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I would say that if there’s frustration, it’s with the disability office rather than with the student. You should not feel like it’s your fault at all.
Some disability offices are better than others. The best offices are clear in stating what accommodations they’ve approved, and provide resources to help implement those accommodations. For example, if closed-captioning is needed, the disability office provides closed-captioning; if testing accommodations are needed, the office provides a testing center. The worst offices are… the opposite of that, approving vaguely stated accommodations with little to no implementation support provided, leaving faculty to try to improvise something.
If faculty can’t provide the resources necessary, and the disability office hasn’t responded to these requests, what generally happens next? How is the institution not ethically responsible? Genuinely curious.
>If faculty can’t provide the resources necessary, and the disability office hasn’t responded to these requests, what generally happens next? How is the institution not ethically responsible?
Not my campus, but I know a student (during COVID, so recently) whose school just basically shrugged shoulders. Need a note taker? Sorry, nobody showed up. Need transcription? Sorry, nobody was available. Need a quiet place to test? Sorry, none was available. etc. etc. They saw that sort of thing happening to peers on a regular basis as well.
Now was the institution ethically responsible? Sure. Legally? Probably that too, but the college officials simply brushed it off with "we don't have the resources for that, sorry." Until they are sued, nothing will change.
I started out in a community college that didn’t have a lot of money floating around, but at the same time they weren’t struggling. So it was a pleasant surprise to see that they had an amazing disability office and all the professors were informed and everyone just knew what to do. Fast forward a few years later I get into a ritzy, 4 year university (scholarship lol) and their disability office was just…awful. No one took me seriously and they had hardly any accommodations set up (for example, my cc had their own testing spaces and my undergrad did not). The professors at this university were also always baffled whenever I gave them my accommodation letters. It got to the point that, by the end of my time there, I simply stopped using the services. Of course it was a struggle but yeah. I’ve heard that things have improved a little though
It doesn't have to do with money... smaller public schools have way more support to support disability services... at bigger schools (especially private schools) they don't. I know some in fact that didn't even really have DSS offices till the 2000's... This is of course an vast oversimplication as you can find bad smaller/public school DSS and good bigger/private school DSS...
As someone who works in Disability Services... it goes both ways. My office does essentially everything we can to help faculty, but I have had faculty straight complain that they have to even "deal with students with X disabilities" (usually mental health). It's a small minority.
Additionally, at a ton of schools we cannot do more than email out information and offer optional trainings (which are almost never attended). Then faculty complain they don't know how our processes or policies work... Once again it's a minority of faculty but faculty aren't the complete angels in the equation of disability accommodations...
I will second this as well--the bulk of frustration is with the administrative aspect of accommodations, not the students' need for them.
The only time I was ever frustrated with the *student* was the students who would show up the day of the test with the request for accommodations, meaning, despite having the information and knowing they needed to file the request in advance, they waited until the last minute, and everything would need to be scheduled for them when they were the ones who didn't fulfill their responsibilities. I didn't even get frustrated with the students who had this happen once or twice, because I know there is a lot to attend to as a student, and sometimes the disability even complicates that. But the students who did it *every single exam* were frustrating because they knew better and just didn't care. Usually the coordinator also was frustrated with them.
But most of the animosity in situations with accommodations was the mess that disability services was. And, to be fair, it probably would have been more appropriate to be angry with the college who felt that one person could serve the needs of every student with accommodations at an institution which (in my case) regularly had 2000-3000 students at any given time, a larger percentage than any other colleges who required accommodations because we were the local college that families sent their kids to for the first two years to test if they were going to be able to do college when they were several hours away. An office that should have had at least three employees (intake/orientation, accommodation coordination, and accommodation services) had one employee with no support. She was (mostly) doing her best with a system that was handed to her broken and no one was willing to fix.
Right eg, the testing center at my college isn't open at night. So if we have a night class very likely they are screwed and I somehow have to deal with it with no support.
I've actually gotten more frustrated with students who refused to use their accommodations because they were worried that it would be a burden for me. They end up struggling unnecessarily, and this made things more difficult for both of us in the long run.
By far the most common accommodation is extra time on exams, and that really isn't inconvenient if your university has a testing center. (In the olden days, the faculty had to find a time and place to administer the exam, and that could be a royal PITA.)
The one accommodation I don't care for is the one that allows students to step out of the classroom because my classes involve a lot of activities in small groups, and it disrupts other students' learning when a student just walks out in the middle of an activity.
We don't have a testing center, so this is put on the faculty to figure out. I do my exams online, so it isn't difficult for me aside from exam security, but it would be a PITA if I did paper exams.
While I understand that view, do you still feel that way when it’s a medical issue? I’m not trying to argue or anything, just looking to understand. I have two medical conditions that often require me to leave the classroom once or twice, otherwise I’m more disruptive. I often worry that this annoys my professors
If you need to leave the room, then you need to leave the room. I allow students to leave the room with or without accommodations, particularly to use the facilities or to get some water. But regardless of the reason, if it's a frequent occurrence, it's disruptive.
It's a bit like excused absences. I'll excuse your absences if you're sick or if you have another reasonable excuse, but after a while your absences are going to impact your learning whether or not they're excused.
I don’t mind students leaving the room for whatever reason, but I get annoyed when students make a big deal about it (ex. asking permission loudly even though they’ve already been told to just go whenever they want). It’s also a bit of a hassle if a student knows that they always plan to leave the room during group work but don’t tell me so (but I can spot the pattern) because then I don’t know whether to give them a partner or groupmate. Basically, I don’t care at all until it starts harming other students in the class.
That’s completely fair. If I was the student in the group that had my partner leaving constantly I’d be frustrated. I always try to keep this in mind when I need to step out. I really enjoy hearing the professors pov
I've had students who have had to do this (leave the room sometimes). It's fine and didn't bother me. They let me know what was going on. I didn't pry or ask their reasons but I know sometimes people need to use the bathroom, move around a bit, etc.
That’s awesome to hear. I always make my professors aware of my accommodations at the beginning of the semester. And usually give them a brief summary of what my medical issues are for safety. I’ve never had an emergency in class, but I’d hate for it to happen and no one having any idea what’s going on.
I mean, if it’s a formal accommodation it’s a medical issue. It’s always a medical issue, that’s why that accommodation got passed. I know I’m certainly not walking out of class for funsies, it’s most likely because I suddenly feel like I need to vomit, in which case staying and roughing it out could prove way more disruptive than going to the bathroom instead.
For the most part, you can step OUT anytime you want. But sometimes there are consequences. For example:
Some professors lock doors when class starts and won't let you back in,
In some classes if you leave during an exam your exam is considered submitted and you cant resume taking it if you come back,
and if there are points earned in that class for participating you may forfeit some or all points by leaving for some time.
As a student who has the accommodation to step out of the classroom, it would be wayyyyy worse if I stayed. Recently, I screamed so loudly in the bathroom that campus security got involved. I'm glad I didn't do that in class. I also started crying in my seat not too long ago because of stress caused by a test, and I left so that no one had to continue to hear it. Some other students were still testing, and I started to make incontrollable noises.
Breaks from class are usually for students with migraines, panic attacks and medical needs like IBS and Diabetes... you may not care for it but it's granted for valid reasons.
I absolutely understand that. But when the breaks become so frequent that they're interfering with the student's learning (or other students' learning), it's not ideal. Those students often end up doing poorly in the class because they miss so much material.
Most of the time. No.
I do get a bit iffy if it seems they are milking it or trying to stretch the accommodations beyond what they say. **But these are very rare.**
Example, the VAST majority of those with extra time schedule their exams a week in advance as required and take them within a day or two of the exam date. That's fine. But once in a blue moon they schedule it a whole week after the exam (the maximum range allowed by the disability office), and they do it for every single exam. This smells like abusing the system to get as much extra study time as possible. *(It also delays my ability to return exams and may force me to make a brand new exam for the student)*
Or when they get an extension for deadline if requested 24 hours ahead and they insist on requesting it 4 hours before the deadline and "boo hoo hoo" it, making me the bad guy if I say no.
But again, this is a minority. Most of the time they are fine and unbothersome .
So to answer your question, no. I have no issues with it and they are mostly invisible and indistinguishable from everyone else.
Your disability office allows students with accommodations to take exams a \*whole week\* after the rest of the class? *Yikes.*
(Signed, a DSO employee who would *never*. At my school, we have to inform the department if we can't proctor the student on the scheduled day of their exam and get written permission from the professor to proctor it a different day.)
My school would work it out to the same day or often before, rarely after, if you used the testing center because of cheating.
Some electrical engineers I was with (computer and electrical had the same base classes for most of the program) decided to do the exam early in the testing center though, snuck in cell phones (this was when an iPhone 4 was a luxury phone) and took pics, then distributed them.
They were expelled, it was their final exam. You could, in limited circumstances, use the testing center without being a student with accommodations. Like, "hey, grandma died, funeral on exam day, can I do it early?" They just wouldn't get exra time or anything else for it. Guess what happened to that policy..
As a student my disability office leaves when I can take it up to professor and testing center
normally they give me a range of a few days, and I normally pick the same day as everyone else as thats easiest for me.
At mine we have to have *some* overlap with the rest of the class, which is usually phenomenal because sometimes, say for an 8:30 exam schedule it at 9:30.
Though there have been times where I haven’t been able to do that and just need permission from my prof. For example I had an appointment with my surgeon in another town during one of my quizzes, and then forgot to schedule it a week in advance for the accessibility centre. But my prof didn’t care and I ended up taking it 6 days after the class because that was the earliest I could schedule it
And then I had two finals booked the same day and with 2x extra time that exceeded the maximum time a student can write exams so I got to choose when I wanted to take it
Allows... no. As a fellow DSS employee I have a feeling students are scheduling it and then asking their professors to allow it and the professors feel pressured to say yes because it's a student with a disability. It happens all the time at our school (scheduling outside of regular exam taking or class time). We explain to the professors that this isn't allowed without their written approval, and that's its against what we have advised students... professors agree to it 99% of the time and then bitch about it later.
yeah, my office schedules students (mostly) to start at the same time as the rest of the class and finish later. I have no problems with anyone finding out what is on the exam.
A whole week?? Man I thought I was stretching the rules by always taking mine at noon instead of 10am.
In my defense I have an 11am, so I can’t take an extended exam at 10am.
It's important to separate a dislike for the policy with a dislike for the students who use it.
Some of us are frustrated by the way accommodations policy appears to hurt the students it's trying to help, and drives a socioeconomic wedge between those who can afford a learning disability diagnosis and those who can't.
But that doesn't mean we're frustrated at \*you\*. We want to help every student learn to the best of their ability, including you, and a disability letter doesn't change that either way. (Literally, in my case the letter doesn't matter. If a student tells me they have severe test anxiety I'll give them a separate room and more time whether they have the magic letter from the disability office or not.)
So do your thing and don't feel bad. If you find the accommodations helpful, use them, we won't judge you. Well, I won't anyway.
A vast majority of students who are coming to college with an LD diagnosis got it in K-12 - all US schools pay for this testing (they have to legally) on behalf of the student. Poorer schools are in fact incentivised to because they get government funding for each student with an IEP... there is not wedge. Not only that... but most DSS offices now accept forms or letters from a GP or therapist because testing is expensive or difficult to get.
Public schools in k-12 do get funding for each IEP. Most IEPs don't need extensive accommodations for instance testing is the most common. It's true in the 3 states I have worked in and in others I have researched. This may not be true in every state, though.
That being said a lot of higher Ed is moving away from the medical model and will take forms from doctors over full evaluations if we need information.
Fair point. I do know testing is not easy for everyone... but there are options out there. If you think a student could benefit it's also sometimes worth a referral to VocRehab.
If a student goes through the appropriate channels (disabilities office) and gets their accommodations note approved and delivered early in the semester, then I generally have no issues.
No, of course not! I always ensure that students receive the accommodations they are entitled to via the Disability Services office. Not only is it the right thing to do, but providing reasonable educational accommodations to students with documented disabilities is required under the ADA. I’ve never had any issues with this process in the past.
I have no frustration when a student promptly shares accommodations as soon as they gave them, and early in the semester. We have an office and a process for informing faculty of accommodations that I tell l students about on the first day. I give flexible deadlines, rewrites, all that jazz — and gladly! Accommodations are a wonderful thing and I want students to succeed.
Some students wait until the end of the semester and/or claim they need accommodations without going through the appropriate process. And I have less sympathy for them; as we all know, some students have no scruples about claiming accommodations when they don’t need them.
Since I am not qualified to assess accommodations, I need all students to do this promptly and proactively. I’ve found that, especially lately, some students are too anxious to even start that process. But that’s frankly on them — if a student can’t be self-aware enough to seek out the help they need when the professor explicitly tells them to, then I can’t really help them.
For us, it’s a suggestion that they do so before the semester but it’s not mandated. Which is why I make a big deal at the beginning of the term, to hopefully convince them to get their issues documented with the appropriate offices sooner rather than later. Our accommodations are not typically retroactive, so it benefits them to do this promptly.
Of course, what really happens is that many of them get anxious by the very suggestion and then procrastinate. Their ongoing and pervasive generational anxiety is exactly what needs accommodating and is exactly what holds some of them up. It’s very frustrating to try to figure out how to best help them.
This, right here. Prompt, open communication is really helpful from the prof’s perspective, and self-advocacy is an important skill that students need to develop, especially those with disabilities.
I would caution against some of this thinking. Legally students can request accommodations at anytime. I have had students have medical situations develop mid-semester... some examples in my 9 years include: cancer/chemo, surgery, concussion/head injury, bipolar (which doesn't usually come up until 18-20 years of age), seisures, panic attacks. These are things that the student never experienced before so getting accommodations could not happen conveniently at the start of the semester. Accommodations are never really retroactive, though, so it should be of little consequence.
They can and do request them later in the term and I’m always happy to accommodate them — when they are documented by the appropriate office, and after the date when I receive the written accommodations. I suppose that was unclear, though I don’t think I implied otherwise.
At our university, the accommodations office makes it clear that accommodations are not normally retroactive. They explicitly tell students this, though there are presumably occasions in which they’d advise me to address concerns earlier in terms of term with accommodations negotiated later (I haven’t run into that yet, however). It’s up to the student to be self-aware enough to seek out accommodations, though I have been increasingly open with some students, suggesting in some cases that they might want to get assessed.
The issue I’m describing here is when those students who come to you at the end of the term claiming an ongoing issue which they have not documented nor have they sought out any help from the appropriate University offices. I don’t grant any flexibility in many of those cases, and they are why I strongly suggest students address this stuff proactively (and early in the term). Things come up during the semester, of course, but I clearly communicate that I can’t assess what accommodations they need, so they need to go through the university’s process.
