Poor level of suppourt in college

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I didn't read the paper. That said, a scientific paper is one in which the author attempts to explain how something works through scientific experimentation and methodology. An ethics paper is one in which the author is discussing the applied burden of morality in certain choices.

So, take the topic, "neurology and responsibility". If the author discussed a study in which the impact of specific neurology is examined to explain a pattern in behavior, this would be a scientific paper.

If the author claims that because of a certain neurology, people are or are not ethically responsible for certain behaviors, that would be an ethics paper. Ethics papers are inherently a subset of opinion papers.

Judging by the title alone, a dubious extrapolation at best, I would speculate that it was an ethics paper, but the one grading it disagreed with the opinion.

@Jamesy - what types of accommodations were you seeking?

College in general is much less "no student left behind" and a fair bit more "sink or swim", compared to grade-school - which is also much closer to how real-life works, as well.

I do get that, what I was trying to extrapolate was whether one was an essay Vs a lab report

I'd also be curious what kind of support is being talked about. It's unclear to me what kind of support a person with autism can receive in the first place outside of disability benefits and longer time on exams and more tolerant grading - which aren't allowed for anyone at my university either.

TL;DR: College students can access free supports like tutoring, counseling, and disability services. Third-party assistance, for a fee, includes professional tutors, executive function coaches, and neurodiversity advocates. Technology solutions and apps aid in academic tasks, organization, and focus, benefiting students with ADHD and autism. Anki, a powerful tool for rote memory, can enhance learning.

(Prepared using ChatGPT)

Free Supports for College Students:

1. Academic Resources:
- Tutoring services for various subjects.
- Writing centers to assist with essay and paper writing.

2. Counseling Services:
- Mental health support and counseling.
- Workshops on stress management and coping strategies.

3. Disability Services:
- Accommodations for students with disabilities, including ADHD and autism.
- Access to assistive technology and note-taking support.

4. Career Guidance:
- Job placement assistance and career counseling.
- Resume workshops and interview preparation.

5. Library Resources:
- Access to a wide range of academic materials.
- Research assistance and guidance.

Supports Available for Third-Party Assistance (Paid):

1. Professional Tutors:
- Specialized tutors familiar with ADHD and autism.
- One-on-one sessions tailored to individual needs.

2. Executive Function Coaches:
- Professionals aiding in organization and time management.
- Customized strategies for handling academic tasks.

3. Technology Solutions:
- Subscription-based apps like Focus@Will or Forest for concentration.
- Speech-to-text software and organizational apps.

4. Therapeutic Support:
- Private counseling or therapy services.
- Psychiatric consultations for medication management.

5. Neurodiversity Advocates:
- Hiring an advocate to navigate academic and social challenges.
- Support in communicating with professors and administrators.

Technology and Apps:

1. Note-Taking Apps:
- Microsoft OneNote or Evernote for organized note-taking.
- MindMeister or XMind for visual mapping.

2. Time Management Apps:
- Todoist or Trello for task organization.
- RescueTime for tracking and managing screen time.

3. Focus and Productivity Apps:
- Forest or Be Focused for promoting concentration.
- Freedom or Cold Turkey for blocking distracting websites.

4. Rote Memory Support:
- Anki, a powerful tool for spaced repetition and memory enhancement.

5. Communication Tools:
- Speech-to-text tools like Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
- Communication apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams for collaborative projects.

Understanding the available free resources within the college, combined with targeted third-party assistance and technology, can provide comprehensive support for college students, especially those with ADHD and autism.

TL;DR: Supports for college students differ between the UK and the US due to variations in educational systems. Both countries offer disability services, counseling, and academic support, but specific policies and implementation may vary.

(Prepared with ChatGPT)

UK:

1. Disability Support Services:
- UK universities provide accommodations and assistive technology.
- Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) offers financial aid for disabilities.

2. Counseling and Mental Health Services:
- Universities typically offer counseling services.
- Mental health resource accessibility may vary.

3. Academic Support Centers:
- Many universities have centers for tutoring and study skills.

US:

1. Disability Services:
- US universities provide accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- Services include extended testing time and note-taking assistance.

2. Counseling and Mental Health Services:
- US colleges have counseling centers for mental health support.
- Availability and services may differ.

3. Learning Resource Centers:
- Academic support centers in the US offer tutoring and study skills assistance.

While there are similarities, students should check with their institutions for specific details on available supports and services.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

My son was taking a class which was part of the required core curriculum. It was a class on Ethics. The paper was a big part of the final grade. The topic chosen by my son was neurology and ethics as in your example.
The shades of meaning where “cause and effect” relate to things like choices and willpower, accountability and also neurology, language, meaning, and behavior was, I think where the disconnect between teacher and student occurred. The school as a whole focuses more on humanities and liberal arts than it does hard sciences, however my son was (is) in the minority as a biology major there. This, it seems to me, was a good example of the double empathy problem. My son is diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD. His internal experience is very different than the average NT liberal arts professor. Each of them, therefore, had trouble understanding the other. What was taught, or intended to be taught, was somewhat lost in translation on the way to the understanding of the learner. The written and behavioral communication of the student was not fully understood by the professor. Social communication has both collaborative and competitive aspects. “Grading on a curve” has essential assumptions that view education as a zero-sum game, and these are reinforced buy the rules of the “grading on a curve” game guaranteeing that there will be winners and losers: only so many “good grades” to be handed out. Like a foot race or a game of checkers if one wins another must, therefore, loose.

In my experience: some college professors view the classroom as a kind of competition between the teacher and the student. Others do not. Or more correctly there is a spectrum between those two theoretical extremes. If the professor gets into his head that a student is trying or cheat, game the system, or pull one over on the teacher, the teacher will become more aggressive and less empathetic. Being Autistic or having ADHD can result in behaviors that might trigger this in the teacher, even if that was not the intention.

