Michael Smith wrote:
>For me, this brings up the question of whether "clinically disturbed"
>individuals should be attending college.
>
>Should the professoriate be required (i.e. forced) to deal with
>disturbed individuals in a classroom setting if the probability of
>behavioral problems is increased? Are they trained to do so?
As a college professor, counselor, and administrator for exactly 40 years and a
licensed psychologist for 36 years, I have seen this "problem" develop over
time. I'm surprised that anyone is surprised by the fact that we have more
students today with psychological disabilities. I'm also surprised that some
people believe that psychological disabilities should be look at any
differently than physical difficulties. This category of people has been well
protected by federal law for at least 30 years (depending on how you read the
ADA laws).
Because more young people are being diagnosed with various disorders, and
because there are medications that help many of these people function
reasonably well under most conditions, those who have been diagnosed and
medicated (if that is deemed useful) are showing up in greater numbers. Sounds
reasonable to me. The interesting thing that I have seen is that many colleges
and universities have been cutting back on providing services for these people
on campus due to budget constraints (Sometimes against my recommendation. One
of the recent lawsuits against a major Washington, DC university is an example
of what can happen to an institution that does not follow the guidelines of the
ADA laws).
99+% of the time there are no problems with these students since most colleges
do ask faculty to make a statement in their syllabi in regard to the right for
reasonable accommodations, and often have disabilities specialists to assess
the student's needs based on documented evidence, and also understands what is
meant by "reasonable accommodations" in a college classroom.
I have had students in my Abnormal and in my Basic Counseling Skills courses
who were diagnosed with Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, various learning
disabilities, and ADHD (among other diagnoses) and have had only one problem
with a student who was medication non-compliant and when she was off meds could
cause disturbances in class - and she did and was told that until she could
come back with assurances that she was following her medication regime, she
would not be allowed to attend classes at that institution.
At my current institution, and in other institutions of which I am aware,
students are informed that we do not do therapy and that we will make every
effort to refer them out - not unreasonable since as a practicing clinician, I
am not able to treat all individuals who have come to me for help and I make
every effort to refer them to another clinician. What some institutions are
doing is forming teams to receive information about a student who may be
causing problems in the classroom and to respond to that situation. Typically
these teams comprise faculty, administration, and campus police and receive
training in how to assess and address these kinds of situations
So, in my experience (no research, just anecdotal experience), this report is
not surprising, and things are probably not going to change.
.
Robert W. Wildblood, PhD
Adjunct Psychology Faculty
Germanna Community College
[email protected]
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