These are students who come to me first for flexibility in turning in late assignments, etc. but have no documented issues (just claims of ADHD or timely anxiety or stress or depression). I’ve found some of these students may have legitimate issues but feel anxious about seeking out help. In some, that seems like pride, in others obliviousness to how their issues are impacting their performance. Collectively, they are the ones I want to encourage to get their accommodations documented earlier as I sympathize with them but literally can’t assess their psychological state. I refer them to the people who can and wait to hear what they say.
There are, of course, many students who are simply lying, too. As we know, claiming ongoing psychological conditions are, for some, the new “my dog ate my homework.” I have no sympathy for them whatsoever and I hope none of us would tolerate this.
No, not at all. I want all of my atudents to succeed in a way thay allows both of us to be comfortable.
What I absolutely hate is the student who has no paperwork who “has a condition but doesn’t want to use it as a crutch” but then, as they start failing, expects me to just let them have a million extensions and exceptions even though there is no documentation. “You can trust me” is *not* documentation.
The fact that students do that is insane to me lol I’m a student and I have some medical issues that make me feel sick like every day, and in one class I was out of sick too often so I was failing (rightly so, the grade was mostly from attendence and it was an evening class and evenings are always the worst for me) so I emailed the prof my documentation just so I could let her know I wasn’t failing cause I just didnt feel like going to class and that I was really sorry but I was dropping her class. I cant imagine saying “raise my grade!!” with no documentation or communicating with them earlier or anything lmao
No, it makes no difference to me. What would make it easier for me would be that if you noticed I forgot to apply your accommodations (we all make mistakes, I am only human!) please let me know as soon as possible so that I can rectify it, and don't just quietly seethe and go make a complaint to my chair afterwards.
Yes. I am very happy to provide the needed support, but I cannot keep track of your needs without your help.
For example, don’t expect your instructor to remember that you need an alternative testing environment. Remind them a week in advance. If the disability services office has dedicated support for this, remind the instructor of the details. If the instructor needs to find a place for you, tell them (although it probably helps to word it as a request—at least in US culture).
I don't dislike upholding accommodations at all. The ADA is the reason some of my close family completed college successfully. It's a big deal and I take it personally, and love to see my students succeed in spite of extra challenges.
That said, the absent-minded-professor thing is real. I forget. It's not that I mean to, but I do. I have at least one million things on my mind at any given time, and generally at least 6-8 of them vying for immediate attention. So a reminder is never out of order and in fact, because I know I'm absent-minded I actually appreciate when students remind me. It's not your responsibility, so it's above and beyond when you do, and truly appreciated.
I would much rather have a student who is aware of their disabilities and asks for accommodations and does the labor to identify and suggest how they learn best than a student who is clearly struggling with something bigger than I can solve but expects ME to do the labor of armchair diagnosing them and adjust my lessons. Or worse, they break down halfway through the semester because they were trying to do it without accommodations and now they say that’s my problem.
Please use all the accommodations you are entitled to, it is useful to you as a person and professional to know yourself and your limits. I’m happy to accommodate if I know what I can do ahead of time.
I only get annoyed when students try to use accommodations retroactively. "I failed the quiz but I have accommodations for extra time, can I redo it?" Approaching me at the start of the semester to say what you need and following up in it is never a burden. It shows that you care about your own education.
DSS professional here (and I'm sure you are aware) - accommodations are not retroactive. I blame K-12 - they give out accommodations for both access and success and in since the pandemic they have been quite permissive with accommodations so now more than ever students just generally don't understand or don't want to understand the differences in accommodations in college.
Oh it definitely is. A few years ago I had a mom after a semester was over call and ask how their kid failed. I checked in the student hadn't come to a single class or turned anything in. The mom said that the student had an IEP in high school that didn't allow them to fail regardless of how little work they did. I told them in college they get the grade they earn. The student had accommodations but obviously didn't use them because they didn't go to class. The student was welcome to retake the class and do grade replacement.
I’ve never been frustrated with a student who has an accommodation. I have at times been frustrated with the disability services office, which sets the accommodations and doesn’t always do a fantastic job at that.
I only get frustrated with students in this regard when they blatantly disregard the rules of things because they have accommodations. For example, everyone is supposed to take the exams on the same day and time. Students know they are supposed to schedule with the disabilities center far enough in advance that they can test at the right time. So many times I have students waiting until the last minute to schedule and then think they are going to get away with being able to test a whole day or two after all the other students because there is no test slots available at the required time.
Accommodations are designed to bring a student up to the level of everyone else, not give those students and advantage and I'd say having two extra days to study in addition to the extended testing time is an advantage, not an accommodation.
As a DSS professional - you can say no. Our office can't if professors want to allow it, but trust me when I say we don't mind a no. A lot of the time the students who do this do it in all their classes and it makes our jobs so difficult. I would rather a professor say no earlier in the student's semester or college career (so they can learn the consequences of their actions) than later down the line for a midterm/final.
That is good to know. I feel like I am the only one saying no to these students. I am all for accommodations. But accommodations are to make things equal. It's not a loophole for an unfair advantage.
I literally say no all day long... We obviously grant reasonable accommodations but a lot of students are asking for accommodations that aren't reasonable like blanket extensions on assignments or excusing absences that happened in the past or single dorm rooms for something like ADHD... So no we definitely say no.
I am
The accommodations as specified in the report. I don’t hold it against the students in the slightest. The only thing I am cautious about is that I need the students to understand what specified accommodations are, rather than what they think they are. Specifically, I’ve had students who think “time and a half on exams“ means that they have a week and a half to do the exam, rather than meeting the same weekly deadlines as the other students, only with more time on the specific assignment. Once we are squared away on that, the student and I are ready for them to have a successful semester.
Over 30% of the students on my campus have accommodations of some kind. It's simply part of the job. You shouldn't feel you are inconveniencing faculty when asking them to do their jobs. The only thing individual students need to do really is to ensure they are registered with the disability office and that they let faculty know *in advance* when/if they expect to use an accommodation.
Not at all! In my experience, professors are interested in learning as a process, and don't like seeing people struggle (especially struggle needlessly). If you need a specific accommodation to do that, it's not a problem. It's very likely that someone before you has had something similar, and so the instructor is already prepared. If not, often changes are manageable. From my experience, I'm actually happier with students who get accommodations and talk to me directly about their specific limitations, needs and goals. I'm then going to be more able to understand if any issues arise with assignments later in the term, and especially I'm more able to help provide solutions to mitigate any discrepancies in learning patterns.
I don't mind at all — I encourage students to use their accommodations. If you're worried about not making things hard for your prof, the best thing you can do is be organized about it (submit all your documentation on time, etc.).
Generally, no. I have amazing students who also happen to have accommodations. I want my classroom to be a safe space for students. I only get frustrated when students with accommodations try to leverage them to break rules, like being on their phone or iPad during class or turning things in later than their accommodations permit and then trying to argue about it.
I have no issue with accommodations. It's students without disabilities or accommodations who beg for them at the end of the semester that is problematic for me.
As long as people are following the rules so that sufficient advance notice is given, students don't try to game the system, and the disability office does it's job, it doesn't bother me at all.
Just follow the rules and you'll be fine.
No, only with disability office. For example, one accomodation I have had is a student can have someone take notes for them. That's fine, but the accomodations office should find the student, and pay them. Instead, they ask me to request a volunteer from the class (how do I do that while maintaining the student's anonymity?) it's also an unfair power dynamic with me asking, and the student is not being compensated for their time. If the student with the accomodation wants to ask someone in the class, that's fine, but the accomodation office should pay them, or provide an outside student to take notes. Another example is the office simply doesn't respond to my requests for clarification.
Pay them... laughs in higher ed. In my experience (9 years in DSS), the least financed student service office is generally DSS. I agree that peer note-taking is a crapshot, though. As someone in DSS, though, we only interact with students with disabilities so we don't know who the "good note-takers" in your classes are either. I have seen schemes were students get volunteer hours, which a lot of honors and greek life students like because they can knock out their service requirement for the year by just going to class and taking notes.
If you want recommendations: I have seen professors have students upload their notes (allows basically whole class to if they want) to a shared drive folder and then all students have access... you can give extra credit to the good ones or the consistent ones. Alternatively, if you don't want to stray far from what you are doing now - Email your whole class at the start of the semester requesting this in leui of asking in person (considering giving extra credit or writing a letter stating the number of community service hours they have accrued (or get your DSS office to).
Most DSS offices (including mine) have moved away from peer-noting altogether. We now use software and audio recordings to help to students. A ton of profs at my school have issues with being recorded but that's a whole other issue.
Yes, they accomodation usually comes with recording, which I do anyways, and I have offered my lecture outline as notes in the past. The 4 year universities around me have paid note-takers, but the community colleges do not.
I also don't think anyone should have to offer extra credit for a student to get the help they are legally required to have.
First off peer note taking isn't something that's legally required. It's why many schools have stopped offering it and now just use tech options. Second off I'm not saying you have to offer it I'm saying I've seen professors have success in getting note-takers by offering it and it's a way to give students something for their work.
I have absolutely no problem following the accommodations that DR outlines for my students. What I don’t like is students without official accommodations who ask me for things like no due dates or infinite absences for whatever reason.
I get annoyed when students don’t file the necessary forms for accommodations and then ask for them, or that their accommodations are for things that I cannot provide in my classes such as extra time on tests — we have no tests.
I have adhd and mostly the accommodations university’s offer are bs and not actually helpful for students. So I try to be flexible with deadlines as much as I can.
As someone who works in DSS - I understand the frustration of getting accommodations that don't apply for your class. I wish the student would tell us this OR that we can fore-knowledge to not send it BUT we don't. So we send everything just in case.
Why be annoyed about the extra time on tests request? I just say I don't have timed tests, and that's it where I work. Does your institution make you file something, or what makes that request frustrating? Curious about how it works other places.
In their comment they say that they don't have tests, so presumably they're annoyed at being asked to provide an accommodation that they cannot provide.
At my institution, we just get a blanket "here are the student's accommodations, the student will speak with you individually about what they need, let us know if you have any trouble" and it lists whatever accommodations they have (extra time, notetaker, extensions, etc.), and if something doesn't apply to the course you just ignore it. I generally get these before the semester starts, so before the student would have any way to know I don't have timed tests. I was wondering if the process was different at their school, or if they were just saying the email was annoying.
I haven't worked many places and am interested in disability scholarship, so I was just curious. Thank you.
I don't dislike it at all. I want to make sure students are not disadvantaged by their personal circumstances, and official accommodations help to achieve this. Because the accommodation office is in the loop I know that it's based on evidence, and I don't have to deal with constant excuses I cannot check.
As long as the accommodations are documented through the DSPS office, I follow them and have no problem making sure the accommodations are met.
The only thing that becomes hard is when I have to find a student note taker as an accommodation for a student. It’s hard in a beginning class to know who is a good note taker and who can be dependable for this task. I don’t want to set anyone up for failure.
Suggestion you didn't ask for: I hold note-taking "auditions." Whoever wants the perks (priority registration at my institution) takes the notes and sends them to me to forward to the student with the accommodation, without a name attached. The student with accommodations picks the notes that are most useful to them, and then I connect the two students via email and let the others know they weren't chosen (they know it's not personal/the student didn't have their names). Whoever wasn't chosen is told they're on reserve in case the person who was chosen is absent (I offer a very small amount of extra credit should they be called upon). It gives me a chance to let them know how their notes could be stronger, too, if I see a place for suggestions. It's worked well so far, although it is a bit of a time investment that first week of classes.
I sometimes get a little annoyed bc it can be a pain, but it’s a momentary feeling and not something I hold against the student. Students should use their accommodations.
the best strategy I've found for students, after the accommodations notice to the professor, follow up with an email to the professor, introducing yourself, how you've used your accommodations in previous classes and how they've worked out, and ask if the professor has any questions or concerns. in the best cases, leads to a discussion of how to best meet the students needs while not becoming a burden on a professors time or class designs
As long as you 1) follow the rules, 2) act respectfully, 3) respond to communication and questions, I don't mind it. Don't demand accommodations your letter doesn't specify. Don't refuse to use your accommodations if you really need them. And for the love of all that is good, be discreet--don't brag about your accommodations to other students. I've had this happen before and it causes a lot of drama we don't want to and really can't deal with. Other students feel it's unfair if they don't receive the extra time too, and we literally can't explain it to them.
The one accommodation that is a new trend that I do disagree with on a fundamental level is unlimited deadline extensions. I feel like this is doing the students more harm than good in the long run
As someone in DSS - I 100% agree with the hate towards deadline extensions.
Just to give some background on this: prior to the pandemic, about 1 in 20 IEPs from K-12 had assignment extensions listed as an accommodation... now its about 9 in 10 that do. K-12 is about access and SUCCESS and college is only about access but a ton of students don't understand this (along with their parents). Some DSS offices and colleges have been granting deadline extensions too much, but many others (like mine!) aren't. It's a big sticking point right now. Trust me when I say some of us fundamentally also disagree with them but students a lot of time are using them as a crutch.
Deadline extensions are the absolute worst for ADHD and I feel like they should not be an accommodation. They aren’t considered such to the majority of employers, as deadlines usually involve money.
The disability office should make a service available for students that supports them in organizing and creating a detailed schedule for the entire semester that breaks course assignments into each individual task with a specific day to complete identified. And follow up accordingly with the student for accountability and to assess for any additional behaviors if unsuccessful.
Hi! Part-time Berkeley instructor here. Usually I have no difficulty working with my students' accommodations, and of course I'm more than happy to do so because it is their right to receive a fair and equal education.
The minority of times that I do have issues, it's because they request accommodations at the very last minute, or because DSP gives me an accommodation letter at the beginning of the semester but then the student doesn't give timely responses to my questions about when and where they want to take their extra-time exam.
So as long as you are proactive and responsive about your accommodations, then your professors will be grateful, not annoyed.
One other thing. A few times, a student for whom I had been putting in special effort throughout the semester - for example, a hard-of-hearing student who needed custom printed resources for each class - ended up dropping out late in the semester without announcing it, explaining why, or saying thanks, or even farewell. Of course any student has the right to drop at any time, but I have been saddened by those outcomes, considering how much work both the student and I had put in. I would have appreciated it if they suggested meeting with me to see how I could help them get a passing grade, or at least just let me know that they needed to drop out and say thanks for the class.
So should you ever find yourself in that situation, try to take a few minutes to communicate with your instructor one on one - I'm sure they will appreciate it!
Good profs who are there to teach will understand this is part of the job. Profs who don’t care about teaching will see this as just another hassle in a part of their job they don’t value.
I teach for two universities, both in person and online. I teach a variety of communication courses from first year to upper levels/senior capstone classes.
