This year in recognition of National Disability Awareness Month, we invited members of the Rutgers community to reflect on one thing they want people to know about their experience as a person with a disability, or as a caretaker for someone with a disability, and how they want to be seen by the world. Here is what they had to say.
Read the full article on Rutgers Today
Julia Sass Rubin
Associate Dean of Academic Programs
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Rutgers-New Brunswick
My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD a year ago, as she was beginning her senior year at Rutgers. She had always been a very strong student but had struggled with turning work in on time. Once a deadline passed, it became particularly difficult for her to complete the assignment. After the diagnosis, we understood that these behaviors were a function of her neurodiversity.
Although the symptoms of ADHD vary, there are many common ones that can make it more challenging to meet deadlines. For example, difficulties with starting tasks and with task organization and prioritization; feeling overwhelmed by large tasks; and a tendency toward procrastination. Another frequent feature of ADHD is time blindness — an inability to sense how much time has passed and estimate the time needed to get something done.
I had been a professor for 20 years by the time my daughter was diagnosed, but seeing higher education through her eyes has been a revelation. Things that academics routinely do assumed entirely new meanings as I began to understand how they create disproportionate challenges for neurodivergent students.
For example, many faculty members penalize work that is turned in late, either severely reducing the maximum points that can be earned or refusing to accept it at all. Rutgers students who can verify their diagnosis may request up to two additional days on assignments by submitting letters of accommodation through ODS. However, faculty have some discretion in granting such extensions and neurodivergent students who struggle with deadlines may find a two-day extension inadequate. Many neurodivergent students are also not diagnosed until after they graduate from Rutgers, so cannot take advantage of the accommodations.
I doubt that penalties for turning work in late enhance student learning or encourage greater engagement. Most likely, we as faculty adopt them because that is what we learned from prior generations of faculty or because it is more convenient for us. My daughter’s experiences at Rutgers have made me more sensitive to the negative impact of such taken-for-granted practices on neurodivergent students, an awareness that I plan to share with other faculty members.