# Professor Asks a Stuttering Student \[ed.\] to Pose Qs Before or After Class **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 12, 2011, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392 "2011-10-12T04:59:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/141 "2011-10-15T03:33:41Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He’s 16, and I’ve acknowledged that his lack of familiarity with college courses probably exacerbated all of this. > I don’t think it’s a reasonable accommodation to _require_ someone who can speak to use a translator and refrain from talking. If it takes 3 minutes to utter a single question and he provides 5 question/answer combinations that’s 25% of the entire class time. So no, it’s not unreasonable to require accommodations so that others can learn. Again, he was given the opportunity to deal with he and he chose NOT. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/142 "2011-10-15T03:48:23Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > If it takes 3 minutes to utter a single question and he provides 5 question/answer combinations that’s 25% of the entire class time. Made up numbers are not evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/143 "2011-10-15T04:04:50Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Made up numbers are not evidence. neither is anything you’ve said. It’s all opinion except for the part where the kid declined a meeting with the Dean. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/144 "2011-10-15T04:12:23Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > neither is anything you’ve said. I’m upfront about the fact that I’m offering my opinion. Made up numbers about how slowly the kid speaks and how many questions he asks don’t add much- they certainly can’t be used to show he was causing a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/145 "2011-10-15T04:15:02Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m upfront about the fact that I’m offering my opinion. Made up numbers about how slowly the kid speaks and how many questions he asks don’t add much- they certainly can’t be used to show he was causing a problem. No but the fact that he declined to deal with it demonstrates he wasn’t willing to deal with it. Seems like Special Snowflake Syndrome to me. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/146 "2011-10-15T04:21:45Z")
> [@Vihaga](#): > > I want to know how, exactly, that the kid having to write down his questions or ask them during office hours prevents him from getting the education promised by the class. Because it’s quite clear how his wasting class time prevents the other students from getting it. > > Why is it fine for him and not for them? Perhaps your undergrad education should’ve been done online. That way you could’ve written down everything and sent it to your adjunct instructor/PhD student teacher and not have to talk (or hear) anyone! > [@Magiver](#): > > wait, you had a college professor tell his students they had “question tickets” to spend in class or it was a teaching technique taught in college for use in teaching young children? Both. I’ve had professors tell us in the beginning of class (like when it’s time for the syllabus and that snoozefest first day business) to think of yourself with a two-question/comment limit per class and not to overuse it. It’s also used as a teaching tool in secondary grades, but we ask the students to be more visual about it, I guess. I actually have a clipart of tickets when I talk about this rule in regular ed. classes. > [@billfish678](#): > > I took math and science classes and we generally didnt have deal with such sillyness as is the story here. You learned your shit and you took your tests. And you cried after you got them back. And no one made you do a book report on [How to Win Friends and Influence People](http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671723650)? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/147 "2011-10-15T04:25:41Z")
Professor’s response. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44906613/ns/health-health\_care/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44906613/ns/health-health_care/) It seems like miscommunication on both sides. The professor was in a tough spot. They have to get their lectures completed. A lot of my college classes were lecture only and maybe 5 minutes of questions at the end. Some classes invited a discourse between teacher and students as the material was discussed. But that only works if none of the students try to hog the discussion. Either by being too opinionated or like in this case a disability. I had a rather miserable class one time with a student that had some mental issues. Neither the teacher or the class ever knew what he’d say or when. We had to put up with him because of the Disabilities Act. That’s what should have happened with the stutterer too. First, try to restrict how many questions all students can answer to one and only one question can be asked by each student. That way the rules are the same for every student and it also keeps the stutterer from eating up most of the class time. Does this guy also have some mental acuity issues? Why would anyone hold up his hand for the entire freaking class? That’s something a first grader would do. If the teacher ignores you for a minute or so then common sense tells us to put our hand down. Holding it up the entire class is beyond rude. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/148 "2011-10-15T04:29:03Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > neither is anything you’ve said. It’s all opinion except for the part where the kid declined a meeting with the Dean. (Emphasis mine) > [@](#): > > Philip contends Ms. Snyder did, in fact, call on other students that day.