zlacker

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?

>>bluefi+(OP)
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!

>>cynica+w
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

>>bluefi+(OP)
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.

>>bluefi+(OP)
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%.

>>banana+w1
Who are you to say what should be included or not, that something can be gauged as mild or not, and that there should be a treshold?

>>bluefi+(OP)
Most everyone has some disability or other. Just because you may work around it or not think of it that way, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

>>cynica+w
You clearly know nothing about how these accommodations are handled.

>>bluefi+91
I hope you realize that the students don’t think of themselves as “disabled” in the disparaging way you mean it. I have ADHD and I’m color blind. Both conditions make me “disabled” in some sense, and yet I went to college and have managed to have a job my whole adult life. Being “disabled” doesn’t mean “useless” or “incapable of doing anything” as you seem to imply.

>>rovr13+A1
My dad at 50 got a disabled parking placard. He did have knee surgery, but he really didn't struggle with it about 4 months after his surgery. I asked him why he still had it - I got the impression that at this point he wanted his priority parking spot anyway. Didn't like driving around with him much after that.

>>rovr13+A1
That's over the entire population, which includes the elderly. For the 18-34yo block, it's 8.3%, and you'd probably expect it even lower for ... well, the population that, to put it bluntly, succeeded in life enough to get into Stanford.

https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2024/comm/disa...

Edit: And to clarify, just to be fair, I can accept there are many things that would qualify as "a disability that the education system should care about" but which don't rise to the level of the hard binary classification of "disabled" that would show up in government stats. I'm just saying that the overall 25% figure isn't quite applicable here.

>>cynica+w
> They're smart kids that see a loophole in the system. They will take advantage!

This is just not an acceptable cultural viewpoint. Abusing a permissive system must be discouraged.

>>SilasX+x3
I would love to have experts look at the data of this self reported community survey vs the CDC's data.

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To the edit, I can agree.

We are talking ultimately what ADA classifies as a dissability. Which is different from what might be needed for driving (as an example).

ADA has requirements. Doctors have their definitions. They're being met.

If a doctor abuses it, then we should be going for the doctors. As was said in another comment, while they are human and susceptible, they also are the ones with the license.

>>acedTr+U3
> Abusing a permissive system must be discouraged.

Fine. Where are the doctors? Why is the debate on the students?

>>acedTr+U3
That's how most of the people in the world are, including the dearest friends and family. Most people's only motivation in life is to find a loophole to abuse. They will even convince themselves they are something they're not to achieve it.

God have mercy on us.

>>skywho+H2
Can you clarify? I heard about the test time thing from students. That corroborates the parent comment.

>>rovr13+b8
Both are culpable.

>>almost+d3
I wouldn't hold that against him that much--the overabundance of handicapped parking spots is reason enough to game that one. It's ridiculous. My wife could have qualified for a placard because of her cancer and she was in a wheelchair for awhile, but we didn't bother getting one.

>>rovr13+52
I have firsthand experience being diagnosed and prescribed medication for ADHD within about half an hour of self-reporting mild symptoms with a physician remotely, for one, so perhaps I'm more of an authority on this subject than most commenters here. I suppose it would be equally trivial to seek an ASD diagnosis, since Asperger's is now lumped in with autism and classified as a disability despite not being one.

>>banana+7J
> have firsthand experience being diagnosed and prescribed medication for ADHD within about half an hour of self-reporting mild symptoms with a physician remotely,

And that makes you competent to determine the value of the disability claims of others and the appropriate accommodations such folks should receive?

Really?

Then again, you are the eminent galaxy-wide expert on such things, aren't you bananalychee.

Will you honor my request to impregnate my wife and daughters so they can carry offspring that's so much more valuable than anyone else on the planet? Pretty please!

>>banana+7J
> I have firsthand experience being diagnosed and prescribed medication for ADHD within about half an hour of self-reporting mild symptoms with a physician remotely

Can confirm; I was your physician.

(Anyone can say anything online!)

>>lostms+ba
Should we not bring up to doctors our issues or worries?

>>banana+7J
I had a rather difficult time despite obviously having it (ie was late to the intake appointment). In particular it involved a questionnaire about current and childhood symptoms, and both myself and my parents had to answer it.

> I suppose it would be equally trivial to seek an ASD diagnosis, since Asperger's is now lumped in with autism and classified as a disability despite not being one.

I'm not sure about this one, but there is no treatment for ASD and so no particular reason to have a diagnosis, so there is probably less interest in giving you one.

>>acedTr+U3
Agreed. You have to really narrow the definition of "disabled"

Of course, anyone who fears falling outside the definition would fight that vehemently

>>novemp+2W
That's awfully convenient isn't it. The 38% of Stanford students claiming to be disabled must have a good reason for it while those of us who understand how easy it is to be diagnosed with a so-called "disability" must be lying. Do you honestly believe that roughly half of the people you meet need special accommodations to study and work?

>>skywho+93
I don't think you understand my position and you're certainly reading tone I didn't intend into my words

I am nearsighted, I am ADHD, I am hearing impaired in one ear, I am celiac. All of these are lifetime conditions that are not going anywhere

If glasses didn't exist, I would certainly be disabled. But let's be real, no one considers glasses a disability, even though glasses are just as important to a vision impaired person as a wheelchair is to a walking impaired person

>>rovr13+JX
This question lacks nuance. Where do you draw the line? I'd draw one at suicide thoughts that you can't stop on your own and before seriously considering using any kind of psychoactive drugs for self-medication. Anything else IMO needs about as much medical intervention as a low fever case of common cold.

Oh, and once these two lines are back at comfortable distance you stop.

>>banana+vd1
Yes, because half the people I know do need special accommodations. Maybe if you didn't go out of your way to avoid disabled people you'd notice us when we exist.

>>skywho+q2
My point is that a disability you can simply "work around" isn't really much of a disability, is it?

>>rovr13+A1
CDC also says 74% of Americans are overweight. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm

I guess it’s not as bad as women rating 80% of men as unattractive.

Some people just don’t believe in normal distributions or binary search. I don’t believe disabilities, obesity, or attractiveness follow a power law.