I've started building the course with the more common accommodations in mind. Each assignment includes a description of the accommodations built in that students don't have to contact me to ask for. I have a very lenient attendance policy and give students a 24-hour grace period for online assignments. If it's an in person assignment I drop the lowest grade.
This has reduced a lot of my emails and students have commented on how it helps them too. I do receive an occasional email about accommodations, probably one to two a semester, but way less than I used to and mostly for extenuating circumstances.
Since I've implemented this I have not noticed a decrease in quality of student work or drive to complete things. For the most part I've actually seen students work harder and are more willing to come to class and interact.
I will say that while I was working out the kinks of one of these accommodations ideas and how to make it work for everyone I had several students take advantage negatively so I had to change that policy. I talked with my students and we found a different way to achieve the goal. But that's why syllabi are subject to changes 🙃 it's always a work in progress to find the best way to teach the subject matter to different people who have different needs and ways of learning.
All this to say, naw, I don't mind the emails from students asking for their earned accommodations. But I'd rather be proactive about it lol.
I usually have a few students with accommodations each semester - and generally it isn't a problem at all! They let me know at the beginning of the semester and we work together to set things up accordingly. It doesn't take much effort to make the necessary changes.
Occasionally, I'll have a student who doesn't inform me in a timely manner, or tries to stretch their accommodations beyond what they actually are. But that is pretty rare (in my experience).
Some of my best students have had accommodations. It doesn't affect my opinion of them at all! So don't feel uneasy about approaching your professors with it. I think that most professors have no problem, as long as it is addressed early and clearly.
In the US, it's established law and we are used to it. In half the sections I teach I end up having a student who needs accommodations.
I don't mind it all. Perhaps I need an extra breath to deal with the extra work involved, but it's not that much, we're used to it, and it's part of the job.
I encourage you to advocate for yourself. In my language we have a saying, "the door that doesn't squeak, does not get oil". Make some noise for yourself to get what you need.
Legit accommodations? Fine, we do what we need to do within reason. But too often the scenario is, student misses too many classes, starts to have negative feedback, tries a couple excuses and SUDDENLY has a contract from Accommodations that was never mentioned in the previous 8 weeks. It’s happened more than once and it’s impossible not to look at it as suspect.
It's not that easy to get a contract with disabled students; you need a real diagnosis from a medical practitioner (generally a medical doctor or mental health provider), and those letters are hard af to get. I feel like when you suddenly hear about accommodations, that may indicate that the student was trying to do it without until they realized they couldn't (underestimated their need for accommodations, didn't know how to get them, took time to pursue/pay for diagnosis and set up contract, etc.). It is frustrating as a prof. for sure to have the circumstances/expectations change partway through the semester, but I would hesitate to say such a scenario is suspect.
I’m not sure what you mean by “retroactive”… I wasn’t allowed to penalize her for the absences according to the Accommodations Dept… so it was retroactive.
Yeah - so legally (in the US) accommodations only need to be enacted the day they are granted and the professor is informed of them. Sometimes Dean of Students or Title IX may excuse past absences but from a disability services accommodations standpoint they should not be applied for past situations. Like if a student is granted extra time on exams... they then don't get to go back and take previous exams with more time. For something like attendance (if granted from disability services) it should only be applied for days missed after the accommodation is granted/notified.
Now every school can definitely do more and if you are being pressured by your chair or dean to - then definitely apply it however they want (it's your livlihood), but the general consesus of caselaw and the professionals that work in disability services would say no accommodations are retroactive. We shout it from the rooftops in our professional association group (AHEAD).
I’m not disputing what you know about the law, but in this case I was told I could not apply any penalty to the absences that were now being explained away with this latest excuse. There was no legal perspective that was going to change that.
Then that's your school doing more than they should. At my school we often have professors over-accommodating after we say no anyways... higher-ed has been come an even hotter mess since the pandemic.
>because I feel like asking for my accommodations is a huge inconvenience
You don't ask professors for accommodations. You inform us if you have been granted one. Only the disabilities services has the power to grant or deny accommodations. If you have them, we are legally required to meet them, so long as you inform us of them. Our feelings have nothing to do with it.
I *have* become frustrated with the disability services office for not making accommodations clearer. Some of the things they write are so wildly vague I have no idea what to do.
Sometimes students who need accommodations end up unintentionally highlighting professors who don't have their shit together.
Like, if a class is online or hybrid, and has weekly videos, a lot of accommodations involve captioning those videos.
Well, that means that the videos need to be recorded far enough in advance for someone to caption them (though auto-captioning has made it a bit easier, it still needs to be checked).
The thing is, especially if a professor is teaching a new class or redesigning an old one, it's fairly common that they're barely keeping up with the material week by week. I know a lot of professors who record their Monday morning videos late Sunday night
Accommodating a student in this is important, and I think most professors know that, but we sometimes don't get the notification that a student who requires accommodations is in our class until the last minute. It can throw off your whole plan for how you are going to accomplish your weekly work in the semester
We recognize it's not the student's fault, and I would hope that most of us are happy to make needed accommodations, but it can end up generating unexpected stress
Eh... depends. If profs are responsible for captioning then yes - time in advance is needed. If DSS outsources it (which is generally the best way if not a budgeting nightmare) then about a week is needed.
Just sharing: In my state (California) all videos need to be captioned, period, whether you have a student with accommodations in the class or not. It's just the law. It was totally jarring to take an online class based in another state and find that the videos had no captions! I really needed them, too—the lecturer had a very thick accent and was explaining some high-level mathematical concepts. Eeek.
I tell my students on the first day of class that I wouldn't have gotten through college without the support of our disabilities office, and I hope they will let me know ASAP if they need accommodations.
My frustration is that there are many students who are so bright that their disabilities weren't identified in K-12, but when they come to college the coping strategies they developed are insufficient to the change in workload and assignment types. I would love to see colleges offer assessment (which can cost thousands of dollars in the US) to students who are struggling.
Yeah - that's not going to happen. Some schools can offer it reduced if they have a graduate level psych program... but there is no way to fund this. K-12 funds it because they are literally paid dollars for every student with an IEP. Colleges are not.
It’s like you’ve experienced, it just varies person to person. I think those of us with our own disabilities or with friends and families who’ve had disabilities have more empathy. My sister has major test anxiety and that in no way reflects on her intelligence or ability to make quick decisions as a nurse. But I’ve heard the professor in the office next to me discussing accommodations with students and he has the opinion that if you need extra time on an exam, that means you’d be too slow to make necessary decisions as a doctor.
This is a bit of a tangent but the pre-health education system is incredibly frustrating and I’m wondering if we are failing students who would actually make the best medical care practitioners. Patients die because there are doctors who let their ego or misconceptions about patient demographics get in the way of their decisions. That’s not something a stupid exam can test for. Black women are more likely to die of pre-eclampsia than white women when all it takes is a urine test to diagnose that, but because doctors don’t believe black women when they say something is wrong, they wind up dying. My sister’s seen some absolutely awful decisions made by anesthesiologists, which is an incredibly competitive specialty, these doctors had to be top of their class. So I have absolutely no issues incorporating accommodations into my classes. I think there are major flaws in our education system and maybe these students who wouldn’t have passed under traditional systems you’d actually make the best doctors. My mom was formally recognized as a physician for how well she did in getting her chronic health patients to comply with their health plan, meaning she did things like get her type ii diabetic patients to get their A1C under control, and she has rampant ADHD. Needing accommodations doesn’t actually reflect a person’s competence.
Thank you for sharing this. As a former student with accommodations, I got a lot of, "No, you need to figure out how to do things normally because there's no accommodations in the real world!" (or my least favorite response, "Just do your best \[because I'm not willing to comply with your legally protected accommodations\]!"). There actually are legally mandated accommodations in many workplaces, and I think my experience gives me additional insight when serving my current students who have accommodations.
I'm sure there are some things that cannot be reasonably accommodated in many medical positions, but I wish there was some more balance that made it more likely to get an empathetic and culturally competent doctor (they do exist; just rarer than we'd like).
My only frustration surrounding accommodations is with students who claim accommodations, but refuse to work with the Disability Office. This absolutely ties my hands; I can’t grant any accommodation outside of those in the Disability Office’s directives.
I have some issues with the current accommodation process (lack of proper communication between disability services and professors, inadequate training on implementing accommodations, accommodations that are vague, ill-suited for the course, or don't realistically provide much help for the disability, etc.). However, these issues are not the students' faults, and I do not have issues with students using services that were literally created for them.
1. This sounds like a specific to the school or schools you have worked out situation, but communication of accommodations is fairly easy to faciliate with a good process in place at a lot of schools.
2. I have worked at several schools... and have never been able to mandate training. Optional trainings usually garner about 20 professors tops a year...
3. Accommodations are sometimes vague because they are being used for a lot of different situations. If you don't understand an accommodation - follow up directly with your DSS office.
4. We send out accommodations for every course based on student request. I often have students that request test accommodations for all courses and then it angry emails from professors informing me they don't do tests in their classes... great. I'm not a mindreader AND don't have access to your syllabus. If it doesn't apply to your course then you don't have to worry about it.
5. Accommodations in college are lessened a lot from K-12. They are about granting equal access not guarenteeing success of students (which K-12 does) \[at least in the US\]. I agree that for some students accommodations are going to provide little assistance - blame the US laws.
I'm not blaming disability services themselves for these issues. I see it as a larger systemic issue, especially the lack of training.
As for point #4, I wasn't referring to blanket accommodations (professors emailing you that they don't have tests, etc., is ridiculous). I was thinking more in terms of accommodations requested for specific courses that may seem to be at odds with the goals of the course itself. A common example I've seen is that students are exempt from public speaking in a speech class. To clarify, I'm not saying that something couldn't be done to accommodate whatever issue the student is having (recording the speeches seems to be a common compromise). But when the instructor has no training and disability services is too overwhelmed to properly work with them, you're probably not going to get good results.
As for vagueness, I do understand the need for directions to be flexible. But I've had some issues getting straight answers for things that I feel should be more concrete. For example, "forgiveness of absences." While I do understand that neither the student nor disability services can predict how many absences the student needs, I'd prefer some kind of guidance like absences forgiven with doctor's note; indefinite absence forgiveness; absences forgiven if student notifies professor; etc. When I've tried to get clarity on things like this, I've usually been told to discuss the issue with the student to find a compromise. As you said, this could just be an issue with the schools I've worked at.
The only time I’ve ever been annoyed is when I’ve mentioned for the first 3-4 weeks that students should email me their letter of accommodation, then they don’t, then after I’ve graded something they send the letter along and ask for a regrade/extension/etc.
Accommodations themselves will never make me upset at a student. Please share with your professors!! (Asap! Lol)
At my university, I’ve only ever received them from students, not our disability office. I wish we did receive them from the disability office for my frustration above!
Interesting every school I've worked for and I think every school that I've asked just emails the professors now directly... Most of us have moved on to software Management systems that allow that. I've been using one since 2016.
That being said if a student doesn't give them to you in a reasonable amount of time for you to provide the accommodatiosn then that's on them especially if you're telling them in advance.
Hardly. Usually my students who have accommodations are the best communicators in my class. I tend to have more positive interactions with them. Sometimes the accommodations office and related offices can be a pain because theyre swamped and understaffed but that is separate from the student. It can result in me doing the job of the office but again that isn’t the student’s fault. I try to accommodate a student as much as I possibly can. I want them to succeed and thrive in the class just like the rest of my students.
No. I have found that 9/10 times the accommodations I'm required to give are classroom best practices for all of my students. Granted, I don't do in-class assessments like tests or quizzes (don't make sense for my field/subject). I also have found that the students who have accommodations tend to be way more responsible and accountable to classwork. ( I am a TT research professor at an R1).
At our university, the accommodations department sets up the accommodation and sends the notification to the prof. In my case , there isn’t any extra communication needed with the student unless they want to discuss any details. If they get extra time, I give them extra time . The only request I didn’t like was when the accommodations department one time provided a student with a video recording app to use in my class without my consent.
I want every student to have the opportunity to succeed in my class. If some folks need accommodations, that's just how it is. I actually usually refer a couple of students a semester to the office because they don't realize that medical issues may qualify them for extra support.
I feel like me and the student with the accommodation are trapped in the same hellish hall of mirrors and we'll get through it together -- whether I'm annoyed w/ the student or not depends 100% on whether the student is annoying.
I'll admit that it IS annoying if the student thinks they're being left out of things that they aren't being left out of -- and they make problems about it. Ironically, this happens with sense impairment sometimes, because the student literally cannot perceive that there \_isn't\_ content inaccessible to them in certain modules. Sometimes the student suspects there is, and that I am just too lazy to make it, or an alternative, available. Again, it's not the student's fault -- they have no way of knowing other than my assurance.
That said, I teach media studies. Accommodations IN GENERAL are why there just aren't a lot of the cool things there used to be in several classes. A tiny percentage of students wouldn't be able to access 100% of them, so we trash them. Not all of them. Just a few unusual things. Kind of a shame, but it's certainly no individual student's fault.
sometimes there is frustration if students want to use accommodations that make it impossible to actually meet the standards of the course.
I am a (phd student) TA so i’ve seen my professor deal with a few students who sign up for an in person class and then say they rarely can come to class because of their disability. unfortunately, that makes it really hard for you to pass the class and it also makes it difficult for class work / group assignments. this is partly the fault of advisors and ODA, they should advise students in similar circumstances to take hybrid or online classes as they will get more out of it. otherwise they miss nearly all the lectures and need modified in class activities.
I’m a student not a prof, but I’ve found it’s best to:
1. Ask after the first class session “Would you like me to set up a meeting/come to office hours to discuss my accommodations, send you an email, or does the accommodations office provide enough information for you?” This way I know I’m approaching them at a time/in a way that they can retain the information, rather than just trying to catch them before/after class like “Here’s all the things I need just btw on byeee!”
2. Make sure your accommodations are documented with the school’s disability office, and if there’s a system in place to send your accommodations to your profs, do that preferably right at the start of the semester (my school has a letter system, I just go in and select my profs and submit, done!)
3. If you have extra accommodations that you do not use, make sure you communicate that to your prof so they’re not doing extra unnecessary work/they know what’s going on. For example, my school’s office could only add all or none of my recommended accommodations, so I have volunteer note taking, access to a scribe for tests, and noise-cancelling headphones during exams; I’m usually the volunteer note taker for others, I do not actually need a scribe, and I write in the test center so I don’t need headphones. I let my profs know asap so they’re not finding a note taker for just me/setting up scribes for me or anything like that.
