<p>Just a heads up from a friend of mine whose child has a mild disability but it does have some impact on his academics. He is registered with his college Office of Differing Abilities which is very excellent and has been wonderful. </p>
<p>He found himself struggling with a freshman course and was somewhat intimidated by the teacher so didn’t ask for an accommodation of extra time until recently (before the next test which is the final). Here is the amazing response, which is contrary to the ADA and every piece of knowledge about disabilities. How does someone like this become a college professor?</p>
<p>“I remember you telling me about your (disability) on the info sheet at the
beginning. It surprised me–I’d never guess that you had that problem.<br>
If you are registered with the Office of Differing Abilities, I have no
choice but to give you extra time if you need it. However, it will be
better for you later on when you are applying for jobs and such if you
don’t take the extra time–potential employers like that. You will not
be given extra time at a job. Let me know what you want to do.”</p>
<p>And…
“I just want you to know that I have your best interests at heart. I
want to make sure that you are aware that taking advantage of the extra
time that you are entitled to now will potentially limit your employment
opportunities in the future. If the job is the type where you get paid
strictly by the output, it will not be a problem if it takes you longer
to do it. But for a job where the salary is the same no matter what the
output is, this would be a strike against you because the employer will
want to hire the person who will give them the most value for the
dollar–especially in these tough economic times.
In the past I have had two students who were registered with the ODA and
chose not to take the extra time, who later asked me for job
recommendations. In those recommendations, I stressed the fact that the
students chose not to take advantage of anything, but competed on a
level playing field with everyone else, which spoke volumes to their
character. I gave them glowing recommendations, as I’m sure all of
their other references did, and they both got the jobs they were
applying for. I just want to make sure that you are aware
of the potential consequences later on if you choose to opt for taking
more time. If you have no intention of trying to get the type of job
where requiring more time would be a problem, then there is no issue
here–take the extra time, because it will probably help you to do
better. But I do want you to be aware that it has potential
consequences after you graduate–I don’t want you to be blindsided by
that reality later on.”</p>
<p>I think the professor is being brutally honest. People with disabilities have an enormously high unemployment rate–I’ve heard as high as 80%–and having an “official” disability on your record can indeed be an issue with an employer.</p>
<p>The ADA protects people with disabilities and the disability is not allowed to be a consideration in hiring, promotion etc. The EEOC is pretty tough with respect to disability discrimination, and most reputable employers (and schools) are well aware of this.</p>
<p>The professor was expressing his honest opinion. The professor never said that the student could not have extended time so I don’t have a problem at all with the response. Many people have mild disabilities that never get formally diagnosed. Instead, over time, they learn to compensate and learn how to work to the best of their abilities within the normal environment. Sometimes, it’s easy to blame a mild disability for shortcomings rather than come to the realization that one is slightly below average in ability and/or performance. I do believe that too many parents try to use extended time to gain an edge for their kids. Wouldn’t most kids score better if they were given more time and not forced to complete a task within a specific timeframe? By the time a kid with a mild disability goes off to college, he/she should have learned techniques over the course of high school, to enable him/her to successfully compete with others on a normal playing field. The problem with letting a kid continue with “extended time” throughout their K-12 is that they never learn the skills or emotional maturity to complete a task under time restraints.</p>
<p>^^That is pretty much bull4h1t. This is a real disability- not just a problem with academics. I didn’t name the actual disability due to privacy concerns. If someone in industry said those remarks, the company would be sued. The Disability Office at the school recommended that the student file a formal complaint. I am really shocked at your views on this. I guess since I’ve defended employment cases and advised clients on how to comply with ADA for so many years I have a better handle on this.
All I can say is (well, I can’t say it here).</p>
<p>Interesting. If it’s a large school, the chance of the student asking that particular prof for a recommendation is pretty slim.</p>
<p>I guess it’s okay for the student to receive a response like that on occasion. The world is brutal. Employers have all kinds of prejudices that may or may not be legal. </p>
<p>Since my original degree is in deaf ed, I always try to put things in that context. If a deaf job applicant shows up with his interpreter, he might be told “sorry we just filled that position.” If he shows up alone and does okay with speech and lip reading, he may get the interview. Not legal, but I’m sure it happens.</p>
<p>Folks with disablities do need to think about whether they’d be better off in the work force with a known or an unknown disablity. Not an easy thing to figure out, but maybe it’s okay for this particular freshman to mull the issue over for a few years while he’s still in school.</p>
<p>Re-reading, I guess the implication is that he won’t write a recommendation in the future - or will write a bad recommendation in the future - if the student uses accomodations? That’s the actionable part.</p>
<p>I didn’t want to respond, but as one of my best friend has a LD and has faced this (wrong) opinion throughout school:</p>
<p>LD accommodations are not given for “slightly below average”. You have to be 2 standard deviations below what would be expected given your profile (other educational background, specific tests, etc) in the specific area the disability is.</p>
<p>Most kids don’t “score better” with extra time. There have been many studies of this. On the standardized exams studied, “normal” people like you and I typically gain nothing (statistically) given extra time - but diagnosed LD people score much higher than before.</p>
<p>Most likely you’re right, some parents will try to abuse the system to gain an advantage - But I’ve taken many standardized exams, all under normal time, never have I thought that someone with a real, diagnosed LD had some kind of unfair advantage.</p>
<p>The professor gave his opinion. He never said that he/she would not honor the extended time accommodation. </p>
<p>You can disagree with my opinion as I’m sure many others will. It is my opinion that the extended time accommodation has been abused within the K-12 education. This is my opinion and it’s fine for others to disagree with me.</p>
