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

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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My daughter has an eye tracking disorder and 17th percentile processing speed with a 56% IQ. Extra time and other support means she can earn decent grades instead of being deemed a failure. She wants to go to Nursing school so she won’t compete with your kid for those top college spots so why do you care so much about her accommodations? Or [b]would OP rather she fail out of school and end up on welfare because allowing her that extra time  on the ACT is unfair to her kid?[/b][/quote]

The Op's post was about the rampant growth in student disabilities in just the last few years.  [b]Astonishing four-fold increase at some schools. [/b] I'm sure some percentage of these, like your daughter, are totally legitimate.  Still one has to [b]wonder why the sudden explosion of students with mental disabilities[/b].[/quote]

Diagnosis is better.  Accommodations is more mainstream so more colleges are providing them.  And because of this, more people are seeking them.  Years ago, someone who was high functioning autistic would have been just labeled "quirky."  And yes, at some schools the rate has gone up significantly but that's because these students are seeking out colleges that have a reputation for being more receptive to kids with disability.  Not to game the system but it's all part of finding the right "fit" in the college search.  There are certain schools that you avoid for your child because you've heard terrible things about their disability office.  Wrong "fit."  And then I imagine certain colleges have a higher percentage of students with disability because the college is known to be more receptive to these students.

I think we all benefit as members of the society if everyone does well.  Most students with disability can do well in college, jobs and life.  As pp said, it doesn't make sense to fail these kids out of college or bar them from college because they can't keep up without the accommodations.  It doesn't benefit anyone.  I speak from experience.  I have a brother with learning disability.  But he never got diagnosed because my parents just didn't know back then anything about it.  He failed out of college (one that pretty much accepts anyone that pays) and is now working manual labor jobs, living with my parents, in his 40's and unmarried.  The sad part is that he is truly smart in some ways with amazing memory and visual/spatial skills.  I wonder what life would have been like for him if he had grown up today, with parents who are more on top of these issues, and in a more supportive school environment.  [/quote]

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