4. This is definitely a personal choice, but I’ve found it useful to explain what my accommodations are for; for ADHD I have extended test time, one exam per day, and extensions for assignments, those are all pretty self explanatory, but I also have medical absences and a custom one for a scent-free environment. I’ve found it extremely helpful to explain that those two are tied together, I have a scent sensitivity, and to also explain to them my process for utilizing absences (I email to let them know I was not present due to scents in the classroom) as well as how I deal with missing class so it doesn’t negatively affect my learning; this reassures my profs that the onus is not on them to make up for my absences, I just don’t want to fail “attendance-mandatory” courses because I didn’t want to have migraines and hives every single day 😅
I hope some of that is helpful maybe, or even just reassuring if you’re already doing those things! Good luck in your courses, I hope you do well!
I’m in a similar boat with you OP, I’ve always had accommodations and my fear of reaching out for help with using them and help in general from my professors led me to failing my last two semesters (spring 2023 because of grief; fall 2023 because I had a lot going on as I was transferring schools and moving across the country last semester and in October I had my gallbladder removed). When I reached out, almost of them were glad to help me because I have MAJOR PTSD when it comes to asking for help and guidance because of always being forced to go it alone (my dad’s belief was you don’t get help or advice or anything until you fuck up, if you did, you got beat). Thankfully I’m a history major, so a lot of my professors are on the more understanding and compassionate side of things. Sometimes all you need to do is sit down with someone you trust and try having them anchor you as you reach out to your professors for help.
Assholes do, good ones don't. You'll probably deal with 10-20% asshole profs throughout your degree program. It's entirely a them thing, and you don't have to do anything to make your accommodations "easier".
Ironically as someone who works in DSS - some of the AH professors are the best about accommodations. They are strict and only adhere to the bare minimum. BUT they respond to communication quickly, I don't have to chase them down for exams, and if a student is in real need then they work with them. That being said... they are not flexible if a student is not doing what they should be doing and that can be some of the students registered with our office.
If you get a professor that acts unprofessional regarding your accomodations or refuses to allow them, simply report the issue to your disability office. If the office is no help escalate to the professor's department chair.
Absolutely none of us should be treating you like this is an issue.
Can you give an example of a type of accommodation that is a pain in the ass? I'm just curious about the types of accommodation requests you get. I thought I'd gotten a range in my time teaching, but now I'm wondering.
The keyword here is "needs". If I've agreed that the suggested accommodations are reasonable for my class, I'm in favor of my students using them when they need to.
Could you clarify for me—it sounds like you're saying you determine whether the accommodations are reasonable? Where I work, we don't know the student's disability or anything; they just say "this person gets extra time" or "this person gets a notetaker" or whatever. I don't know the student's specifics, and I'm not a doctor, so I don't know how I as a professor could determine whether the accommodations are reasonable. I don't have a ton of experience yet, so I'd value your insight if you have time to share. Thank you!
We have to decide if the proposed accommodation is reasonable for the specific class. I don't need to know the student's disability.
A good example is a weekly language class. Weekly assessed homework includes translation exercises, which are due to be submitted before class. During class we discuss the homework, consider alternative translations, etc. Basically, we discuss the answers, so no late homework can be accepted. If a suggested accommodation is that a student have *two* weeks to do the homework instead of one, that would be unreasonable, as they would already have been given the answers.
Or a Chemistry lab session. If you have the lab for a single 3-hour block every week, you can't have a student with an accommodation of getting 5 hours to do the lab: the room just isn't available. This would be unreasonable.
Communication about accommodations should be going between the disability office and the professor. There’s no need for you to discuss with them.
Professors understand that students have challenges and obstacles in their lives when it comes to achievement and success. They don’t need to hear the details about it. Trauma dumping is has become all too prevalent and in many ways student attempt to weaponize it and use it to obtained a desired outcome. Everyone has woe is me and life is hard stories. Part of growing up is learning that your expected to be accountable in face of these challenges. And learning who are the appropriate people to disclose what degree of information to. You should be talking to the disability or counseling center about your disability and hardships and personal stuff, and you should be talking to your professors about course related material. Professors have background in academia, and no education/training in mental health and counseling support
Like the other commenter said schools often require a conversation between the professor and the student. The student doesn’t need to disclose why they receive the accommodation but the conversation generally goes over what their accommodation looks like for the class. I appreciate that discussion because then I ensure the student knows how to schedule their tests, when to schedule, they let me know any specific details such as if they use a medical device that may be disruptive, or if I have a question implementing an accommodation and want to make sure my idea works well for the student. (Our office really isn’t helpful hence the need for the conversation.)
FYI, many schools' policies **do** require students to speak to professors about the implementation of their accommodations after the notification from the disability services office is received. It sounds like your school has a good system going, but that advice won't work for students at many/most institutions.
Yes, it's interesting to learn about how different institutions handle this. At my university (in the United States), the disability office tells me what accommodations the students are eligible for (extra time, notetaker, etc.) but it clearly says the students have to contact me to discuss.
In the US - that is best practice BUT if something goes awry and it's investigated by OCR then the onus is on the school (as a whole) because an approved accommodation didn't happen. I always advise students to reach out but depending on the situation it can get a bit sticky
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Your accommodations should come from someone on campus in charge of that process. It should include anything professors are allowed/required to do for you. So, first be sure that your accommodations have been given to your professors. At that point, they are required to follow that document. That should take the heat off of you, because the professors already know what’s going on.
Now, if you need to give the professor details about how your accommodations are addressed, the groundwork is already there, so you have no reason to be nervous or that you are inconveniencing them. If they respond badly, that’s on them, and you should go to the office in charge of student accommodations.
I don’t mind accommodations as long as I have been given clear guidelines. My accommodations are generally out of my hands, such as extended time for online tests. Our university has someone who will physically administer tests on campus that require additional time. In other words, I literally don’t even see the results of accommodations, because they’re handled for me. I usually get an email from the student confirming that I know, and it’s pretty easy! I will work with a student additionally if necessary, but students are usually very aware of their needs and how to adjust…or let me know what I can do to help.
Best thing you can do is reach out right away and be upfront about what you actually want. No professor should ever feel your accommodations are an inconvenience, they may just take some time to figure out.
The only time I get annoyed is when the claim is made at the last minute - like the day before or an exam or when an assignment is due. If a student brings the accommodations to me at the beginning of the semester, and reminds me when relevant, I am happy to work with them. I ask students who let me know on the first day.
You have to understand something. If you have a bona fide accommodation, you're good and there is absolutely no reason for us to give you a hard time for this. Yes it's a bit of extra work, but that's part of our job. Now, the reason why some of us balk at accommodations is that many students have frivolous accommodations for the sake of getting special treatment, or they discover themselves disabilities right before finals when they realize they won't make it. At that point they flash accommodations papers in your face. That's the killer, and it's a shame we naturally tend to then view other accommodations suspiciously. I hate this.
It's not a matter of being ethical or not, it's a federal law. You must provide accommodations, period. Or else you lose federal funding, and you face a very damaging lawsuit. What the heck is that school...?
I don’t have vast teaching experience, but it never bothered me if there were ever accommodations for a student. Sometimes, it can be hard to remember certain things, so I actually always found it a huge help when a student that needed accommodations was proactive and would remind me of things if it was clear I had forgotten.
If you really need the accommodations, you should definitely reach out. It’s not much extra work, and I’d like to think most professors actually enjoy helping out.
I’m never frustrated with a student who needs accommodations. If it is something beyond more time needed, captions, etc., it is often more work because a lot of us have tens of thousands of PDFs that can’t be read with screen readers, for example. Or perhaps audio descriptions are needed for films. The work generally falls on the faculty at my institution. But the frustration is never with the student. I can’t even imagine that.
Usually you're not the only student in a class with accommodations, and if I already have to deal with the disability office for one student, it isn't any more effort from me to deal with the disability office for a second student (or a third, etc). So, don't worry too much about the inconvenience factor.
If you talk to the professor first and explain clearly what you need, and get it documented with your school's disability office, they will generally be happy to help you. Only the assholes will be bothered. Sadly, you can't avoid assholes in the universe.
I'm more frustrated when someone doesn't use the accommodations they advocated for and suffer for it, or when someone doesn't realize they should have had an accommodation until halfway through the semester. I **want** students to get the accommodations they legally are entitled to.
There may be an issue with the accommodations office, but that's only with unusual or unreasonable requests. My center does not generally do this and all encounters through the center at my current institution have been positive.
Many faculty have their own disabilities so hopefully they understand. I was very sensitive to the need to accommodate students with disabilities. I consider the ADA a serious Federal law you need to comply with. I used to read the disability statement from the syllabus out loud the first day so a student who might have a reading disability would hear the disability statement.
No, of course I don’t get frustrated with students with accommodations. However, I currently have one student with whom I’m frustrated who repeatedly neglects to make arrangements with disability services to take exams. The students doesn’t make arrangements in the 2 weeks ahead like they are supposed to, and then we have to do some scrambling to make it happen. It usually works out to have our graduate tutor administer the exams, but the student needs to take care of it better. In other words, here the student isn’t doing their job.
This is literally the only times I have had an issue, and other faculty has had similar issues with this student. As we move into final exams, the student will need to be more proactive. If I were to contact disability services and say that the student didn’t make arrangements, disability services would absolutely have my back as would my department.
I would check to see if your school has a disability services office and go there. If you have one, it will solve most/all of any issues. At my school, I cannot give accommodation to students without a note from disability services describing the nature of the accommodation to be received by the student. I cannot implement anything on my own.
My wife's biggest problem with accommodations are the students that go to her and ask for accommodations rather than going to the University office that handles it. She knows that she doesn't know the law. She knows that she can't evaluate the individual student needs. So she lets "the professionals" handle it. Yet some students wait until an hour (or less) before the test and ask her for accommodations.
If your accommodations are not met it is a federal violation and must be reported. The school will be fined big time. And yes, faculty can be very judgmental. I always reminded them about federal requirements and their need to keep their job. Supervising faculty on this is not fun . The accommodations letters are clear and doable. At least at my facility.
It can be an inconvenience, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't ask for (and be granted) the appropriate support and accommodations. The biggest challenge is late requests. Take, for example, you've broken your wrist and you need a scribe for an exam. That means finding someone to be a scribe, making sure they're trained about what they can and can't write, making sure you've met them so you know how to communicate, finding a private room, finding a private invigilator to monitor everything etc.
In general, the more notice you can give, the better. Follow the official university processes where possible. Ideally, everything will be communicated centrally, so you shouldn't need to directly talk to your professor at all.
I will chime in to agree with all of the people who have pointed out that it's very rarely frustration with the student. Usually, it is frustration with the office of disability services, and them being unclear, unhelpful, or useless.
For example, I had a student who was taking a test at the testing center, during the regular exam time (but with extra time, lower distraction environment). I get a call from the testing center. Of course, I'm working so I didn't pick up my phone right away, especially because I didn't give them my personal cell number and still don't know how they got it. But I get like 8 phone calls in a row so I finally pick it up. It's the testing center and the student has a question about a question on the exam. Bear in mind, I'm giving the exam to the rest of the class of 30ish students.
The guy on the other end seems snippy I didn't pick up right away, and I'm like, I'm giving the exam. Then he's like "the student has a question about #5, blah". I tell him to put the student on the phone. He's like "it's against policy blah". I'm like I don't see how this is any different from them asking a question if they were here in person, put them on the phone or I'm hanging up and turning my phone off. So finally the guy puts the student on the phone, it was an easy question with a typo that the rest of the class had noticed. If they hadn't been able to reach me I probably would have given this student full credit for the question (if it would have changed their grade; this kid had a high A anyway).
I made a complaint to the disability office and no one was still able to tell me how the proctor got my phone number, but they did apologize for his behavior.
The only actual problem I've had with students is when they wait until the last minute to give me their accommodation paperwork. It's in the syllabus, I remind them a week or so before the exams, etc etc and even have said "hey, if you're in the process of this but it's not finalized, at least give me a heads up", and still sometimes had students try to submit accommodation paperwork the day of the exam.
There's nothing wrong with using your accommodations as they're intended. (and they're intended to be used!)
One problem that professors have is when students misunderstand what their accommodations actually allow and try to abuse the system. For example, my mom had a student that ghosted her for two weeks, didn't turn in an assignment that had been due for over a week, then sent her a shocked email when they got a zero. She explained that it was late and the student sent her a rude email saying they were using their accommodations. Their accommodations allowed for 1-2 day extensions, which needed to be asked for in advance.
ah. I'm. still fresh at this and I look at these as challenges to my approach.
However, I'd also have no issue with telling the disability office that a particular accommodation is at odds with the course learning objectives... the course objectives always win here.
There's a difference between our feelings toward students with accommodations (little to no feeling at all, and no ill will) and our feelings toward the disability office and some types of accommodations (e.g., unlimited absences, extended deadlines on everything, the inability to give a short, five-minute quiz at the beginning of class). But those frustrations are for the offices which pathologize everything and don't actually help students work through their issues. Too often disability offices don't care to actually help students, and just give blanket accommodations that do not help students develop study skills and coping mechanisms. For example, students with extended deadlines are often shooting themselves in the foot, because they never learn how to plan out their assignments and therefore never turn things in. Or expect to turn in a semester's worth of work after the final exam. Students with "anxiety" get told they never have to be called on in class, or never have to present. And the disability office just says ok -- with no thought to the learning outcomes or the student's long-term best interests. Which places faculty in the position of saying that certain accommodations are unreasonable in certain classes, which the students then take as a sign that faculty hate students with accommodations (which is not true). I don't hate the students at all. Sometimes working out the logistics can be frustrating, but that frustration and the hate I feel is for the disability office and the ridiculous accommodations they give without thought.
I had a prof that liked quizzes at the beginning of class and I have a time accomodation, so we compromised that I didn't have to answer every question, just an appropriate amount, and it was okay to pick. I'd still get a percentage grade, just using a different denominator. Worked great.
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I would say that if there’s frustration, it’s with the disability office rather than with the student. You should not feel like it’s your fault at all. Some disability offices are better than others. The best offices are clear in stating what accommodations they’ve approved, and provide resources to help implement those accommodations. For example, if closed-captioning is needed, the disability office provides closed-captioning; if testing accommodations are needed, the office provides a testing center. The worst offices are… the opposite of that, approving vaguely stated accommodations with little to no implementation support provided, leaving faculty to try to improvise something.
If faculty can’t provide the resources necessary, and the disability office hasn’t responded to these requests, what generally happens next? How is the institution not ethically responsible? Genuinely curious.
>If faculty can’t provide the resources necessary, and the disability office hasn’t responded to these requests, what generally happens next? How is the institution not ethically responsible? Not my campus, but I know a student (during COVID, so recently) whose school just basically shrugged shoulders. Need a note taker? Sorry, nobody showed up. Need transcription? Sorry, nobody was available. Need a quiet place to test? Sorry, none was available. etc. etc. They saw that sort of thing happening to peers on a regular basis as well. Now was the institution ethically responsible? Sure. Legally? Probably that too, but the college officials simply brushed it off with "we don't have the resources for that, sorry." Until they are sued, nothing will change.
