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Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled?

reason.com

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Re: Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled?

#11

Post by bluefirebrand »

cynicalpeace wrote: post #7
bluefirebrand wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is probably not good if nearly half (38% qualifies as nearly half, right?) of students are considered disabled and needing accommodations, right? Surely nearly half of any given public population can't be disabled?

They're quite obviously not. They're lying so they can get unlimited time on the test and/or look at their phone. They're smart kids that see a loophole in the system. They will take advantage!

Right. What I'm saying is that we've probably screwed up by creating a system that incentivizes people to "be disabled" even if they really are stretching the definition of disabled

Re: Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled?

#14

Post by bananalychee »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #5
pavel_lishin wrote: post #3

> the current language of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) allows students to get expansive accommodations with little more than a doctor's note. Isn't that... good? What else would be expected if you have a disability, and need accomodations?

It is probably not good if nearly half (38% qualifies as nearly half, right?) of students are considered disabled and needing accommodations, right? Surely nearly half of any given public population can't be disabled?

Even 5% would be pushing it at a university. It's easy today to get a diagnosis for something like mild ADHD whether one has it or not, and everyone is on some kind of spectrum. Legitimacy aside, classifying mild, manageable conditions as disabilities that require special accommodations and/or medication is counter-productive long-term.

Re: Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled?

#15

Post by rovr138 »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #5
pavel_lishin wrote: post #3

> the current language of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) allows students to get expansive accommodations with little more than a doctor's note. Isn't that... good? What else would be expected if you have a disability, and need accomodations?

It is probably not good if nearly half (38% qualifies as nearly half, right?) of students are considered disabled and needing accommodations, right? Surely nearly half of any given public population can't be disabled?

25% of Americans have a disability, https://www.cdc.gov/disability-and-health/media/pdfs/disabil...

We don't know what's the percentage broken down by age.

If 38% is almost 50%, 25% is almost 38%.

Re: Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled?

#16

Post by invalidOrTaken »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #3

> the current language of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) allows students to get expansive accommodations with little more than a doctor's note. Isn't that... good? What else would be expected if you have a disability, and need accomodations?

once expertise can drive benefits, expertise becomes a target for corruption

weirdly: if you want good scientists, don't listen to them!

Re: Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled?

#17

Post by this_user »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #3

> the current language of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) allows students to get expansive accommodations with little more than a doctor's note. Isn't that... good? What else would be expected if you have a disability, and need accomodations?

Any system that can be gamed will be gamed.

Re: Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled?

#18

Post by bvisness »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #3

> the current language of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) allows students to get expansive accommodations with little more than a doctor's note. Isn't that... good? What else would be expected if you have a disability, and need accomodations?

The Reason article leaves out some helpful context from the original Atlantic article:

> In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association expanded the definition of ADHD. Previously, the threshold for diagnosis had been “clear evidence of clinically significant impairment.” After the release of the DSM‑5, the symptoms needed only to “interfere with, or reduce the quality” of, academic functioning.

So it's dramatically easier to get said doctor's note these days.

Re: Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled?

#19

Post by mrgolderberg »

skywhopper wrote: post #10

This is a really poor article that has no research behind it, and no attempt to investigate anything or talk to anyone with a different view. The only source is the terrible Atlantic article about the topic. There’s plenty to discuss and disagree with these policies but the author’s willingness to make broad judgments about college students’ behaviors and internal states based on poor understanding of ADHD, the ADA,…

[flagged]

Re: Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled?

#20

Post by sallveburrpi »

hollerith wrote: post #6

>the current language of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) allows students to get expansive accommodations with little more than a doctor's note. Stanford can make the student pay any costs of the accommodation if Stanford wants to push back on the student. E.g., if the student requests extra time on tests, Stanford can estimate the total cost of employing the proctor and bill that (amortized of course over t…

So rich people should be able to pay for extra time on tests?

I don’t see how that is pushing back or solving any of the problems the article talks about.

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