The situation, which represents at least three or four emails I receive per school year: A student requests exemptions from collaborative assignments and participation grades. The professor declines. Disability studies office asks me what the right solution is to this conflict. More often than I would like, this occurs in…
Tag: higher education
Posts about colleges and universities.
College and university disability offices often ask me to address the issue of assignment deadlines and test accommodations for autistic students and those with other “invisible” disabilities. Professors and instructors often decline to offer deadline extensions and test accommodations, arguing that such adjustments unfairly benefit students with special needs. If…
The academic job hunt is over, concluding after 61 applications and near-exhaustion. I did not locate a post at a college or university and do not intend to look again next year. My Ph.D defense is May 11. That, and a handful of remaining conference appearances, will mark the end…
I turned my dissertation draft in to my adviser shortly before Christmas. I am now waiting for suggestions, which will then allow me to finish the dissertation in January. If all goes according to plan, I will be done with my doctorate by April. The journey through graduate school will…
This week there is a major national conference on campus, sponsored by the academic department in which I reside (in theory). However, either I missed the announcements or didn’t understand them earlier this academic year. So, while other graduate students and instructors are meeting administrators from across the nation, I…
I often speak on post-secondary education and students with special needs. Every student I have met has “special needs” and quirks. Every human has limitations. Therefore, I have been stunned lately to hear and read advocates suggesting students with autism disorders or similar limitations can “do anything they want.” No…
As the school year begins, I am preparing for a series of presentations and updating more of the AutismWiki in parallel. I believe these resources will be helpful to students, over time. I started rewriting my manuscript, as well. It won’t take a lot of effort to adjust some things…
I walked out of a class tonight, angry and frustrated. There is a great deal I could write about how I feel and what annoyed me, but the essential information is that there is a limit to the stresses I can tolerate. Even though I speak on surviving college, the…