I’ve had a number of people comment to me about the rise in accommodation requests. The tone tends to be that of bemusement, at best: why, and where did they all come from?
So I’m going to come out of the closet, so to speak: 🙋🏻 Hi, I had academic accommodations in grad school!
I received extra time for exams in my last two quarters of coursework – so if an exam was supposed to last for two hours, I was able to take three. I received extra time this late in my coursework because I had what my evaluator called “slow processing speed.” Basically, my brain works exceptionally slowly and gets tired extremely quickly.
Up until that point, I was painfully making my way through school by carefully choosing what classes I took and what I was willing to take on as projects. I couldn’t do anything with in-class writing or exams, anything that involved impromptu public speaking or was weighted by “speaking in class” (because sometimes I *can’t* speak in class – my brain doesn’t process complex material that fast). I always started my papers early, and even then sometimes had trouble hitting the word count. I overdelivered where I could, to make up for what I couldn’t. In essence, I think deeply, but slowly, and conventional classwork (especially on a 10-week quarter system) doesn’t tend to reward that.
There’s this perception out there that accommodations are more helpful than they are. While definitely helpful, extra time doesn’t FIX my core issue: my brain is not wired for what is often asked of it. Performing the good student who speaks in class, asks intelligent questions, and writes quickly and eloquently on a new subject in a few short weeks is more than an extra hour on exams or an extra day or two on a paper. It’s a lifetime of learning to gauge what is wanted from you, and whether and how you can deliver. It’s learning to think ahead and measure your energy, your time, and your resources.
As a coach, I do my best to not just accommodate but work *with* my clients’ natural workflows. Some people think fast, write a lot, and edit later. Some people (like me) need to think and ruminate and talk for *months* before they have anything concrete to say. Some people hate written feedback, while others need it. My coaching packages are set up not to accommodate you as different, but you as the center of the universe: someone with something important to say, and whatever path it takes you to get there.