College and university students have always struggled with assignment deadlines. That struggle to get the work done on time is nothing new. But increasingly, educators find a tension balancing necessary deadline rigor with the rights of students with learning disabilities to flexible deadline extensions and accommodations. The widely read Chronicle of Higher Education and popula r commentary site Slate outline the challenges and benefits instructors and administrators see with both rigor and flexibility. Naturally, one argues mostly for the benefits of flexibility, while the other argues mostly for the convenience and benefits of rigor. The debate, though, continues to catch disabled students up in failure to progress and other disciplinary proceedings for which they may have and deserve a legal defense.

Why Rigor

First, though, consider the rigor side of the argument. The above articles confirm what every student knows: deadlines spur performance. Some students need deadlines to get any work done. All students need some guidelines for when an assignment is due to determine how to manage their schedule and the quantity of effort to put into producing a quality product. Firm deadlines also teach discipline, accountability, and responsibility. Firm deadlines can also make it easier for the instructor to receive and grade all assignments at once rather than on staggered schedules. Firm deadlines can also appear equitable to students who wonder whether accommodated students really deserve the extra time for submission.

Why Flexibility

Flexible, extended and accommodated deadlines, though, can level the playing field for disabled students for who firm deadlines would otherwise be a disadvantage. Disabled students aren't undisciplined. They aren't lazy. They aren't trying to avoid accountability and gain an undue advantage. They are instead trying to learn while facing physiological, chemical, mental, and emotional anomalies that make learning unduly difficult or impossible under certain conditions, like short and firm deadlines. Requiring some learning-disabled students to perform under substantial time pressure interferes with their proceeding speed and accuracy. They literally and figuratively can't think under those conditions. And that's not equitable or fair.

Flexible Deadlines as a Disability Rights Issue

Flexible deadlines also have a legal cast. The question isn't simply what's better or worse for the instructor or student. In a sense, Congress, with its laws requiring that schools reasonably accommodate their students' disabilities, has already made that decision for the instructor, school, and student. Extending deadlines for learning disabled students, including granting more time to submit papers or take exams, is the disabled student's right when their educational psychologist and other treating or consulting experts call for that accommodation, not the instructor's discretion. If you face issues gaining those accommodations or have suffered academic progress probation or dismissal or another discipline due to a failure or refusal to accommodate, retain premier national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now.