Wall Street Journal on rampant growth in percentage of college students with “disabilities”

[Anonymous]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-bend-the-rules-for-more-students-give-them-extra-help-1527154200

“At Pomona, 22% of students were considered disabled this year, up from 5% in 2014. Other elite schools have also seen a startling jump in disabilities, according to data from the federal government and from the schools. At Hampshire, Amherst and Smith colleges in Massachusetts and Yeshiva University in New York, one in five students are classified as disabled. At Oberlin College in Ohio, it is one in four. At Marlboro College in Vermont, it is one in three.”

I’m sorry, but this is disgraceful. It’s one thing if you are legally blind, but anxiety or ADHD should not be grounds for giving someone twice the time to take an exam. It’s unfair to the more humble students who are less inclined to take advantage of what should be reserved for people are are truly in-need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-bend-the-rules-for-more-students-give-them-extra-help-1527154200

“At Pomona, 22% of students were considered disabled this year, up from 5% in 2014. Other elite schools have also seen a startling jump in disabilities, according to data from the federal government and from the schools. At Hampshire, Amherst and Smith colleges in Massachusetts and Yeshiva University in New York, one in five students are classified as disabled. At Oberlin College in Ohio, it is one in four. At Marlboro College in Vermont, it is one in three.”

I’m sorry, but this is disgraceful. It’s one thing if you are legally blind, but anxiety or ADHD should not be grounds for giving someone twice the time to take an exam. It’s unfair to the more humble students who are less inclined to take advantage of what should be reserved for people are are truly in-need.

The amount of ignorance in PP's comment is really what is disgraceful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-bend-the-rules-for-more-students-give-them-extra-help-1527154200

“At Pomona, 22% of students were considered disabled this year, up from 5% in 2014. Other elite schools have also seen a startling jump in disabilities, according to data from the federal government and from the schools. At Hampshire, Amherst and Smith colleges in Massachusetts and Yeshiva University in New York, one in five students are classified as disabled. At Oberlin College in Ohio, it is one in four. At Marlboro College in Vermont, it is one in three.”

I’m sorry, but this is disgraceful. It’s one thing if you are legally blind, but anxiety or ADHD should not be grounds for giving someone twice the time to take an exam. It’s unfair to the more humble students who are less inclined to take advantage of what should be reserved for people are are truly in-need.

The amount of ignorance in PP's comment is really what is disgraceful.

? How so? The rate of increase since 2014 is staggering.

[Anonymous]

I'm a professor and a lot of what is going on is related to liability issues.

It used to be that a student would go to a professor and describe a situation and ask for an extension, etc. but now we are actually asked not to make those sorts of judgment calls, and frankly I wouldn't feel comfortable making them.

I'm not a doctor and I have no idea if your depression is debilitating enough for you to be given an extension, and it's not in my job description to make that call.

Therefore, I"m going to tell you that it has to be documented through disability services preferably before you start the course, etc. I don't want to be accused of favoritism or bias or anything else, so everything has to be a whole lot more legalistic than it used to be.

This is the nature of the litigious society that we live in.

But I do think there may also be an element of the student as consumer, I'm paying 60K so I want a boutique experience, etc. My daughter has some anxiety issues and I had no problem asking her psychologist for a note so that we could request a single rather than a room mate for her freshman year. Maybe 20 years ago people didn't do that, but today at that price, I want to give her every ability to succeed.

That said, there did seem to be a fairly large amount of upper middle class girls who gamed the system and got diagnosed with stress or depression so that they could have a cat -- at least at my son's big southern university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-bend-the-rules-for-more-students-give-them-extra-help-1527154200

“At Pomona, 22% of students were considered disabled this year, up from 5% in 2014. Other elite schools have also seen a startling jump in disabilities, according to data from the federal government and from the schools. At Hampshire, Amherst and Smith colleges in Massachusetts and Yeshiva University in New York, one in five students are classified as disabled. At Oberlin College in Ohio, it is one in four. At Marlboro College in Vermont, it is one in three.”

I’m sorry, but this is disgraceful. It’s one thing if you are legally blind, but anxiety or ADHD should not be grounds for giving someone twice the time to take an exam. It’s unfair to the more humble students who are less inclined to take advantage of what should be reserved for people are are truly in-need.

The amount of ignorance in PP's comment is really what is disgraceful.

? How so? The rate of increase since 2014 is staggering.

