OK, I confess, I am getting frustrated. I have a student with developmental difficulties in one of my classes and he's starting to bug me. He's rude to the other students, constantly interrupting them (and me). Recently he was rude to a guest speaker acting like a bored six-year-old in church. (I apologized to the speaker afterward) I'm starting to really dislike this kid and I don't want to dislike students, at least not until the semester is over.
I have contacted the disability office for guidance, but part of me wants to yell, "I don't have to tolerate this from non-disabled students! Why do we have to put up with a 21 year old who acts like a smart-aleck 7 year old just because he's been diagnosed with a disability? " Argh....
FYI, I have had other students with similar issues and, with one exception, they've been good students.
The answer is you don't have to deal with it. Just because he's disabled in some way doesn't mean he can be a rude, arrogant prick. By letting him get away with it, you're hurting the other students and him by not treating him fairly. The whole disability system at the university level is an attempt to level the playing field, not make those students able to get away with anything they want.
ReplyDeleteWe don't say "Oh, Timmy, you have [learning disability]. Don't worry about coming to class or doing any of the work -- I'll give you an A because I feel sorry for you." Instead, we give them accommodations in order for them to be able to accomplish the work at the same level that the other students do (or at least that's how it should work). So why should they get a free pass when it comes to learning how to behave in a classroom?
You're not obligated to tolerate behavior that derails your class, no matter who is behaving badly. Students with disabilities have accomodations plans. Not one that I've ever seen has contained an accomodation for bad classroom behavior. What does his accomodations plan say?
ReplyDeleteConfidentially tell the kid that every outburst costs him ten or twenty points.
ReplyDeleteIf it were me, I would give him his grades on his tests and projects, then flunk him anyway. It beats forcing him to wear a dunce cap, throwing the eraser at his head, or having your violent Mob-tied friends beat the kid to a bloody pulp, accidentially fuck up and kill him, then dump his body in the reservoir.
It may be that he has impulse-control issues and his outbursts--while disruptive and not acceptable in class--are not intended to be explicitly rude. Still, whatever the issue or intent, behavior that disrupts the class ought not be ignored. Contacting disability resources (as you've done) and communicating privately with the student are completely appropriate steps.
ReplyDeleteOk. Let's talk solutions. As a disabled person who has an invisible disability, I hate these kids more than anyone else. Because they are the sort of person who uses their disability as an excuse -- as sort of it's-out-of-my-hands situation, isn't god cruel. Bull shit.
ReplyDeleteBut this it the thing. Doctors, therapists, support groups: They ALL say "Own your disability." Make it into yours. MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU.
When these pricks use their disabilities as an excuse, they ruin it for those of us who use our disability to make us stronger and for those of us who are not "differently-abled."
So what to do?
You need to contact a local disability support group for the best advice. Because they cut through the bull shit in a way that disability administrative services will not. Contact your local autism group or epilepsy group or whatever this person has. Talk it over with them, get the wording down, and then call Bobby in for a chat, where you lay it out on the table. You want him to succeed, but you need him to work with you so that everyone else in the class can succeed as well. You need him to stop XYZ and start ABC.
Hope you have good luck taming this kid. And please don't hold us all accountable for him being a dickshit.
Academic Monkey has a good point...me and my invisible disability really dig the "make it yours, don't let it own you" mantra. Doing that really, really changed my life. (To be fair, getting coked up on effective meds helped. Thanks, Drug Lady!)
ReplyDeleteOKAY, that said, solutions...this kind of reiterates AM, but one more idea...
I am going to hazard a guess about what this student has (ADHD/ODD? or something on the autism spectrum?) I say this only because the behavior you describe matches students I've had with these problems.
It is unfortunate that Dis. Services isn't helping. It's even more unfortunate that you then have to do more work to figure out how to cope, work that no one will recognize or compensate you for. That would piss me the hell off. That said...
When I encounter disruptive students, I give them the benefit of the doubt. I have a private convo, and I say "I have noticed XYZ (specific behaviors). As you know, these are disruptive for you and your classmates. What can we do to minimize these behaviors?" In other words, I act like they don't want to be doing it, but we just need to help them not do it.
I've had several students who responded really well to my tapping on their desks or some other subtle (or not so subtle) signal that they were getting out of hand. I had a crazy LOUD hand/toe tapper who seriously didn't realize he was doing it. My putting my hand in front of him on his desk stopped it. If he was really having a hard time, he was allowed to go out into the hall, and we sat him near the door.
I learned this stuff from my mom, who taught PRIMARY school but had similar problems. (Often her classroom was the place where the kid was first identified as having a problem.)
As others have posted, you don't have to put up with his shit. My money's on the fact that he knows he's using his disability to get away with shit. Period.
ReplyDeleteBecause I teach developmental writing at a CC, I get a LOT of students with disabilities. 90% of them are fine, respectful, try hard, etc. A full 10%, however, really do try to get away with shit.
I take them aside outside of class and explain to them that they are expected to adhere to the same behavioral standards as anyone else in the class. Invariably, they whine about their disability. Invariably, I remind them--politely and calmly--that there are consequences for their behavior.
I put it all on them. I tell them that if disruptive behaviors continue, they'll have to leave the class. I also tell them that they won't be allowed to return until they've gone to Disabilities Services to discuss the issue, so that they understand that they're responsible for their own behavior. (Luckily for me, my CC is totally supportive of this.)
I also remind them that one of the potential consequences for behavioral issues in our classes is that they may fail and/or have something permanently placed into their files. This is true, regardless of whether the student is disabled or not.
You simply don't have to take this shit, Middle-Aged Mark. Not at all.
thank you for all the comments. I appreciate the advice and will post an updated when something happens....
ReplyDelete