Disabilities
How do you manage the student who uses his/her disabilty as a crutch?
Carla,
and I think this demonstration of our willingness to help them can go miles towards encouraging them to seek our help.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I talk to them heart to heart, and find out more about their history.
I ask them to take a hard look at their motives and ethics.
I tell them I support them, and will do all that I can to assist them in being successful.
Sean,
this is a great story that you could share whith him as it is helpful for these students to consider what they really can do.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
This message of not giving advantages over and above what other students are given is extremely important. It is often the "chosen crutch" of students I have had to lie back and want to stop trying with all of their hearts and minds. They will stop attending each and every class to give their input and also to receive input, just because they are excusing themselves from 100 % effort. They are actually doing a disservice to themselves. No one can predict what one can learn per class if one puts in true attendance and effort. It must never be forgotten that learning is a two-way street. We can lead the horse to water, but we cannot make him drink the learning.
I had a student use this ploy very effectively in one class I taught. Once I told him I had a disability and did not let it stop me from being successful, he stopped using his disability as a crutch to prevent himself from learning and being successful. I told him that employers would expect the same, though they would also try to provide REASONABLE accommodations to the student, once the students let the employer know what help he/she might need to be successful at work.
Sean T. Taeschner, M.Ed.
IADT-Seattle
Noreen,
definitely a difficult situation. I would suggest reminding the student that your job is to help them be successful. This means that you will help them have an equal opportunity to be successful in your class, but you will not give them an advantage over other students.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