<p>I don’t think the student should have reported the prof because the prof in fact, agreed to accommodate him. I don’t think the ADA prohibits people from discussing the disabled person’s disability with them, or offering them personal advice about it.</p>
<p>Personally–non-legal advice–I would go see the chair of the department. Show him/her the letter. Say that he would like to exercise his rights and, assuming that the grade assigned is at least somewhat subjective, he’s afraid that the prof will penalize him for doing so. He wants to know if it would be possible for someone else to grade his final. Explain that he is afraid that if the grading is at all subjective, the prof will take it out on him if he exercises his rights contrary to the prof’s advice. If possible, get the office of disabilities involved in this. </p>
<p>Don’t make it a complaint at this stage–just say that, given the prof’s attitude and stated position, the student has some concern about his/her ability to grade him fairly if he does take the extended time. Rather than waiting until AFTER the final to complain in the event that he thinks his grade is too low, he wants to do this BEFORE the exam.</p>
<p>Unless of course it was unsolicited - the student was not seeking career counseling, just accommodations that he was entitled to. It is not the professor’s responsibility or right to determine or question those accommodations. In this particular case, “opinions” given by a person in a position of authority/power over another could be perceived as a pattern of harassment or discrimination.</p>
<p>Just curious, is this class graded objectively? I find it amazing that he remembered “off the cuff” that this student revealed a learning disability on his “info sheet” at the outset. I wonder if it was a mistake to reveal a disability with particular professor. I also wonder if grading will become subjectively harsher if this students elects to use the accommodations that he is entitled to take.</p>
<p>jbusc, when you speak about 2 standard deviations, I think that you are thinking about schooling between age 3 and 21, before a high school diploma is earned, and becoming eligible for special education. Accommodations are completely different. Special education laws do not apply in college, but a student can be entitled to accommodations.</p>
<p>gives a clear (well, if you’re good at fine print) look at unemployment issues relating to those with disabilities. </p>
<p>Basically, (in the year 2000 census, which is now quite old) only about 21% of people with disabilities (age 18-64) are employed; about 78% of people without disabilities (age 18-64) are employed. The official unemployment rate (which only includes people actively looking for work, not the discouraged, etc.) of disabled people is about 3x that of the non-disabled.</p>
<p>Because students with disabilities are given special treatment in schools–as is required by law–in hopes that they will be able to reach the same desirable endpoint of education (becoming a productive citizen), I think it is tempting to think that accommodations are also available in the workplace. In fact, only employers that have more than 25 employees are even asked to make accommodations ([The</a> ADA: Your Responsibilities as an Employer](<a href=“http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/ada17.html]The”>The ADA: Your Responsibilities as an Employer | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)) and even then the accommodations can’t create “undue hardship” for the business.</p>
<p>I realize that many CC members think the professor was being unduly harsh. I think he would have been better off discussing his questions with the student in person, rather than writing such an email. However, I am also aware that my brother-in-law, who has cerebral palsy and has worked in a paying job a grand total of six weeks in his entire life (he is 46), believes that he is being discriminated against—but can’t do anything about it. Certainly, I think many people with disabilities would find hiring situations a lot easier if they didn’t have an obvious disability.</p>
<p>Heck, even FDR made sure no one saw him use a wheelchair.</p>
<p>The department deans are involved as is the Disability Office. This is a school that takes disability support very seriously and is falling all over itself to try to correct this situation and ensure that this teacher gets some training. It’s a public and funding had been cut resulting in new faculty not being fully up to speed.</p>
<p>I wonder why they take it so seriously and if they worry about losing some federal funding? What is their motivation is to rectify the situation? I have heard about similar problems at 2 small private schools and nobody was anxious to rectify anything.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you think I’m talking about. I don’t really know anything about special education or accommodations. But I did take one neuroscience GE class, and we did discuss diagnosis criteria for neuroscientific problems in general.</p>
<p>What I am referring to is the objective criteria necessary to diagnose something like a LD. You can’t just be “different” or be below average in some areas. The person must present problems that are statistically significant, i.e., greater than most “normal people”. A typical choice for this criteria is that the quantitative data should show a gap in ability of 2 standard deviations (sometimes 1.5 sigma in cases where non-quantitative data also suggests a problem)</p>
<p>After further thought, I wonder what the professor should have said. </p>
<p>“Of course you can have the accommodations you have requested.”
or
“Of course… BUT if you later ask for a letter of recommendation, I will mention that you had disability accommodations.”
or
“Of course… BUT later… and you might want to consider that being public about your disability could affect your later chances for a job.”</p>
<p>Jonri’s advice is very good. I have found the situation in colleges/ universities very difficult because I don’t think they’re very upfront about what they’re willing to do and what they’re not. I have a child who gets sick-- and when I called the disability office of her new college last year, the person said if there is a medicine out there for her illness (whether or not it’s working), there would be no reason to give her a 504. This is a TOP lac and I had clearly said the meds weren’t keeping her from having crisis. Sure enough, she ended up sick this semester and had a teacher try to give her a 0 on an exam. The dean went to bat for her but I found out in the process that Congress has closed a loophole which allowed schools NOT to cover kids with 504s if their disability was controlled by medicine (like diabetes). There is a lot of ignorance out there. </p>
<p>Oh, and while I understand the unemployment rate, there really is little a person can do if they’re truly disabled. My kid goes to class, does her work, etc-- but if there’s a crisis and she needs to be hospitalized, that’s what she must do. I think most kids with disabilities understand that they may sometimes be at a disadvantage.</p>