for missing class, even if the overt penalty for doing so is eliminated.