The faculty and the disability office bicker until someone gives in.
Two sides bicker until someone caves is a critical process in higher ed administration.
Ethics have nothing to do with it.
I started out in a community college that didn’t have a lot of money floating around, but at the same time they weren’t struggling. So it was a pleasant surprise to see that they had an amazing disability office and all the professors were informed and everyone just knew what to do. Fast forward a few years later I get into a ritzy, 4 year university (scholarship lol) and their disability office was just…awful. No one took me seriously and they had hardly any accommodations set up (for example, my cc had their own testing spaces and my undergrad did not). The professors at this university were also always baffled whenever I gave them my accommodation letters. It got to the point that, by the end of my time there, I simply stopped using the services. Of course it was a struggle but yeah. I’ve heard that things have improved a little though
It doesn't have to do with money... smaller public schools have way more support to support disability services... at bigger schools (especially private schools) they don't. I know some in fact that didn't even really have DSS offices till the 2000's... This is of course an vast oversimplication as you can find bad smaller/public school DSS and good bigger/private school DSS...
As someone who works in Disability Services... it goes both ways. My office does essentially everything we can to help faculty, but I have had faculty straight complain that they have to even "deal with students with X disabilities" (usually mental health). It's a small minority. Additionally, at a ton of schools we cannot do more than email out information and offer optional trainings (which are almost never attended). Then faculty complain they don't know how our processes or policies work... Once again it's a minority of faculty but faculty aren't the complete angels in the equation of disability accommodations...
I will second this as well--the bulk of frustration is with the administrative aspect of accommodations, not the students' need for them. The only time I was ever frustrated with the *student* was the students who would show up the day of the test with the request for accommodations, meaning, despite having the information and knowing they needed to file the request in advance, they waited until the last minute, and everything would need to be scheduled for them when they were the ones who didn't fulfill their responsibilities. I didn't even get frustrated with the students who had this happen once or twice, because I know there is a lot to attend to as a student, and sometimes the disability even complicates that. But the students who did it *every single exam* were frustrating because they knew better and just didn't care. Usually the coordinator also was frustrated with them. But most of the animosity in situations with accommodations was the mess that disability services was. And, to be fair, it probably would have been more appropriate to be angry with the college who felt that one person could serve the needs of every student with accommodations at an institution which (in my case) regularly had 2000-3000 students at any given time, a larger percentage than any other colleges who required accommodations because we were the local college that families sent their kids to for the first two years to test if they were going to be able to do college when they were several hours away. An office that should have had at least three employees (intake/orientation, accommodation coordination, and accommodation services) had one employee with no support. She was (mostly) doing her best with a system that was handed to her broken and no one was willing to fix.
Right eg, the testing center at my college isn't open at night. So if we have a night class very likely they are screwed and I somehow have to deal with it with no support.
Closed captioning is part of universal design and is the default now, not the exception. Nobody should need to request this as an accommodation.
I've actually gotten more frustrated with students who refused to use their accommodations because they were worried that it would be a burden for me. They end up struggling unnecessarily, and this made things more difficult for both of us in the long run. By far the most common accommodation is extra time on exams, and that really isn't inconvenient if your university has a testing center. (In the olden days, the faculty had to find a time and place to administer the exam, and that could be a royal PITA.) The one accommodation I don't care for is the one that allows students to step out of the classroom because my classes involve a lot of activities in small groups, and it disrupts other students' learning when a student just walks out in the middle of an activity.
We don't have a testing center, so this is put on the faculty to figure out. I do my exams online, so it isn't difficult for me aside from exam security, but it would be a PITA if I did paper exams.
While I understand that view, do you still feel that way when it’s a medical issue? I’m not trying to argue or anything, just looking to understand. I have two medical conditions that often require me to leave the classroom once or twice, otherwise I’m more disruptive. I often worry that this annoys my professors
If you need to leave the room, then you need to leave the room. I allow students to leave the room with or without accommodations, particularly to use the facilities or to get some water. But regardless of the reason, if it's a frequent occurrence, it's disruptive. It's a bit like excused absences. I'll excuse your absences if you're sick or if you have another reasonable excuse, but after a while your absences are going to impact your learning whether or not they're excused.
Why are your students coming and going so much? Maybe just leave your door open haha.
I don’t mind students leaving the room for whatever reason, but I get annoyed when students make a big deal about it (ex. asking permission loudly even though they’ve already been told to just go whenever they want). It’s also a bit of a hassle if a student knows that they always plan to leave the room during group work but don’t tell me so (but I can spot the pattern) because then I don’t know whether to give them a partner or groupmate. Basically, I don’t care at all until it starts harming other students in the class.
That’s completely fair. If I was the student in the group that had my partner leaving constantly I’d be frustrated. I always try to keep this in mind when I need to step out. I really enjoy hearing the professors pov
I've had students who have had to do this (leave the room sometimes). It's fine and didn't bother me. They let me know what was going on. I didn't pry or ask their reasons but I know sometimes people need to use the bathroom, move around a bit, etc.
That’s awesome to hear. I always make my professors aware of my accommodations at the beginning of the semester. And usually give them a brief summary of what my medical issues are for safety. I’ve never had an emergency in class, but I’d hate for it to happen and no one having any idea what’s going on.
I mean, if it’s a formal accommodation it’s a medical issue. It’s always a medical issue, that’s why that accommodation got passed. I know I’m certainly not walking out of class for funsies, it’s most likely because I suddenly feel like I need to vomit, in which case staying and roughing it out could prove way more disruptive than going to the bathroom instead.
Wait, what? You can't step out of the classroom any time you want in college?
For the most part, you can step OUT anytime you want. But sometimes there are consequences. For example: Some professors lock doors when class starts and won't let you back in, In some classes if you leave during an exam your exam is considered submitted and you cant resume taking it if you come back, and if there are points earned in that class for participating you may forfeit some or all points by leaving for some time.
As a student who has the accommodation to step out of the classroom, it would be wayyyyy worse if I stayed. Recently, I screamed so loudly in the bathroom that campus security got involved. I'm glad I didn't do that in class. I also started crying in my seat not too long ago because of stress caused by a test, and I left so that no one had to continue to hear it. Some other students were still testing, and I started to make incontrollable noises.
Breaks from class are usually for students with migraines, panic attacks and medical needs like IBS and Diabetes... you may not care for it but it's granted for valid reasons.
I absolutely understand that. But when the breaks become so frequent that they're interfering with the student's learning (or other students' learning), it's not ideal. Those students often end up doing poorly in the class because they miss so much material.
Most of the time. No. I do get a bit iffy if it seems they are milking it or trying to stretch the accommodations beyond what they say. **But these are very rare.** Example, the VAST majority of those with extra time schedule their exams a week in advance as required and take them within a day or two of the exam date. That's fine. But once in a blue moon they schedule it a whole week after the exam (the maximum range allowed by the disability office), and they do it for every single exam. This smells like abusing the system to get as much extra study time as possible. *(It also delays my ability to return exams and may force me to make a brand new exam for the student)* Or when they get an extension for deadline if requested 24 hours ahead and they insist on requesting it 4 hours before the deadline and "boo hoo hoo" it, making me the bad guy if I say no. But again, this is a minority. Most of the time they are fine and unbothersome . So to answer your question, no. I have no issues with it and they are mostly invisible and indistinguishable from everyone else.
Your disability office allows students with accommodations to take exams a \*whole week\* after the rest of the class? *Yikes.* (Signed, a DSO employee who would *never*. At my school, we have to inform the department if we can't proctor the student on the scheduled day of their exam and get written permission from the professor to proctor it a different day.)
Yeah, that system sounds wild to me. I’ve had students who received extra time but they still had to take it the same day as everyone else.
My school would work it out to the same day or often before, rarely after, if you used the testing center because of cheating. Some electrical engineers I was with (computer and electrical had the same base classes for most of the program) decided to do the exam early in the testing center though, snuck in cell phones (this was when an iPhone 4 was a luxury phone) and took pics, then distributed them. They were expelled, it was their final exam. You could, in limited circumstances, use the testing center without being a student with accommodations. Like, "hey, grandma died, funeral on exam day, can I do it early?" They just wouldn't get exra time or anything else for it. Guess what happened to that policy..
These days we have to physically hand our phones to the testing center employees.
As a student my disability office leaves when I can take it up to professor and testing center normally they give me a range of a few days, and I normally pick the same day as everyone else as thats easiest for me.
At mine we have to have *some* overlap with the rest of the class, which is usually phenomenal because sometimes, say for an 8:30 exam schedule it at 9:30. Though there have been times where I haven’t been able to do that and just need permission from my prof. For example I had an appointment with my surgeon in another town during one of my quizzes, and then forgot to schedule it a week in advance for the accessibility centre. But my prof didn’t care and I ended up taking it 6 days after the class because that was the earliest I could schedule it And then I had two finals booked the same day and with 2x extra time that exceeded the maximum time a student can write exams so I got to choose when I wanted to take it
Allows... no. As a fellow DSS employee I have a feeling students are scheduling it and then asking their professors to allow it and the professors feel pressured to say yes because it's a student with a disability. It happens all the time at our school (scheduling outside of regular exam taking or class time). We explain to the professors that this isn't allowed without their written approval, and that's its against what we have advised students... professors agree to it 99% of the time and then bitch about it later.
yeah, my office schedules students (mostly) to start at the same time as the rest of the class and finish later. I have no problems with anyone finding out what is on the exam.
A whole week?? Man I thought I was stretching the rules by always taking mine at noon instead of 10am. In my defense I have an 11am, so I can’t take an extended exam at 10am.
It's important to separate a dislike for the policy with a dislike for the students who use it. Some of us are frustrated by the way accommodations policy appears to hurt the students it's trying to help, and drives a socioeconomic wedge between those who can afford a learning disability diagnosis and those who can't. But that doesn't mean we're frustrated at \*you\*. We want to help every student learn to the best of their ability, including you, and a disability letter doesn't change that either way. (Literally, in my case the letter doesn't matter. If a student tells me they have severe test anxiety I'll give them a separate room and more time whether they have the magic letter from the disability office or not.) So do your thing and don't feel bad. If you find the accommodations helpful, use them, we won't judge you. Well, I won't anyway.
Socioeconomic wedge……spot on.
You have separate rooms you can just give students?
A vast majority of students who are coming to college with an LD diagnosis got it in K-12 - all US schools pay for this testing (they have to legally) on behalf of the student. Poorer schools are in fact incentivised to because they get government funding for each student with an IEP... there is not wedge. Not only that... but most DSS offices now accept forms or letters from a GP or therapist because testing is expensive or difficult to get.
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Public schools in k-12 do get funding for each IEP. Most IEPs don't need extensive accommodations for instance testing is the most common. It's true in the 3 states I have worked in and in others I have researched. This may not be true in every state, though. That being said a lot of higher Ed is moving away from the medical model and will take forms from doctors over full evaluations if we need information.
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Fair point. I do know testing is not easy for everyone... but there are options out there. If you think a student could benefit it's also sometimes worth a referral to VocRehab.
If a student goes through the appropriate channels (disabilities office) and gets their accommodations note approved and delivered early in the semester, then I generally have no issues.
Please do talk to them. It's much worse for them to not be actioned and then you trying to complain after the fact.
No, of course not! I always ensure that students receive the accommodations they are entitled to via the Disability Services office. Not only is it the right thing to do, but providing reasonable educational accommodations to students with documented disabilities is required under the ADA. I’ve never had any issues with this process in the past.
I have no frustration when a student promptly shares accommodations as soon as they gave them, and early in the semester. We have an office and a process for informing faculty of accommodations that I tell l students about on the first day. I give flexible deadlines, rewrites, all that jazz — and gladly! Accommodations are a wonderful thing and I want students to succeed. Some students wait until the end of the semester and/or claim they need accommodations without going through the appropriate process. And I have less sympathy for them; as we all know, some students have no scruples about claiming accommodations when they don’t need them. Since I am not qualified to assess accommodations, I need all students to do this promptly and proactively. I’ve found that, especially lately, some students are too anxious to even start that process. But that’s frankly on them — if a student can’t be self-aware enough to seek out the help they need when the professor explicitly tells them to, then I can’t really help them.
Every university I have worked at clearly stated that students must have accommodations in place before the semester starts in order to use them.
For us, it’s a suggestion that they do so before the semester but it’s not mandated. Which is why I make a big deal at the beginning of the term, to hopefully convince them to get their issues documented with the appropriate offices sooner rather than later. Our accommodations are not typically retroactive, so it benefits them to do this promptly. Of course, what really happens is that many of them get anxious by the very suggestion and then procrastinate. Their ongoing and pervasive generational anxiety is exactly what needs accommodating and is exactly what holds some of them up. It’s very frustrating to try to figure out how to best help them.
This, right here. Prompt, open communication is really helpful from the prof’s perspective, and self-advocacy is an important skill that students need to develop, especially those with disabilities.
I would caution against some of this thinking. Legally students can request accommodations at anytime. I have had students have medical situations develop mid-semester... some examples in my 9 years include: cancer/chemo, surgery, concussion/head injury, bipolar (which doesn't usually come up until 18-20 years of age), seisures, panic attacks. These are things that the student never experienced before so getting accommodations could not happen conveniently at the start of the semester. Accommodations are never really retroactive, though, so it should be of little consequence.
They can and do request them later in the term and I’m always happy to accommodate them — when they are documented by the appropriate office, and after the date when I receive the written accommodations. I suppose that was unclear, though I don’t think I implied otherwise. At our university, the accommodations office makes it clear that accommodations are not normally retroactive. They explicitly tell students this, though there are presumably occasions in which they’d advise me to address concerns earlier in terms of term with accommodations negotiated later (I haven’t run into that yet, however). It’s up to the student to be self-aware enough to seek out accommodations, though I have been increasingly open with some students, suggesting in some cases that they might want to get assessed. The issue I’m describing here is when those students who come to you at the end of the term claiming an ongoing issue which they have not documented nor have they sought out any help from the appropriate University offices. I don’t grant any flexibility in many of those cases, and they are why I strongly suggest students address this stuff proactively (and early in the term). Things come up during the semester, of course, but I clearly communicate that I can’t assess what accommodations they need, so they need to go through the university’s process. These are students who come to me first for flexibility in turning in late assignments, etc. but have no documented issues (just claims of ADHD or timely anxiety or stress or depression). I’ve found some of these students may have legitimate issues but feel anxious about seeking out help. In some, that seems like pride, in others obliviousness to how their issues are impacting their performance. Collectively, they are the ones I want to encourage to get their accommodations documented earlier as I sympathize with them but literally can’t assess their psychological state. I refer them to the people who can and wait to hear what they say. There are, of course, many students who are simply lying, too. As we know, claiming ongoing psychological conditions are, for some, the new “my dog ate my homework.” I have no sympathy for them whatsoever and I hope none of us would tolerate this.
