Student wants to bring her mom to school.
I have an unusual request for accommodations on my desk. A student is requesting that she be allowed to bring her mom to school. She wants her mom to sit with her during all academic classes and wants her mom to help her to work on "appropriate material."
The student is diabetic and believes that she needs her mom to help her manage her symptoms. The student also has a learning disability and believes her mom would be the best person to assist her with note taking and understanding the material. Do you believe this is a "reasonable" accommodation? Why or Why not?
Our school trains students for careers at the post secondary level.
I'm definately looking forward to some feedback!
Let me begin by saying, NO, OF COURSE MOM SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO SIT IN ON HER CHILDS CLASS. This, as most others replied, is inappropriate. There should be no pondering the question or guilty feelings on the educators behalf, merely explaining to mom why this cannot be allowed. Perhaps, instead of reducing her child's educational experience, mom should work on her own disability and have that umbilical cord removed.
Gail,
Could be. It isn't likely that the mother is all that interested in getting the same courses and same learning that the student is choosing, but there IS, certainly, learning through osmosis that would likely take place. She couldn't quote it on her resume, though! GRIN
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I am just wondering if Mom is going to pay the tuition cost. Considering, she is attending the class and receiving the information other students are in some cases creating debts they may be paying for many years later. This appears to be a sneaky way to get a free education.
Justin,
I am not sure I agree with your reasoning, although I agree with your conclusion. I don't see it so much as an issue of success vs access. I see it as an inappropriate accommodation at the college level and wonder if the student is truly "otherwise qualified" if she cannot manage independently.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
This is not a a reasonable accommodation. By allowing her mom to attend class this will fall under the access vs success. The school has people in place to help who will not be incline to complete the work for the student as the mother will
That was my first thought as well. Is she going to need her mom with her at her job when she finishes school? That doesn't seem like a reasonable request.
Robert,
For personal care or personal communication, being assisted by a family member or friend is just fine. But when it comes to academic issues, there are both legal and ethical issues that potentially come into play. For the same reason we do not let the person who tutors a student be the one to administer tests to that student, it is inappropriate to have family/friends too close to academic tasks or participation. They WANT the student to succeed, and drawing the line between the student's work and the student's-work-with-a-lot-of-help is often difficult for them to keep.
As to the legal ramifications (and just for the record), allowing the student to have her mother present is not accommodating the student. It is facilitating her participation. In some cases, that may be fine. But when the institution has a legal obligation to accommodate and they don't (instead, the let the mother provide a service that THEY are supposed to be providing), things can get complicated.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
In all three of the above circumstances, I would have permitted the mother to assist. Im not confident there is a correct answer here, just a best case scenario. In situations like these, I find it easier to help and accommodate rather than saying no- If the mother is a solution, why overcomplicate the situation with an unknown factor?
Robert,
That's a really good question, with an answer that I am guessing may surprise you. If the deaf student requested that her mother be allowed to come to school as her sign language interpreter, my answer would be,"thanks, but no thanks. We will provide a sign language interpreter for you." You DO need to have an interpreter there, but for lots of reasons it would be inappropriate for the mother to fill that role in classes. In conversations with advisers, or with the financial aid office or someplace else it would be different. But in class, the interpreter should be someone chosen by (and paid for by) the school.
And just so you know that nothing is ever easy (!), if you had said the student was quadriplegic and needed her mother to be with her on campus to help her in the bathroom and in the cafeteria, I would have said, "not a problem -- Mom can be here to help you with all those personal things. But when it comes to the classroom (for things like notetaking), we will provide the support you need."
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Let's change the scenario a bit- What if a deaf student requests her mother to be the signer? Does that change the conclusions?
Crystal,
I agree -- it isn't appropriate. But I don't object so much to it being her mother as I do the idea that the student is incapable of even a minimal level of independent functioning.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I do not believe this would be a reasonable accommodation for the student. The student needs to learn to function as an adult with a disability. Its not appropriate for her mom to be with her at school just like it wouldnt be appropriate for her mom to be with her at work.
Michelle,
I don't disagree with your conclusion Michelle, but I might be inclined to say "no" for a slightly different reason. We generally don't look at "would it be appropriate later." We look at "is it appropriate now -- here." The answer is "no", in part, because we expect all students to demonstrate an acceptable level of independent functioning. If the student can't do that, she is not "otherwise qualified."
Dr. Jane Jarrow
This is definitely not a reasonable accomodation. Would the mother be allowed to attend the workplace to assist while she's working?. I think at some point individuals need to realize that some things are just not feasible.
Absolutely not! Having accommodations such as a service dog that senses when the student has hyper/hypoglycemia episodes makes sence.
This student obviously had not had the cord cut; because as a college instructor I have taught both mother and child sometimes in the same class. More often than not they don't want to even sit near each other.
Michelle,
I think you have the right answer, but not necessarily for the right reason. Whether she "should be able to control" her diabetes herself or not is irrelevant and, potentially, problematic as a justification for refusing the accommodation. The Feds don't like it when you get involved in deciding how someone should/shouldn't manage their disability. Likewise, to say "we won't let her do it now because she wouldn't be able to do it later" would not fly with them. What WOULD hold up is simply to say, "this is not an appropriate response to her disability-related need, and not an appropriate accommodation at the college level. In order to be "otherwise qualified" the student must be able to function in college with an appropriate level of independence."
Dr. Jane Jarrow
The answer here is clearly a no. There are other more appropriate accomodations that can be made for her learning disorder. The diabetes is something she should be able to control herself. College is the first step into the real world and a career. She surley couldn't have mom tag along then.
Mary,
The key, as you note, is whether the accommodation is NEEDED for access or simply WANTED to foster success. I tend to agree with your assessment.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
The answer would definitely appear to be no! Allowing such a specific request that goes above and beyond an accommodation that provides equal opportunity, but appears to be intended to insure success would not seem to be appropriate.