Having a disability isn't disgraceful. Having a disability and attending college isn't disgraceful. Having a disability, attending college, and having appropriate accommodations isn't disgraceful either. Also, ignorant people like OP don't get to decide what is or is not a disability.

[Anonymous]

What concerns me from a related article is the statement that wealthier students are more likely to receive accommodations than poor students.

What happens when these kids graduate college? Is an employer going to give a person who takes twice as long to do something the same salary as someone who meets deadlines?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-bend-the-rules-for-more-students-give-them-extra-help-1527154200

“At Pomona, 22% of students were considered disabled this year, up from 5% in 2014. Other elite schools have also seen a startling jump in disabilities, according to data from the federal government and from the schools. At Hampshire, Amherst and Smith colleges in Massachusetts and Yeshiva University in New York, one in five students are classified as disabled. At Oberlin College in Ohio, it is one in four. At Marlboro College in Vermont, it is one in three.”

I’m sorry, but this is disgraceful. It’s one thing if you are legally blind, but anxiety or ADHD should not be grounds for giving someone twice the time to take an exam. It’s unfair to the more humble students who are less inclined to take advantage of what should be reserved for people are are truly in-need.

The amount of ignorance in PP's comment is really what is disgraceful.

? How so? The rate of increase since 2014 is staggering.

Having a disability isn't disgraceful. Having a disability and attending college isn't disgraceful. Having a disability, attending college, and having appropriate accommodations isn't disgraceful either. Also, ignorant people like OP don't get to decide what is or is not a disability.

but it's obviously gaming the system. No possible way could there be a four-fold increase in "disabilities" in just 4 years. I think the prof's posting above probably explains what's going on about right

[Anonymous]

This is no different than the rate of autism skyrockeing and people trying to figure out if autism is in fact really more prevalent now than it used to be or whether people are getting diagnosed for it more.

[Anonymous]

Considering that the benchmark rate of disabilities disgnosed in DC is supposed to be around 8.5%, 25% seems way too high!

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a2af8a0f14aa1cbbcf14079/t/5a733acf652dea8a7edb13f5/1517501136295/Corrected+Memorandum+Opinion+%26++Findings+of+Fact+and+Conclusions+of+Law%2C+dated+June+21%2C+2016.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Considering that the benchmark rate of disabilities disgnosed in DC is supposed to be around 8.5%, 25% seems way too high!

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a2af8a0f14aa1cbbcf14079/t/5a733acf652dea8a7edb13f5/1517501136295/Corrected+Memorandum+Opinion+%26++Findings+of+Fact+and+Conclusions+of+Law%2C+dated+June+21%2C+2016.pdf

anything to get an edge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-bend-the-rules-for-more-students-give-them-extra-help-1527154200

“At Pomona, 22% of students were considered disabled this year, up from 5% in 2014. Other elite schools have also seen a startling jump in disabilities, according to data from the federal government and from the schools. At Hampshire, Amherst and Smith colleges in Massachusetts and Yeshiva University in New York, one in five students are classified as disabled. At Oberlin College in Ohio, it is one in four. At Marlboro College in Vermont, it is one in three.”

I’m sorry, but this is disgraceful. It’s one thing if you are legally blind, but anxiety or ADHD should not be grounds for giving someone twice the time to take an exam. It’s unfair to the more humble students who are less inclined to take advantage of what should be reserved for people are are truly in-need.

The amount of ignorance in PP's comment is really what is disgraceful.

? How so? The rate of increase since 2014 is staggering.

Having a disability isn't disgraceful. Having a disability and attending college isn't disgraceful. Having a disability, attending college, and having appropriate accommodations isn't disgraceful either. Also, ignorant people like OP don't get to decide what is or is not a disability.

But there is abuse of the label, don't you agree? I don't think anyone would not want to accommodate a person with a disability, but buying a diagnosis to catch a break -- which the stats seem to show, is terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-bend-the-rules-for-more-students-give-them-extra-help-1527154200

“At Pomona, 22% of students were considered disabled this year, up from 5% in 2014. Other elite schools have also seen a startling jump in disabilities, according to data from the federal government and from the schools. At Hampshire, Amherst and Smith colleges in Massachusetts and Yeshiva University in New York, one in five students are classified as disabled. At Oberlin College in Ohio, it is one in four. At Marlboro College in Vermont, it is one in three.”