\*\* She disputed his account,\*\* and his assertion that after that class, she told him, “Your speaking is disruptive.” He said/she said. > [@](#): > > Both say that they had agreed that he would send her an e-mail listing his concerns, but he never did, and that she tried to arrange meetings with him and a college dean, but Philip backed out of them. I don’t know if they both agree that Philip backed out of both meetings or that they both agree that he was supposed to email her. He’s already been told to be quiet during class, so yeah, that email/meet with my boss thing probably made him feel worse. The other article said he was switched classes when he contacted the dean. I can see why a 16 year old boy would feel anxiety and hurt over his first college experience where a professor tells him to shut the fuck up. > [@](#): > > Ms. Snyder\*\* said\*\* she also consulted a speech therapist about the situation. We know what she’s saying she said, but one thing they can agree on is that she did tell him to shut up. > [@](#): > > After a few classes, she sent him an e-mail asking that he pose questions after class, “so we do not infringe on other students’ time,” and that he write answers to her questions rather than try to reply out loud. > > She did so, she said, partly to put him at ease, and also because he would have taken up too much class time if she had let him.\*\* “He seemed to want to answer every question,” she said, adding, “you’d have to take into consideration the amount of time he takes to get the answer out.”\*\* Considering the amount of time a non-stutterer would take, I wonder if she’s ever told other students to pose their questions in emails? Or is it just this kid? It’s not like he’s the first over-excited college kid who wants to participate in class. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/149 "2011-10-15T04:30:38Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Professor’s response. > [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44906613/ns/health-health\_care/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44906613/ns/health-health_care/) > > It seems like miscommunication on both sides. The professor was in a tough spot. They have to get their lectures completed. A lot of my college classes were lecture only and maybe 5 minutes of questions at the end. Perhaps this instructor (not a prof) needs to learn that lecturing for 90 minutes isn’t the most effective teaching method. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/150 "2011-10-15T05:01:03Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Professor’s response. > [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44906613/ns/health-health\_care/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44906613/ns/health-health_care/) Goddamn, it’s like I’m fucking invisible around here. Maybe I should contact the NYTimes. > [@CitizenPained](#): > > Perhaps this instructor (not a prof) needs to learn that lecturing for 90 minutes isn’t the most effective teaching method. 😃 Perhaps the professor, like me and many other professors, uses lecture as well as other teaching methodologies, and this particular class was one of the lecture ones. Or perhaps she’s a cyborg from the planet Neptune. That makes about as much sense as the assumptions everybody’s made regarding this situation (on both sides). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/151 "2011-10-15T05:06:46Z")
Another technique I’ve seen used was answering questions after the bell rings. It’s amazing how few students want to stick around after the bell. 😃 Most nearly knock it off the hinges rushing out. The few that stuck around got quality one on one time with the teacher. She was one of my all time favorites. She didn’t mind staying 15 or even 20 minutes past the bell if students had good questions. Sometimes what we discussed was brought up again the next day for the entire class to hear. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/152 "2011-10-15T05:39:25Z")
**Kolga** , I was responding to the idea that **aceplace57** had most of his/her college courses as lecture-only. 🙂 And fyi, I got my link from you. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/153 "2011-10-15T08:58:21Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > This is an adjunct professor teaching a bunch of freshman and I’m sure she has a head a bit too big for her shoulders. > [@CitizenPained](#): > > Perhaps this instructor (not a prof) needs to learn that lecturing for 90 minutes isn’t the most effective teaching method. 😃 Why is it important to point out that she’s an adjunct and not a ‘real’ prof? Is there some reason why you think an adjunct who teaches freshmen necessarily has a swollen ego? It’s her class to teach as she wishes, and she apparently has many years of experience in teaching with positive student reviews. I’ve had many profs who have used lectures and presentations as well as more interactive styles of teaching and I don’t see a major problem with that. I’ve also been taught by adjunct professors and PhD students and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The issue at hand is how she dealt with one specific student and his question asking. I suspect that she could have handled the situation better overall, but then I suspect that the kid could have handled things much better and a more co-operative solution could have been reached. But regardless of how badly you think she handled this particular problem I don’t see why it’s necessary or helpful to denigrate her entire teaching style and make it seem like she doesn’t know what she’s doing. