If academic accommodations existed when I was in college, I wasn't aware of them. This year, each of my classes averaged 10% students with academic accommodations. Most of the given accommodations were extra time and/or quiet during quizzes and exams.
I happily oblige with any requested, documented accommodations. After all, I'm no learning disability expect, so who am I to decide how students learn (or demonstrate learning) best?
Not all of my colleagues are so..erm... accommodating when it comes to academic accommodations. Some refuse to allow students to take exams separate from the rest of the class, arguing that they have to make a new version of the exam (really???). Others don't understand that night exams can interfere with medications, such as ADD meds (I could go on and on about night exams, but I'll save that for another post).
I recently learned that one of my students who had struggled with finishing exams within time constraints all semester actually had academic accommodations. When I asked her why she failed to bring me the proper documentation (or even mention it, for that matter), she replied, "well, I won't get extra time in the real world, so why should I start now?"
I was quite taken aback by her answer. On one hand, she is right. I mean, will NIH be accepting notes regarding grant deadline accommodations any time soon? Can I shirk office hours by invoking my need for a quiet work environment?
So was my student being mature, and forward-thinking or should she have taken the allowed extra time?