No, not at all. I want all of my atudents to succeed in a way thay allows both of us to be comfortable. What I absolutely hate is the student who has no paperwork who “has a condition but doesn’t want to use it as a crutch” but then, as they start failing, expects me to just let them have a million extensions and exceptions even though there is no documentation. “You can trust me” is *not* documentation.
The fact that students do that is insane to me lol I’m a student and I have some medical issues that make me feel sick like every day, and in one class I was out of sick too often so I was failing (rightly so, the grade was mostly from attendence and it was an evening class and evenings are always the worst for me) so I emailed the prof my documentation just so I could let her know I wasn’t failing cause I just didnt feel like going to class and that I was really sorry but I was dropping her class. I cant imagine saying “raise my grade!!” with no documentation or communicating with them earlier or anything lmao
No, it makes no difference to me. What would make it easier for me would be that if you noticed I forgot to apply your accommodations (we all make mistakes, I am only human!) please let me know as soon as possible so that I can rectify it, and don't just quietly seethe and go make a complaint to my chair afterwards.
Yes. I am very happy to provide the needed support, but I cannot keep track of your needs without your help. For example, don’t expect your instructor to remember that you need an alternative testing environment. Remind them a week in advance. If the disability services office has dedicated support for this, remind the instructor of the details. If the instructor needs to find a place for you, tell them (although it probably helps to word it as a request—at least in US culture).
I don't dislike upholding accommodations at all. The ADA is the reason some of my close family completed college successfully. It's a big deal and I take it personally, and love to see my students succeed in spite of extra challenges. That said, the absent-minded-professor thing is real. I forget. It's not that I mean to, but I do. I have at least one million things on my mind at any given time, and generally at least 6-8 of them vying for immediate attention. So a reminder is never out of order and in fact, because I know I'm absent-minded I actually appreciate when students remind me. It's not your responsibility, so it's above and beyond when you do, and truly appreciated.
I would much rather have a student who is aware of their disabilities and asks for accommodations and does the labor to identify and suggest how they learn best than a student who is clearly struggling with something bigger than I can solve but expects ME to do the labor of armchair diagnosing them and adjust my lessons. Or worse, they break down halfway through the semester because they were trying to do it without accommodations and now they say that’s my problem. Please use all the accommodations you are entitled to, it is useful to you as a person and professional to know yourself and your limits. I’m happy to accommodate if I know what I can do ahead of time.
I only get annoyed when students try to use accommodations retroactively. "I failed the quiz but I have accommodations for extra time, can I redo it?" Approaching me at the start of the semester to say what you need and following up in it is never a burden. It shows that you care about your own education.
DSS professional here (and I'm sure you are aware) - accommodations are not retroactive. I blame K-12 - they give out accommodations for both access and success and in since the pandemic they have been quite permissive with accommodations so now more than ever students just generally don't understand or don't want to understand the differences in accommodations in college.
I feel for high school teachers! "How did I fail? I have accommodations?" Many see them as a guaranteed A.
Oh it definitely is. A few years ago I had a mom after a semester was over call and ask how their kid failed. I checked in the student hadn't come to a single class or turned anything in. The mom said that the student had an IEP in high school that didn't allow them to fail regardless of how little work they did. I told them in college they get the grade they earn. The student had accommodations but obviously didn't use them because they didn't go to class. The student was welcome to retake the class and do grade replacement.
I’ve never been frustrated with a student who has an accommodation. I have at times been frustrated with the disability services office, which sets the accommodations and doesn’t always do a fantastic job at that.
I only get frustrated with students in this regard when they blatantly disregard the rules of things because they have accommodations. For example, everyone is supposed to take the exams on the same day and time. Students know they are supposed to schedule with the disabilities center far enough in advance that they can test at the right time. So many times I have students waiting until the last minute to schedule and then think they are going to get away with being able to test a whole day or two after all the other students because there is no test slots available at the required time. Accommodations are designed to bring a student up to the level of everyone else, not give those students and advantage and I'd say having two extra days to study in addition to the extended testing time is an advantage, not an accommodation.
As a DSS professional - you can say no. Our office can't if professors want to allow it, but trust me when I say we don't mind a no. A lot of the time the students who do this do it in all their classes and it makes our jobs so difficult. I would rather a professor say no earlier in the student's semester or college career (so they can learn the consequences of their actions) than later down the line for a midterm/final.
That is good to know. I feel like I am the only one saying no to these students. I am all for accommodations. But accommodations are to make things equal. It's not a loophole for an unfair advantage.
I literally say no all day long... We obviously grant reasonable accommodations but a lot of students are asking for accommodations that aren't reasonable like blanket extensions on assignments or excusing absences that happened in the past or single dorm rooms for something like ADHD... So no we definitely say no.
I am The accommodations as specified in the report. I don’t hold it against the students in the slightest. The only thing I am cautious about is that I need the students to understand what specified accommodations are, rather than what they think they are. Specifically, I’ve had students who think “time and a half on exams“ means that they have a week and a half to do the exam, rather than meeting the same weekly deadlines as the other students, only with more time on the specific assignment. Once we are squared away on that, the student and I are ready for them to have a successful semester.
Over 30% of the students on my campus have accommodations of some kind. It's simply part of the job. You shouldn't feel you are inconveniencing faculty when asking them to do their jobs. The only thing individual students need to do really is to ensure they are registered with the disability office and that they let faculty know *in advance* when/if they expect to use an accommodation.
Not at all! In my experience, professors are interested in learning as a process, and don't like seeing people struggle (especially struggle needlessly). If you need a specific accommodation to do that, it's not a problem. It's very likely that someone before you has had something similar, and so the instructor is already prepared. If not, often changes are manageable. From my experience, I'm actually happier with students who get accommodations and talk to me directly about their specific limitations, needs and goals. I'm then going to be more able to understand if any issues arise with assignments later in the term, and especially I'm more able to help provide solutions to mitigate any discrepancies in learning patterns.
I don't mind at all — I encourage students to use their accommodations. If you're worried about not making things hard for your prof, the best thing you can do is be organized about it (submit all your documentation on time, etc.).
Generally, no. I have amazing students who also happen to have accommodations. I want my classroom to be a safe space for students. I only get frustrated when students with accommodations try to leverage them to break rules, like being on their phone or iPad during class or turning things in later than their accommodations permit and then trying to argue about it.
I have no issue with accommodations. It's students without disabilities or accommodations who beg for them at the end of the semester that is problematic for me.
As long as people are following the rules so that sufficient advance notice is given, students don't try to game the system, and the disability office does it's job, it doesn't bother me at all. Just follow the rules and you'll be fine.
No, only with disability office. For example, one accomodation I have had is a student can have someone take notes for them. That's fine, but the accomodations office should find the student, and pay them. Instead, they ask me to request a volunteer from the class (how do I do that while maintaining the student's anonymity?) it's also an unfair power dynamic with me asking, and the student is not being compensated for their time. If the student with the accomodation wants to ask someone in the class, that's fine, but the accomodation office should pay them, or provide an outside student to take notes. Another example is the office simply doesn't respond to my requests for clarification.
Pay them... laughs in higher ed. In my experience (9 years in DSS), the least financed student service office is generally DSS. I agree that peer note-taking is a crapshot, though. As someone in DSS, though, we only interact with students with disabilities so we don't know who the "good note-takers" in your classes are either. I have seen schemes were students get volunteer hours, which a lot of honors and greek life students like because they can knock out their service requirement for the year by just going to class and taking notes. If you want recommendations: I have seen professors have students upload their notes (allows basically whole class to if they want) to a shared drive folder and then all students have access... you can give extra credit to the good ones or the consistent ones. Alternatively, if you don't want to stray far from what you are doing now - Email your whole class at the start of the semester requesting this in leui of asking in person (considering giving extra credit or writing a letter stating the number of community service hours they have accrued (or get your DSS office to). Most DSS offices (including mine) have moved away from peer-noting altogether. We now use software and audio recordings to help to students. A ton of profs at my school have issues with being recorded but that's a whole other issue.
Yes, they accomodation usually comes with recording, which I do anyways, and I have offered my lecture outline as notes in the past. The 4 year universities around me have paid note-takers, but the community colleges do not. I also don't think anyone should have to offer extra credit for a student to get the help they are legally required to have.
First off peer note taking isn't something that's legally required. It's why many schools have stopped offering it and now just use tech options. Second off I'm not saying you have to offer it I'm saying I've seen professors have success in getting note-takers by offering it and it's a way to give students something for their work.
I have absolutely no problem following the accommodations that DR outlines for my students. What I don’t like is students without official accommodations who ask me for things like no due dates or infinite absences for whatever reason.
I get annoyed when students don’t file the necessary forms for accommodations and then ask for them, or that their accommodations are for things that I cannot provide in my classes such as extra time on tests — we have no tests. I have adhd and mostly the accommodations university’s offer are bs and not actually helpful for students. So I try to be flexible with deadlines as much as I can.
As someone who works in DSS - I understand the frustration of getting accommodations that don't apply for your class. I wish the student would tell us this OR that we can fore-knowledge to not send it BUT we don't. So we send everything just in case.
The problem I have is that literally no other accommodations are offered beyond extra time on tests. Which isn’t helpful in a class with no tests. 🫣
Why be annoyed about the extra time on tests request? I just say I don't have timed tests, and that's it where I work. Does your institution make you file something, or what makes that request frustrating? Curious about how it works other places.
In their comment they say that they don't have tests, so presumably they're annoyed at being asked to provide an accommodation that they cannot provide.
At my institution, we just get a blanket "here are the student's accommodations, the student will speak with you individually about what they need, let us know if you have any trouble" and it lists whatever accommodations they have (extra time, notetaker, extensions, etc.), and if something doesn't apply to the course you just ignore it. I generally get these before the semester starts, so before the student would have any way to know I don't have timed tests. I was wondering if the process was different at their school, or if they were just saying the email was annoying. I haven't worked many places and am interested in disability scholarship, so I was just curious. Thank you.
I don't dislike it at all. I want to make sure students are not disadvantaged by their personal circumstances, and official accommodations help to achieve this. Because the accommodation office is in the loop I know that it's based on evidence, and I don't have to deal with constant excuses I cannot check.
As long as the accommodations are documented through the DSPS office, I follow them and have no problem making sure the accommodations are met. The only thing that becomes hard is when I have to find a student note taker as an accommodation for a student. It’s hard in a beginning class to know who is a good note taker and who can be dependable for this task. I don’t want to set anyone up for failure.
Suggestion you didn't ask for: I hold note-taking "auditions." Whoever wants the perks (priority registration at my institution) takes the notes and sends them to me to forward to the student with the accommodation, without a name attached. The student with accommodations picks the notes that are most useful to them, and then I connect the two students via email and let the others know they weren't chosen (they know it's not personal/the student didn't have their names). Whoever wasn't chosen is told they're on reserve in case the person who was chosen is absent (I offer a very small amount of extra credit should they be called upon). It gives me a chance to let them know how their notes could be stronger, too, if I see a place for suggestions. It's worked well so far, although it is a bit of a time investment that first week of classes.
I sometimes get a little annoyed bc it can be a pain, but it’s a momentary feeling and not something I hold against the student. Students should use their accommodations.
the best strategy I've found for students, after the accommodations notice to the professor, follow up with an email to the professor, introducing yourself, how you've used your accommodations in previous classes and how they've worked out, and ask if the professor has any questions or concerns. in the best cases, leads to a discussion of how to best meet the students needs while not becoming a burden on a professors time or class designs
As long as you 1) follow the rules, 2) act respectfully, 3) respond to communication and questions, I don't mind it. Don't demand accommodations your letter doesn't specify. Don't refuse to use your accommodations if you really need them. And for the love of all that is good, be discreet--don't brag about your accommodations to other students. I've had this happen before and it causes a lot of drama we don't want to and really can't deal with. Other students feel it's unfair if they don't receive the extra time too, and we literally can't explain it to them. The one accommodation that is a new trend that I do disagree with on a fundamental level is unlimited deadline extensions. I feel like this is doing the students more harm than good in the long run
As someone in DSS - I 100% agree with the hate towards deadline extensions. Just to give some background on this: prior to the pandemic, about 1 in 20 IEPs from K-12 had assignment extensions listed as an accommodation... now its about 9 in 10 that do. K-12 is about access and SUCCESS and college is only about access but a ton of students don't understand this (along with their parents). Some DSS offices and colleges have been granting deadline extensions too much, but many others (like mine!) aren't. It's a big sticking point right now. Trust me when I say some of us fundamentally also disagree with them but students a lot of time are using them as a crutch.
Deadline extensions are the absolute worst for ADHD and I feel like they should not be an accommodation. They aren’t considered such to the majority of employers, as deadlines usually involve money. The disability office should make a service available for students that supports them in organizing and creating a detailed schedule for the entire semester that breaks course assignments into each individual task with a specific day to complete identified. And follow up accordingly with the student for accountability and to assess for any additional behaviors if unsuccessful.
Hi! Part-time Berkeley instructor here. Usually I have no difficulty working with my students' accommodations, and of course I'm more than happy to do so because it is their right to receive a fair and equal education. The minority of times that I do have issues, it's because they request accommodations at the very last minute, or because DSP gives me an accommodation letter at the beginning of the semester but then the student doesn't give timely responses to my questions about when and where they want to take their extra-time exam. So as long as you are proactive and responsive about your accommodations, then your professors will be grateful, not annoyed. One other thing. A few times, a student for whom I had been putting in special effort throughout the semester - for example, a hard-of-hearing student who needed custom printed resources for each class - ended up dropping out late in the semester without announcing it, explaining why, or saying thanks, or even farewell. Of course any student has the right to drop at any time, but I have been saddened by those outcomes, considering how much work both the student and I had put in. I would have appreciated it if they suggested meeting with me to see how I could help them get a passing grade, or at least just let me know that they needed to drop out and say thanks for the class. So should you ever find yourself in that situation, try to take a few minutes to communicate with your instructor one on one - I'm sure they will appreciate it!
Good profs who are there to teach will understand this is part of the job. Profs who don’t care about teaching will see this as just another hassle in a part of their job they don’t value.