To address this phenomenon, my son has created a “letter of introduction” which clearly states what his various diagnoses are, what that might look like in a class room, and gives specific examples of what other teachers have done that was helpful. One of the things that my wife and I helped him state clearly that he has difficulty with certain types of abstraction. This statement itself required a lot of discussion because the word “abstraction” as a noun requires abstract thinking in order to understand it. The phrase he finally came up with for his letter was “I do better with several short abstract steps than one great abstract leap”. This letter of introduction, and treating office hours as mandatory instead of optional has really helped a lot with misunderstanding leading to aggressive or defensive behavior on the part of the teacher.

It has also resulted in more learning and better grades for my son.

Higher education serves many purposes too many to cover in this thread. But to address this point specifically, many industries recruit graduates who provide services to clients. Particularly those moving into the health industry there is a duty care for course providers to ensure graduates have a minimum standard of competency. The latter is about protecting the general public from sub-standard professionals who might be using google to provide advice to their future clients because they were not assessed properly for competency.

Many postgraduate courses are competitive entry requirements so it is necessary to ensure the students entering these programs (prior to being unleashed on the public) are competent. So in undergraduate education its necessary to test and grade students to reflect they understand learning objectives of the course. Grading competency is the only way one can ensure we protect future clients. It's not about winners or losers.

I can;t speak for colleges or universities overseas, but here in Australian universities we do not encourage an adversarial approach when teaching students. All of the supports you listed (and that was a comprehensive list) are also offered here in Australian higher education institutions to both special needs and NT and/or physically able students.

Your approach with your son seems to be working so that's great. I've been having more transition issues with my daughter who is now applying (for the third time) for government support to have a support staff during class in college. It's not so much for class work (she is competent in that regard) but more for redirection away from the dramas she ends up getting into in the classroom when there is group work ending up in conflict with other students or teachers.

Every college teacher has their own approach, I think rather than two extremes there is a gradient of responses which relate to the effectiveness of being able to accommodate a student with special needs. Disability support is really much more pronounced in 2024 compared to when i was a student in the 1980s. We have come a long way.

An interesting, but triggering thread. Things were a lot worse in the mid 1970s.

Yes I am sure in the 70s things were worse

^ Bad memories. No 2e,gifted but disabled etc, back then. The dilemma of wanting to please my parents while being acutely aware I lacked the independent living skills, not the cognitive ability, to cope with college/university.

Fenn, thank you for your detailed reply! It clarifies a lot.

I think the free/unpaid resources except from disability accommodations and note-taking support are available to all students without having any conditions diagnosed, at least where I study. For example what is available: consultations with the tutors and lecturers, career guidance, mental health support and workshops. Executive function and study skills coaching - I've encountered it at a different university also on request for anyone who needed it - perhaps where I am now it can be available via mental health support. I haven't encountered disability advocates anywhere, but it sounds like a useful support.

Writing a "letter of introduction" is also a good idea in my opinion, as ASD can make communication in large groups challenging (at least this is the case for me) - but it's crucial to get through to the professor and address difficulties that also might arise from ASD as well as other diagnoses. The usual advice is "just go and say it", but it's not as easy when you have trouble not interrupting someone in a large group, but don't want to come across as rude at the same time and when time is up, the professor thinks you're just standing there and don't want anything from him/her, because of autistic nonverbal communication... and quickly leaves. It's also helpful for me to see a specific example of what such a letter might contain, so thank you for clarifying.

Which brings us to the need for far greater institutional accountability.

In a recent essay, Ryan Craig, whom I consider among the shrewdest observers of the higher education landscape, makes a point that bears repeating: that no “regional accreditor requires institutions to document or demonstrate any student outcome to retain accreditation. Not affordability, not learning outcomes, not completion, not employment, and not student satisfaction.”

Source:

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/hi ... -education

(Imagine a college where the teacher was held accountable for doing a bad job teaching.)

This has got to be one of the most ableist BS posts I've seen here. I suppose you would give the same advice to someone who needs a pacemaker? Or a wheelchair or a prosthetic leg? or Eyeglasses? Guess no one should ever become dependent on those accommodations either

Let's put aside graduate outcomes. It's impossible to follow up to get any meaningful data (believe it or not I have tried). So no accreditation body can ask for that. It's a red herring.

In terms of performance KPIs? it's important to look at how higher education providers are accredited to understand why the factors described/identified by Ryan Craig aren't used to maintain accreditation, What accreditation bodies look for when reviewing accreditation status (surprise I have been involved in accreditation audits of higher education providers) are business processes are in place that permit internal performance reviews that maintain the mechanism for monitoring performance of tenured college professors.

This is equivalent to private companies being accountable for pollution, I could write something like Ryan Craig's work about how all companies aren't accountable for the pollution they create. This might come across as "well imagine a company where they were held accountable for polluting the environment). No government has bottomless pockets to audit every single pollutant a Business emits into air, land and water. So what they are audited/checked for are whether they have the infrastructure to monitor emissions for their own self-reporting.

But...if there's a fish kill in a nearby river or radiation poisoning then the government agencies jump into action to follow a forensic trail to the perpetrator. Same thing with universities. If a said professor is so inept their reputation is made public (i.e. rate my professor) then they will be hauled up by their superiors. If they say something innapropriate in class and it goes public then HR get involved.

Sure this isn't ideal. But this is what we have to work with. believe me, I'm not impressed by the incompetency of my daughter's college teachers at the moment but they are not held accountable for factoring her special needs. That falls back on me as a parent (as always).