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/154 "2011-10-15T14:19:11Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > And heaven forbid anyone ever challenge the inveterate and unassailable authority of an adjunct professor at a junior college in New Jersey. It’s a baby step away from pure society-destroying anarchy. :rolleyes: I’m not sure what your point is here. I claim that this individual’s decision to publicly challenge the teacher’s authority is one piece of evidence which suggests that he is an attention-whore with a chip on his shoulder. Do you disagree with me? If not, then why not just spell out your point in non-sarcastic terms. ---
**Author:** ![Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/155 "2011-10-15T15:34:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Which of these students are told they can’t speak in class? Again, these are disparate situations. In these examples, you have students getting additional assistance. In the other, you have a student being told he can’t participate. Maybe he would have taken advantage of that if it had been offered in a more considerate way, but forbidding him from talking in class is not the same as offering someone else extra time. Having somebody read off your question for you or using some electronic means to have the answer reported to class is not denying participation. It is denying participation via your own voice, but that is this kid’s problem - his stuttering is coming into conflict with class. Specific to the story - there is a lot of middle ground to be reclaimed in the conflict, and there is probably a set of accommodations that would make 99% of people with a stutter feel respected, but because the issue was not addressed at the right time and the conflict was made a public spectacle I doubt that is possible. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/156 "2011-10-15T15:46:01Z")
> [@Meyer6](#): > > Why is it important to point out that she’s an adjunct and not a ‘real’ prof? Is there some reason why you think an adjunct who teaches freshmen necessarily has a swollen ego? Seriously. That attitude is coming out of left field for me. There’s nothing in the original article or the follow-up one that indicates any ego, and an adjunct faculty member is still a professor, just one with different duties than a tenure-track or full-time faculty member. On the one hand, we have a young student who self-confesses that he kept his hand up for an entire hour (obviously to make a public point), who admits that he had several opportunities to meet with both the Dean and the professor to work the situation out but he refused to keep those appointments, and who admits that he was supposed to email the professor with his concerns but did not do so. Instead of working out the situation through the on-campus channels, he chose to notify the New York Times. On the other hand, we have a professor who has decades of experience, about whom neither article states anything negative in her previous teaching career, who probably did not handle this particular situation well (personally, in the 15 years I’ve been teaching college I do not recall a SINGLE student who stuttered in class, so this particular disability wouldn’t be one I would be familiar with, and I wonder if the professor here was the same), and who’s been called a bigot with a swollen head and ego for…being an adjunct professor and making a mistake. Even though she offered him an accommodation that probably would be considered a reasonable one under ADA, and even though she arranged several meetings between herself, the Dean, and the student, meetings which the student admits he failed to attend. This is an unfortunate, but small, incident that has been blown all out of proportion not by the professor, or the Dean, but by the student. The truth of the situation is probably somewhere in between the two stories being reported, but it’s been interesting to watch the hyena-like pile-on of the professor. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/157 "2011-10-15T15:58:54Z")
Sorry. I’ve always seen the distinction between professor and instructor. Maybe that depends on the university? I still stand by my statement that lecturing for every class isn’t the most effective teaching method. Either way, her personal skills with the kid failed. I mean, sure, he’s sixteen and could use a little affective ed. teaching, but she’s the adult. With all the experience. She should’ve known better. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/158 "2011-10-15T16:59:52Z")
> [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](#): > > Having somebody read off your question for you or using some electronic means to have the answer reported to class is not denying participation. It is denying participation via your own voice, but that is this kid’s problem - his stuttering is coming into conflict with class. I’m not convinced his stuttering is conflicting with anything. Even if it were, ‘you can’t speak in class anymore’ would be a callous way of handling it. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/159 "2011-10-15T17:07:43Z")
I’m appalled by the fact that this is a former schoolteacher. She should know better. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392/160 "2011-10-15T17:49:51Z")
I’ll remember that when you complain about some of your students lying about your behavior and statements in the classroom. Seems like you, and others, are giving the student’s story 100% credence, and her version 0%. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professor-asks-a-stuttering-student-ed-to-pose-qs-before-or-after-class/599392.md?page=9)