"Accommodation Refusal" Case
Please read the following Case Description and possible Case Responses in this case. Select the button next to the best response. Then, click the "Answer" button to see the results. [Suggestion: Learn more about Determining the Appropriateness of a response before you answer.]Case Description
Frank Davidson, a Humanities professor, visits the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences with regards to a student's grievance regarding accommodations. The student named Isaac has Tourette's Syndrome, an inherited neurological disorder characterized by repeated involuntary movements and uncontrollable vocal sounds called tics. Occasionally, these tics can include inappropriate words and phrases.Professor: What I don't get is…Isaac blurts out answers sometimes during in-class discussions…he gestures and tics and blurts…which distracts the rest of the class and disrupts my lecture. You should try teaching under these circumstances. I mean, can't he get some medication for his disorder? Perhaps, then, he could concentrate and behave more appropriately in class, and he wouldn't need extra time on tests. I'm at the end of my rope…and then, what?...he accuses me of not being sensitive enough to his so-called disability. That I can't believe.
Dean: While I'm sensitive to some of your complaints here, Frank, I don't think that his behavior, as you're describing it, is unmanageable. I think it's important that you find a way to work these problems out with the student. Perhaps some one-on-one discussions would help, in office hours. You could explain some of your reservations about the student's behavior and the two of you could work out some strategies. And then, perhaps, some of the in-class issues will resolve themselves. That said, the committee has met on the student's grievance that you have refused his request for test accommodations, and we have decided in the student's favor. The class disruption you have mentioned is a totally separate issue.
But just because he presents a challenge at times doesn't disqualify him from receiving certain accommodations. I've consulted with our Disability Support Services (DSS) and, for example, he is entitled to a private test setting, and extra time on exams. If you refuse him these accommodations, I've got to tell you that not only would the institution consider it insubordination, an actionable violation of your contract, but you would also be on your own. If the student filed a discrimination lawsuit, the institution would not protect you.
My advice is: meet with the student and try to work things out. But whatever you do, make sure you're offering this student what he is entitled to, under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you have any questions about how to do this, meet with our DSS office. They'll be willing to mediate between you and the student.
If you were the professor in this situation, how would you respond?