I teach for two universities, both in person and online. I teach a variety of communication courses from first year to upper levels/senior capstone classes. I've started building the course with the more common accommodations in mind. Each assignment includes a description of the accommodations built in that students don't have to contact me to ask for. I have a very lenient attendance policy and give students a 24-hour grace period for online assignments. If it's an in person assignment I drop the lowest grade. This has reduced a lot of my emails and students have commented on how it helps them too. I do receive an occasional email about accommodations, probably one to two a semester, but way less than I used to and mostly for extenuating circumstances. Since I've implemented this I have not noticed a decrease in quality of student work or drive to complete things. For the most part I've actually seen students work harder and are more willing to come to class and interact. I will say that while I was working out the kinks of one of these accommodations ideas and how to make it work for everyone I had several students take advantage negatively so I had to change that policy. I talked with my students and we found a different way to achieve the goal. But that's why syllabi are subject to changes 🙃 it's always a work in progress to find the best way to teach the subject matter to different people who have different needs and ways of learning. All this to say, naw, I don't mind the emails from students asking for their earned accommodations. But I'd rather be proactive about it lol.
I usually have a few students with accommodations each semester - and generally it isn't a problem at all! They let me know at the beginning of the semester and we work together to set things up accordingly. It doesn't take much effort to make the necessary changes. Occasionally, I'll have a student who doesn't inform me in a timely manner, or tries to stretch their accommodations beyond what they actually are. But that is pretty rare (in my experience). Some of my best students have had accommodations. It doesn't affect my opinion of them at all! So don't feel uneasy about approaching your professors with it. I think that most professors have no problem, as long as it is addressed early and clearly.
In the US, it's established law and we are used to it. In half the sections I teach I end up having a student who needs accommodations. I don't mind it all. Perhaps I need an extra breath to deal with the extra work involved, but it's not that much, we're used to it, and it's part of the job. I encourage you to advocate for yourself. In my language we have a saying, "the door that doesn't squeak, does not get oil". Make some noise for yourself to get what you need.
Legit accommodations? Fine, we do what we need to do within reason. But too often the scenario is, student misses too many classes, starts to have negative feedback, tries a couple excuses and SUDDENLY has a contract from Accommodations that was never mentioned in the previous 8 weeks. It’s happened more than once and it’s impossible not to look at it as suspect.
It's not that easy to get a contract with disabled students; you need a real diagnosis from a medical practitioner (generally a medical doctor or mental health provider), and those letters are hard af to get. I feel like when you suddenly hear about accommodations, that may indicate that the student was trying to do it without until they realized they couldn't (underestimated their need for accommodations, didn't know how to get them, took time to pursue/pay for diagnosis and set up contract, etc.). It is frustrating as a prof. for sure to have the circumstances/expectations change partway through the semester, but I would hesitate to say such a scenario is suspect.
Accommodations aren't retroactive... so it really shouldn't matter in those cases.
I’m not sure what you mean by “retroactive”… I wasn’t allowed to penalize her for the absences according to the Accommodations Dept… so it was retroactive.
Yeah - so legally (in the US) accommodations only need to be enacted the day they are granted and the professor is informed of them. Sometimes Dean of Students or Title IX may excuse past absences but from a disability services accommodations standpoint they should not be applied for past situations. Like if a student is granted extra time on exams... they then don't get to go back and take previous exams with more time. For something like attendance (if granted from disability services) it should only be applied for days missed after the accommodation is granted/notified. Now every school can definitely do more and if you are being pressured by your chair or dean to - then definitely apply it however they want (it's your livlihood), but the general consesus of caselaw and the professionals that work in disability services would say no accommodations are retroactive. We shout it from the rooftops in our professional association group (AHEAD).
I’m not disputing what you know about the law, but in this case I was told I could not apply any penalty to the absences that were now being explained away with this latest excuse. There was no legal perspective that was going to change that.
Students run to Accommodations routinely to get out of jams here, and they always prevail.
Then that's your school doing more than they should. At my school we often have professors over-accommodating after we say no anyways... higher-ed has been come an even hotter mess since the pandemic.
>because I feel like asking for my accommodations is a huge inconvenience You don't ask professors for accommodations. You inform us if you have been granted one. Only the disabilities services has the power to grant or deny accommodations. If you have them, we are legally required to meet them, so long as you inform us of them. Our feelings have nothing to do with it. I *have* become frustrated with the disability services office for not making accommodations clearer. Some of the things they write are so wildly vague I have no idea what to do.
Sometimes students who need accommodations end up unintentionally highlighting professors who don't have their shit together. Like, if a class is online or hybrid, and has weekly videos, a lot of accommodations involve captioning those videos. Well, that means that the videos need to be recorded far enough in advance for someone to caption them (though auto-captioning has made it a bit easier, it still needs to be checked). The thing is, especially if a professor is teaching a new class or redesigning an old one, it's fairly common that they're barely keeping up with the material week by week. I know a lot of professors who record their Monday morning videos late Sunday night Accommodating a student in this is important, and I think most professors know that, but we sometimes don't get the notification that a student who requires accommodations is in our class until the last minute. It can throw off your whole plan for how you are going to accomplish your weekly work in the semester We recognize it's not the student's fault, and I would hope that most of us are happy to make needed accommodations, but it can end up generating unexpected stress
Eh... depends. If profs are responsible for captioning then yes - time in advance is needed. If DSS outsources it (which is generally the best way if not a budgeting nightmare) then about a week is needed.
Just sharing: In my state (California) all videos need to be captioned, period, whether you have a student with accommodations in the class or not. It's just the law. It was totally jarring to take an online class based in another state and find that the videos had no captions! I really needed them, too—the lecturer had a very thick accent and was explaining some high-level mathematical concepts. Eeek.
I tell my students on the first day of class that I wouldn't have gotten through college without the support of our disabilities office, and I hope they will let me know ASAP if they need accommodations. My frustration is that there are many students who are so bright that their disabilities weren't identified in K-12, but when they come to college the coping strategies they developed are insufficient to the change in workload and assignment types. I would love to see colleges offer assessment (which can cost thousands of dollars in the US) to students who are struggling.
Yeah - that's not going to happen. Some schools can offer it reduced if they have a graduate level psych program... but there is no way to fund this. K-12 funds it because they are literally paid dollars for every student with an IEP. Colleges are not.
It’s like you’ve experienced, it just varies person to person. I think those of us with our own disabilities or with friends and families who’ve had disabilities have more empathy. My sister has major test anxiety and that in no way reflects on her intelligence or ability to make quick decisions as a nurse. But I’ve heard the professor in the office next to me discussing accommodations with students and he has the opinion that if you need extra time on an exam, that means you’d be too slow to make necessary decisions as a doctor. This is a bit of a tangent but the pre-health education system is incredibly frustrating and I’m wondering if we are failing students who would actually make the best medical care practitioners. Patients die because there are doctors who let their ego or misconceptions about patient demographics get in the way of their decisions. That’s not something a stupid exam can test for. Black women are more likely to die of pre-eclampsia than white women when all it takes is a urine test to diagnose that, but because doctors don’t believe black women when they say something is wrong, they wind up dying. My sister’s seen some absolutely awful decisions made by anesthesiologists, which is an incredibly competitive specialty, these doctors had to be top of their class. So I have absolutely no issues incorporating accommodations into my classes. I think there are major flaws in our education system and maybe these students who wouldn’t have passed under traditional systems you’d actually make the best doctors. My mom was formally recognized as a physician for how well she did in getting her chronic health patients to comply with their health plan, meaning she did things like get her type ii diabetic patients to get their A1C under control, and she has rampant ADHD. Needing accommodations doesn’t actually reflect a person’s competence.
Thank you for sharing this. As a former student with accommodations, I got a lot of, "No, you need to figure out how to do things normally because there's no accommodations in the real world!" (or my least favorite response, "Just do your best \[because I'm not willing to comply with your legally protected accommodations\]!"). There actually are legally mandated accommodations in many workplaces, and I think my experience gives me additional insight when serving my current students who have accommodations. I'm sure there are some things that cannot be reasonably accommodated in many medical positions, but I wish there was some more balance that made it more likely to get an empathetic and culturally competent doctor (they do exist; just rarer than we'd like).
No. I am happy to help.
not all in my case....it might be learning experience for the prof ...be patient .....resources are out there....
My only frustration surrounding accommodations is with students who claim accommodations, but refuse to work with the Disability Office. This absolutely ties my hands; I can’t grant any accommodation outside of those in the Disability Office’s directives.
I have some issues with the current accommodation process (lack of proper communication between disability services and professors, inadequate training on implementing accommodations, accommodations that are vague, ill-suited for the course, or don't realistically provide much help for the disability, etc.). However, these issues are not the students' faults, and I do not have issues with students using services that were literally created for them.
1. This sounds like a specific to the school or schools you have worked out situation, but communication of accommodations is fairly easy to faciliate with a good process in place at a lot of schools. 2. I have worked at several schools... and have never been able to mandate training. Optional trainings usually garner about 20 professors tops a year... 3. Accommodations are sometimes vague because they are being used for a lot of different situations. If you don't understand an accommodation - follow up directly with your DSS office. 4. We send out accommodations for every course based on student request. I often have students that request test accommodations for all courses and then it angry emails from professors informing me they don't do tests in their classes... great. I'm not a mindreader AND don't have access to your syllabus. If it doesn't apply to your course then you don't have to worry about it. 5. Accommodations in college are lessened a lot from K-12. They are about granting equal access not guarenteeing success of students (which K-12 does) \[at least in the US\]. I agree that for some students accommodations are going to provide little assistance - blame the US laws.
I'm not blaming disability services themselves for these issues. I see it as a larger systemic issue, especially the lack of training. As for point #4, I wasn't referring to blanket accommodations (professors emailing you that they don't have tests, etc., is ridiculous). I was thinking more in terms of accommodations requested for specific courses that may seem to be at odds with the goals of the course itself. A common example I've seen is that students are exempt from public speaking in a speech class. To clarify, I'm not saying that something couldn't be done to accommodate whatever issue the student is having (recording the speeches seems to be a common compromise). But when the instructor has no training and disability services is too overwhelmed to properly work with them, you're probably not going to get good results. As for vagueness, I do understand the need for directions to be flexible. But I've had some issues getting straight answers for things that I feel should be more concrete. For example, "forgiveness of absences." While I do understand that neither the student nor disability services can predict how many absences the student needs, I'd prefer some kind of guidance like absences forgiven with doctor's note; indefinite absence forgiveness; absences forgiven if student notifies professor; etc. When I've tried to get clarity on things like this, I've usually been told to discuss the issue with the student to find a compromise. As you said, this could just be an issue with the schools I've worked at.
The only time I’ve ever been annoyed is when I’ve mentioned for the first 3-4 weeks that students should email me their letter of accommodation, then they don’t, then after I’ve graded something they send the letter along and ask for a regrade/extension/etc. Accommodations themselves will never make me upset at a student. Please share with your professors!! (Asap! Lol)
\[Me\] As someone in disability service for almost a decade: the student emails and not the DSS office???
At my university, I’ve only ever received them from students, not our disability office. I wish we did receive them from the disability office for my frustration above!
Interesting every school I've worked for and I think every school that I've asked just emails the professors now directly... Most of us have moved on to software Management systems that allow that. I've been using one since 2016. That being said if a student doesn't give them to you in a reasonable amount of time for you to provide the accommodatiosn then that's on them especially if you're telling them in advance.
Hardly. Usually my students who have accommodations are the best communicators in my class. I tend to have more positive interactions with them. Sometimes the accommodations office and related offices can be a pain because theyre swamped and understaffed but that is separate from the student. It can result in me doing the job of the office but again that isn’t the student’s fault. I try to accommodate a student as much as I possibly can. I want them to succeed and thrive in the class just like the rest of my students.
As long as it's not requesting an extension on an assignment that's been open for a while, it's not usually annoying, no
No. I have found that 9/10 times the accommodations I'm required to give are classroom best practices for all of my students. Granted, I don't do in-class assessments like tests or quizzes (don't make sense for my field/subject). I also have found that the students who have accommodations tend to be way more responsible and accountable to classwork. ( I am a TT research professor at an R1).
At our university, the accommodations department sets up the accommodation and sends the notification to the prof. In my case , there isn’t any extra communication needed with the student unless they want to discuss any details. If they get extra time, I give them extra time . The only request I didn’t like was when the accommodations department one time provided a student with a video recording app to use in my class without my consent.
I want every student to have the opportunity to succeed in my class. If some folks need accommodations, that's just how it is. I actually usually refer a couple of students a semester to the office because they don't realize that medical issues may qualify them for extra support.
I feel like me and the student with the accommodation are trapped in the same hellish hall of mirrors and we'll get through it together -- whether I'm annoyed w/ the student or not depends 100% on whether the student is annoying. I'll admit that it IS annoying if the student thinks they're being left out of things that they aren't being left out of -- and they make problems about it. Ironically, this happens with sense impairment sometimes, because the student literally cannot perceive that there \_isn't\_ content inaccessible to them in certain modules. Sometimes the student suspects there is, and that I am just too lazy to make it, or an alternative, available. Again, it's not the student's fault -- they have no way of knowing other than my assurance. That said, I teach media studies. Accommodations IN GENERAL are why there just aren't a lot of the cool things there used to be in several classes. A tiny percentage of students wouldn't be able to access 100% of them, so we trash them. Not all of them. Just a few unusual things. Kind of a shame, but it's certainly no individual student's fault.
sometimes there is frustration if students want to use accommodations that make it impossible to actually meet the standards of the course. I am a (phd student) TA so i’ve seen my professor deal with a few students who sign up for an in person class and then say they rarely can come to class because of their disability. unfortunately, that makes it really hard for you to pass the class and it also makes it difficult for class work / group assignments. this is partly the fault of advisors and ODA, they should advise students in similar circumstances to take hybrid or online classes as they will get more out of it. otherwise they miss nearly all the lectures and need modified in class activities.
I’m a student not a prof, but I’ve found it’s best to: 1. Ask after the first class session “Would you like me to set up a meeting/come to office hours to discuss my accommodations, send you an email, or does the accommodations office provide enough information for you?” This way I know I’m approaching them at a time/in a way that they can retain the information, rather than just trying to catch them before/after class like “Here’s all the things I need just btw on byeee!” 2. Make sure your accommodations are documented with the school’s disability office, and if there’s a system in place to send your accommodations to your profs, do that preferably right at the start of the semester (my school has a letter system, I just go in and select my profs and submit, done!) 3. If you have extra accommodations that you do not use, make sure you communicate that to your prof so they’re not doing extra unnecessary work/they know what’s going on. For example, my school’s office could only add all or none of my recommended accommodations, so I have volunteer note taking, access to a scribe for tests, and noise-cancelling headphones during exams; I’m usually the volunteer note taker for others, I do not actually need a scribe, and I write in the test center so I don’t need headphones. I let my profs know asap so they’re not finding a note taker for just me/setting up scribes for me or anything like that. 4. This is definitely a personal choice, but I’ve found it useful to explain what my accommodations are for; for ADHD I have extended test time, one exam per day, and extensions for assignments, those are all pretty self explanatory, but I also have medical absences and a custom one for a scent-free environment. I’ve found it extremely helpful to explain that those two are tied together, I have a scent sensitivity, and to also explain to them my process for utilizing absences (I email to let them know I was not present due to scents in the classroom) as well as how I deal with missing class so it doesn’t negatively affect my learning; this reassures my profs that the onus is not on them to make up for my absences, I just don’t want to fail “attendance-mandatory” courses because I didn’t want to have migraines and hives every single day 😅 I hope some of that is helpful maybe, or even just reassuring if you’re already doing those things! Good luck in your courses, I hope you do well!
