<p>We don’t know how the instructor framed or introduced the assignment. Calling her “an idiot” is a bit harsh in the absence of this information, just as it is silly to judge any student as stupid, lazy or disabled on the basis on one assignment or indeed one course, for that matter. Patterns over time matter, not isolated instances.</p>
<p>Most students with accommodations in college struggle in several courses, not just one. They have to be, in some ways, more mature and self-aware than many non-diagnosed students because they need to self-identify and proactively work with their instructors. However, they can also be highly successful.</p>
<p>Maybe if they’re working the counter at Taco Bell. Professionals with college degrees read and follow written instructions. If they need accommodations, like software that speaks text, in order to do that, they need to ask for the accommodations. “I’m a visual learner” will not get an employee very far when you are explaining why you didn’t read an email from a boss or client. I’m not aware of professional environments where this is not true, even in heavily visual fields like graphic design. </p>
<p>" The prof could have had some stages, like ‘draft due Friday’ " - In college? Really? </p>
<p>In second grade, I was bright student … but eager and careless (ie jumped into worksheets without listening to the directions). On one report card I got a D in English. My parents and I were shocked at the time. But in retrospect, kudos to Mrs Dennis for teaching me an important life lesson. </p>
<p>The professor is right to give the student an F. If the student didn’t do a satisfactory assignment, then he has earned an F. But if the student has certain disabilities, that F is not going to teach him a lesson. It would teach neurotypical student a lesson, but the kid with executive function problems just won’t learn from it. You can wish that giving the kid an F will teach him, but it won’t. </p>
<p>I bet money that this is not the first time the kid has gotten a bad grade for not following instructions. If the bad grade didn’t teach him the first time, or the second time, or the third time, or the fourth time, why would it teach him the fiftieth time? Been there, done that.</p>
<p>All I can say is, I’m glad I live in an era where we have electronic calendar reminders. Back in the day, some lucky people had secretaries or wives who would keep them on track. Thank goodness that’s no longer the only option for support.</p>
<p>The professor is an idiot; society needs to anticipate (with no evidence mind you- just on someone’s say so) every single non-typical learning issue; colleges need to set up gate keeping so that students know that a first draft/second draft/rewrite schedule will be provided for every single assignment.</p>
<p>You folks live in a dream world. I don’t know a single college professor who would refuse to read and comment on a first draft (and I had a kid who needed that kind of support) but it’s on the KID to ask for accommodations, not on the professor to proactively insert him or herself into every kid’s life. Professors hand out a syllabus on day one (or it’s online before a kid registers for the class) and it’s on the student to either work with the disabilities office to figure out work-arounds, not on the professor to provide four different versions of the course content.</p>
<p>Do you want to drive over a bridge designed by a structural engineer who can’t read and absorb directions? Do you want to fly in a plane piloted by someone who needs complex tasks and deadlines broken into small pieces by an authority figure? Do you want chemotherapy administered by a tech who can’t handle being told (verbally) “please verify that the dosage on the bag matches the order on the computer screen”?</p>
<p>I applaud any kid/families effort to get a diagnosis and to ascertain the best kind of learning environment based on the strengths and deficits. But the idea that this kid (who does not have a diagnosis by the way) should be accommodated based on not reading/understanding directions vs. getting an F- you guys are dreaming.</p>
<p>Hi beaches – whether the professor should have done X, Y or Z, or whether your son should have, doesn’t really help, does it ? It is very difficult to parent children with academic difficulties in college – are you doing too much? too little? are they lazy, or have unknown issues? For every person who tells you to run to his side, someone else will tell you that you’ve let him be too dependant. For every “get him diagnosed” there’s a “tough luck, tough love” approach.</p>
<p>Only you and your son know what will work. You will have to try a few things before you find a solution. It may just be a bump in the road. It may be an undiagnosed ADD case. (Not following details and directions? Very ADD. Enormous crater between intent and execution? Ditto.) You may have more bad news ahead, he may be doing fine. </p>
<p>All of this non-helpful comment is just to say : Yes, this is really hard. Yes, you feel overwhelmed and scared for him. Yes, he is likely embarassed and scared. Stick together, that will get you through. Say to him , a lot, what can we do to help? Love him. He hasn’t committed a crime or any other number of truly bad things. Believe that it can turn out just fine. Because no matter what, it can. Don’t panic yet. If his grades are good enough to stay in school, let that be good enough for now. </p>
<p>I work with my DD, who has dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia, every day. She learns differently, but she’s not stupid and I’d be pretty unhappy with any professor who treated her like she was. If she turned in a paper that required her to cite sources, but didn’t, I’d expect her to get an F. If this student is suspected of having a learning issue the family should follow up on it (research it, request testing, look into accommodations like extra time or whatever is recommended), but not use it as a crutch to allow him to work below his capabilities. Accommodations are to level the playing field, not set the bar lower than it is for the other students. If he’s trying to do well but isn’t, maybe there is a problem that hasn’t been diagnosed yet. Is there a tutoring center on campus that he can go to while the family looks into testing?</p>
Just a little update on my situation here. Never had son tested for ADHD as he repeatedly insisted that he doesn’t have it and that he “can pay attention when I want to…” He finished first semester by failing the math class and with mostly Cs in other classes, which landed him just barely below the threshold to be on academic probation.
Somehow or other the school didn’t notice his GPA (???) and failed to put him on the academic probation list, however, so he didn’t get any of the services that kids on AP get.
We agreed to give it another semester, which we are in now. He is retaking the math class that he failed with a personal tutor (graduate student in engineering who I found) and is doing well so far, much better than last semester. He seems to be doing much better in other classes this semester, almost all Bs…but last semester he didn’t really bomb in a big way until finals, which are coming up in a week or so.
We didn’t require him to get loans, even though he didn’t meet our minimum GPA, because he wouldn’t have been eligible for them with less than a 2.0. We told him we’ll give him some time to do better, but that we expect him to do better.
My oldest kid sounds a lot like yours. Mine has grown up quite a bit, but the academic part has been a slow process , and is still a work in progress. He gets B’s on most tests but doesn’t hand in homework, and reviews that count for grades. As a result he gets C’s and D’s (after dropping a class or two each semester). Boys seem to take a lot longer to grow up.