I’m sorry, but this is disgraceful. It’s one thing if you are legally blind, but anxiety or ADHD should not be grounds for giving someone twice the time to take an exam. It’s unfair to the more humble students who are less inclined to take advantage of what should be reserved for people are are truly in-need.

The amount of ignorance in PP's comment is really what is disgraceful.

? How so? The rate of increase since 2014 is staggering.

Having a disability isn't disgraceful. Having a disability and attending college isn't disgraceful. Having a disability, attending college, and having appropriate accommodations isn't disgraceful either. Also, ignorant people like OP don't get to decide what is or is not a disability.

but it's obviously gaming the system. No possible way could there be a four-fold increase in "disabilities" in just 4 years. I think the prof's posting above probably explains what's going on about right

Yes there can if people with disabilities were unlikely to be labeled as such until recently. I know plenty of people with ADHD or ASD who've graduated college without having been diagnosed. It's incredibly common in my generation to only learn of your diagnosis after the diagnosis of your child. I also know people who have very successful careers who were unable to complete college because of their disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering that the benchmark rate of disabilities disgnosed in DC is supposed to be around 8.5%, 25% seems way too high!

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a2af8a0f14aa1cbbcf14079/t/5a733acf652dea8a7edb13f5/1517501136295/Corrected+Memorandum+Opinion+%26++Findings+of+Fact+and+Conclusions+of+Law%2C+dated+June+21%2C+2016.pdf

anything to get an edge.

It's weird. I actually have a child who currently gets accommodations in elementary school and I really hope he doesn't need them in college! Barring a physical disability, I don't see why it's appropriate or helpful to give additional time on tests. The pace at which you absorb and process information is a valid measure of performance. It would seem more enlightened to create a more diverse type of evaluation, like mixing timed tests with take-home exams, which would give all different kinds of learners the opportunity to shine. And I always laugh when I see law students wanting accommodations on the LSAT and finals ... like, dude, what do you think PRACTICING LAW will be like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-bend-the-rules-for-more-students-give-them-extra-help-1527154200

“At Pomona, 22% of students were considered disabled this year, up from 5% in 2014. Other elite schools have also seen a startling jump in disabilities, according to data from the federal government and from the schools. At Hampshire, Amherst and Smith colleges in Massachusetts and Yeshiva University in New York, one in five students are classified as disabled. At Oberlin College in Ohio, it is one in four. At Marlboro College in Vermont, it is one in three.”

I’m sorry, but this is disgraceful. It’s one thing if you are legally blind, but anxiety or ADHD should not be grounds for giving someone twice the time to take an exam. It’s unfair to the more humble students who are less inclined to take advantage of what should be reserved for people are are truly in-need.

The amount of ignorance in PP's comment is really what is disgraceful.

? How so? The rate of increase since 2014 is staggering.

Having a disability isn't disgraceful. Having a disability and attending college isn't disgraceful. Having a disability, attending college, and having appropriate accommodations isn't disgraceful either. Also, ignorant people like OP don't get to decide what is or is not a disability.

but it's obviously gaming the system. No possible way could there be a four-fold increase in "disabilities" in just 4 years. I think the prof's posting above probably explains what's going on about right

Yes there can if people with disabilities were unlikely to be labeled as such until recently. I know plenty of people with ADHD or ASD who've graduated college without having been diagnosed. It's incredibly common in my generation to only learn of your diagnosis after the diagnosis of your child. I also know people who have very successful careers who were unable to complete college because of their disabilities.

Sure. But that's not 25% of the entire college class! Come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering that the benchmark rate of disabilities disgnosed in DC is supposed to be around 8.5%, 25% seems way too high!

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a2af8a0f14aa1cbbcf14079/t/5a733acf652dea8a7edb13f5/1517501136295/Corrected+Memorandum+Opinion+%26++Findings+of+Fact+and+Conclusions+of+Law%2C+dated+June+21%2C+2016.pdf

anything to get an edge.

It's weird. I actually have a child who currently gets accommodations in elementary school and I really hope he doesn't need them in college! Barring a physical disability, I don't see why it's appropriate or helpful to give additional time on tests. The pace at which you absorb and process information is a valid measure of performance. It would seem more enlightened to create a more diverse type of evaluation, like mixing timed tests with take-home exams, which would give all different kinds of learners the opportunity to shine. And I always laugh when I see law students wanting accommodations on the LSAT and finals ... like, dude, what do you think PRACTICING LAW will be like?

Pretty lucrative if they charge by the hour