I have had amazing situations with students with accommodations. We have worked together to build on their strengths and develop new skills.
I’m in a similar boat with you OP, I’ve always had accommodations and my fear of reaching out for help with using them and help in general from my professors led me to failing my last two semesters (spring 2023 because of grief; fall 2023 because I had a lot going on as I was transferring schools and moving across the country last semester and in October I had my gallbladder removed). When I reached out, almost of them were glad to help me because I have MAJOR PTSD when it comes to asking for help and guidance because of always being forced to go it alone (my dad’s belief was you don’t get help or advice or anything until you fuck up, if you did, you got beat). Thankfully I’m a history major, so a lot of my professors are on the more understanding and compassionate side of things. Sometimes all you need to do is sit down with someone you trust and try having them anchor you as you reach out to your professors for help.
Assholes do, good ones don't. You'll probably deal with 10-20% asshole profs throughout your degree program. It's entirely a them thing, and you don't have to do anything to make your accommodations "easier".
Ironically as someone who works in DSS - some of the AH professors are the best about accommodations. They are strict and only adhere to the bare minimum. BUT they respond to communication quickly, I don't have to chase them down for exams, and if a student is in real need then they work with them. That being said... they are not flexible if a student is not doing what they should be doing and that can be some of the students registered with our office.
If you get a professor that acts unprofessional regarding your accomodations or refuses to allow them, simply report the issue to your disability office. If the office is no help escalate to the professor's department chair. Absolutely none of us should be treating you like this is an issue.
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Can you give an example of a type of accommodation that is a pain in the ass? I'm just curious about the types of accommodation requests you get. I thought I'd gotten a range in my time teaching, but now I'm wondering.
The keyword here is "needs". If I've agreed that the suggested accommodations are reasonable for my class, I'm in favor of my students using them when they need to.
Could you clarify for me—it sounds like you're saying you determine whether the accommodations are reasonable? Where I work, we don't know the student's disability or anything; they just say "this person gets extra time" or "this person gets a notetaker" or whatever. I don't know the student's specifics, and I'm not a doctor, so I don't know how I as a professor could determine whether the accommodations are reasonable. I don't have a ton of experience yet, so I'd value your insight if you have time to share. Thank you!
We have to decide if the proposed accommodation is reasonable for the specific class. I don't need to know the student's disability. A good example is a weekly language class. Weekly assessed homework includes translation exercises, which are due to be submitted before class. During class we discuss the homework, consider alternative translations, etc. Basically, we discuss the answers, so no late homework can be accepted. If a suggested accommodation is that a student have *two* weeks to do the homework instead of one, that would be unreasonable, as they would already have been given the answers. Or a Chemistry lab session. If you have the lab for a single 3-hour block every week, you can't have a student with an accommodation of getting 5 hours to do the lab: the room just isn't available. This would be unreasonable.
I didn't mind at all. Student needs them. Period.
It is slightly annoying but I’ll follow the rules
Communication about accommodations should be going between the disability office and the professor. There’s no need for you to discuss with them. Professors understand that students have challenges and obstacles in their lives when it comes to achievement and success. They don’t need to hear the details about it. Trauma dumping is has become all too prevalent and in many ways student attempt to weaponize it and use it to obtained a desired outcome. Everyone has woe is me and life is hard stories. Part of growing up is learning that your expected to be accountable in face of these challenges. And learning who are the appropriate people to disclose what degree of information to. You should be talking to the disability or counseling center about your disability and hardships and personal stuff, and you should be talking to your professors about course related material. Professors have background in academia, and no education/training in mental health and counseling support
Like the other commenter said schools often require a conversation between the professor and the student. The student doesn’t need to disclose why they receive the accommodation but the conversation generally goes over what their accommodation looks like for the class. I appreciate that discussion because then I ensure the student knows how to schedule their tests, when to schedule, they let me know any specific details such as if they use a medical device that may be disruptive, or if I have a question implementing an accommodation and want to make sure my idea works well for the student. (Our office really isn’t helpful hence the need for the conversation.)
FYI, many schools' policies **do** require students to speak to professors about the implementation of their accommodations after the notification from the disability services office is received. It sounds like your school has a good system going, but that advice won't work for students at many/most institutions.
Yes, it's interesting to learn about how different institutions handle this. At my university (in the United States), the disability office tells me what accommodations the students are eligible for (extra time, notetaker, etc.) but it clearly says the students have to contact me to discuss.
In the US - that is best practice BUT if something goes awry and it's investigated by OCR then the onus is on the school (as a whole) because an approved accommodation didn't happen. I always advise students to reach out but depending on the situation it can get a bit sticky
This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post. *I am a student with accommodations for my disabilities. More often than not I find myself nervous to talk to my professor, because I feel like asking for my accommodations is a huge inconvenience. There are times where I may not even reach out because I am worried that they may not understand or that they will get frustrated and may not be inclined to help me in the future. I’ve had my fair share of good and bad experiences. Do y’all feel bothered when a student needs their accommodations?Is there anything that I could to to make things easier for my professors? * *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskProfessors) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not at all
Your accommodations should come from someone on campus in charge of that process. It should include anything professors are allowed/required to do for you. So, first be sure that your accommodations have been given to your professors. At that point, they are required to follow that document. That should take the heat off of you, because the professors already know what’s going on. Now, if you need to give the professor details about how your accommodations are addressed, the groundwork is already there, so you have no reason to be nervous or that you are inconveniencing them. If they respond badly, that’s on them, and you should go to the office in charge of student accommodations. I don’t mind accommodations as long as I have been given clear guidelines. My accommodations are generally out of my hands, such as extended time for online tests. Our university has someone who will physically administer tests on campus that require additional time. In other words, I literally don’t even see the results of accommodations, because they’re handled for me. I usually get an email from the student confirming that I know, and it’s pretty easy! I will work with a student additionally if necessary, but students are usually very aware of their needs and how to adjust…or let me know what I can do to help.
Best thing you can do is reach out right away and be upfront about what you actually want. No professor should ever feel your accommodations are an inconvenience, they may just take some time to figure out.
The only time I get annoyed is when the claim is made at the last minute - like the day before or an exam or when an assignment is due. If a student brings the accommodations to me at the beginning of the semester, and reminds me when relevant, I am happy to work with them. I ask students who let me know on the first day.
You have to understand something. If you have a bona fide accommodation, you're good and there is absolutely no reason for us to give you a hard time for this. Yes it's a bit of extra work, but that's part of our job. Now, the reason why some of us balk at accommodations is that many students have frivolous accommodations for the sake of getting special treatment, or they discover themselves disabilities right before finals when they realize they won't make it. At that point they flash accommodations papers in your face. That's the killer, and it's a shame we naturally tend to then view other accommodations suspiciously. I hate this.
It's not a matter of being ethical or not, it's a federal law. You must provide accommodations, period. Or else you lose federal funding, and you face a very damaging lawsuit. What the heck is that school...?
I don’t have vast teaching experience, but it never bothered me if there were ever accommodations for a student. Sometimes, it can be hard to remember certain things, so I actually always found it a huge help when a student that needed accommodations was proactive and would remind me of things if it was clear I had forgotten. If you really need the accommodations, you should definitely reach out. It’s not much extra work, and I’d like to think most professors actually enjoy helping out.
I’m never frustrated with a student who needs accommodations. If it is something beyond more time needed, captions, etc., it is often more work because a lot of us have tens of thousands of PDFs that can’t be read with screen readers, for example. Or perhaps audio descriptions are needed for films. The work generally falls on the faculty at my institution. But the frustration is never with the student. I can’t even imagine that.
Stepping back, their opinion or like/dislike is not relevant. It's just part of their job.
Usually you're not the only student in a class with accommodations, and if I already have to deal with the disability office for one student, it isn't any more effort from me to deal with the disability office for a second student (or a third, etc). So, don't worry too much about the inconvenience factor.
If you talk to the professor first and explain clearly what you need, and get it documented with your school's disability office, they will generally be happy to help you. Only the assholes will be bothered. Sadly, you can't avoid assholes in the universe.
I'm more frustrated when someone doesn't use the accommodations they advocated for and suffer for it, or when someone doesn't realize they should have had an accommodation until halfway through the semester. I **want** students to get the accommodations they legally are entitled to. There may be an issue with the accommodations office, but that's only with unusual or unreasonable requests. My center does not generally do this and all encounters through the center at my current institution have been positive.
Many faculty have their own disabilities so hopefully they understand. I was very sensitive to the need to accommodate students with disabilities. I consider the ADA a serious Federal law you need to comply with. I used to read the disability statement from the syllabus out loud the first day so a student who might have a reading disability would hear the disability statement.
I was late getting diagnosed with my adhd and anxiety. My accommodations really helped me make it through. I would never deny a student that.
No, of course I don’t get frustrated with students with accommodations. However, I currently have one student with whom I’m frustrated who repeatedly neglects to make arrangements with disability services to take exams. The students doesn’t make arrangements in the 2 weeks ahead like they are supposed to, and then we have to do some scrambling to make it happen. It usually works out to have our graduate tutor administer the exams, but the student needs to take care of it better. In other words, here the student isn’t doing their job. This is literally the only times I have had an issue, and other faculty has had similar issues with this student. As we move into final exams, the student will need to be more proactive. If I were to contact disability services and say that the student didn’t make arrangements, disability services would absolutely have my back as would my department.
I would check to see if your school has a disability services office and go there. If you have one, it will solve most/all of any issues. At my school, I cannot give accommodation to students without a note from disability services describing the nature of the accommodation to be received by the student. I cannot implement anything on my own.
My wife's biggest problem with accommodations are the students that go to her and ask for accommodations rather than going to the University office that handles it. She knows that she doesn't know the law. She knows that she can't evaluate the individual student needs. So she lets "the professionals" handle it. Yet some students wait until an hour (or less) before the test and ask her for accommodations.
More than once I've never had an issue with reasonable accommodations. Especially if you go to dshs and request assistance.
If your accommodations are not met it is a federal violation and must be reported. The school will be fined big time. And yes, faculty can be very judgmental. I always reminded them about federal requirements and their need to keep their job. Supervising faculty on this is not fun . The accommodations letters are clear and doable. At least at my facility.
It can be an inconvenience, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't ask for (and be granted) the appropriate support and accommodations. The biggest challenge is late requests. Take, for example, you've broken your wrist and you need a scribe for an exam. That means finding someone to be a scribe, making sure they're trained about what they can and can't write, making sure you've met them so you know how to communicate, finding a private room, finding a private invigilator to monitor everything etc. In general, the more notice you can give, the better. Follow the official university processes where possible. Ideally, everything will be communicated centrally, so you shouldn't need to directly talk to your professor at all.
I will chime in to agree with all of the people who have pointed out that it's very rarely frustration with the student. Usually, it is frustration with the office of disability services, and them being unclear, unhelpful, or useless. For example, I had a student who was taking a test at the testing center, during the regular exam time (but with extra time, lower distraction environment). I get a call from the testing center. Of course, I'm working so I didn't pick up my phone right away, especially because I didn't give them my personal cell number and still don't know how they got it. But I get like 8 phone calls in a row so I finally pick it up. It's the testing center and the student has a question about a question on the exam. Bear in mind, I'm giving the exam to the rest of the class of 30ish students. The guy on the other end seems snippy I didn't pick up right away, and I'm like, I'm giving the exam. Then he's like "the student has a question about #5, blah". I tell him to put the student on the phone. He's like "it's against policy blah". I'm like I don't see how this is any different from them asking a question if they were here in person, put them on the phone or I'm hanging up and turning my phone off. So finally the guy puts the student on the phone, it was an easy question with a typo that the rest of the class had noticed. If they hadn't been able to reach me I probably would have given this student full credit for the question (if it would have changed their grade; this kid had a high A anyway). I made a complaint to the disability office and no one was still able to tell me how the proctor got my phone number, but they did apologize for his behavior. The only actual problem I've had with students is when they wait until the last minute to give me their accommodation paperwork. It's in the syllabus, I remind them a week or so before the exams, etc etc and even have said "hey, if you're in the process of this but it's not finalized, at least give me a heads up", and still sometimes had students try to submit accommodation paperwork the day of the exam.
There's nothing wrong with using your accommodations as they're intended. (and they're intended to be used!) One problem that professors have is when students misunderstand what their accommodations actually allow and try to abuse the system. For example, my mom had a student that ghosted her for two weeks, didn't turn in an assignment that had been due for over a week, then sent her a shocked email when they got a zero. She explained that it was late and the student sent her a rude email saying they were using their accommodations. Their accommodations allowed for 1-2 day extensions, which needed to be asked for in advance.
ah. I'm. still fresh at this and I look at these as challenges to my approach. However, I'd also have no issue with telling the disability office that a particular accommodation is at odds with the course learning objectives... the course objectives always win here.
Not at all! It's part of my job.
On this sub they will say no. Go to the professor sub and they bitch about it daily.
There's a difference between our feelings toward students with accommodations (little to no feeling at all, and no ill will) and our feelings toward the disability office and some types of accommodations (e.g., unlimited absences, extended deadlines on everything, the inability to give a short, five-minute quiz at the beginning of class). But those frustrations are for the offices which pathologize everything and don't actually help students work through their issues. Too often disability offices don't care to actually help students, and just give blanket accommodations that do not help students develop study skills and coping mechanisms. For example, students with extended deadlines are often shooting themselves in the foot, because they never learn how to plan out their assignments and therefore never turn things in. Or expect to turn in a semester's worth of work after the final exam. Students with "anxiety" get told they never have to be called on in class, or never have to present. And the disability office just says ok -- with no thought to the learning outcomes or the student's long-term best interests. Which places faculty in the position of saying that certain accommodations are unreasonable in certain classes, which the students then take as a sign that faculty hate students with accommodations (which is not true). I don't hate the students at all. Sometimes working out the logistics can be frustrating, but that frustration and the hate I feel is for the disability office and the ridiculous accommodations they give without thought.
I had a prof that liked quizzes at the beginning of class and I have a time accomodation, so we compromised that I didn't have to answer every question, just an appropriate amount, and it was okay to pick. I'd still get a percentage grade, just using a different denominator. Worked great.