Can my teacher treat me like this?

Question

I was just released(2 weeks ago)from the ICU and Neuro Rehab after a 3 week stay. I had Axonal Shearing and Multiple Contusions on my brain. I left neuro rehab before i was released so i could finish school, i am a senior. While i was gone my class did a project consisting of 12page letters that you need to type. My teacher wants me to do these letters to make up for the work that i missed for 1 week. I told her that i was not able to type as well as i use to and if i could get a alternative assignment. She told me no that i must do the letters.

I tried to do the letters and i could not due to my brain trauma. I told her this. She told me to turn in whatever i had and that would be my grade, if i fail i fail. I told her that it is not that i just am not doing it but its because of my brain injury that i cannot do it. She still refused to let me do another assignment.

I am wonder if my teacher is allowed to treat me like this. Shouldn't i be provided an alternative assignment?

Answer 1

have your mom or dad have a meeting with the teacher and explain the situation. Remember teachers get all types of excuses when kids don't want to do their homework: the dog ate it, family member died, sick, etc. Because of this some teachers will just not believe children. Your parent would give your excuse support.

Answer 2

oh my goodness! of course you should get an alternative assignment!! What is she thinking! I would talk to the principle about this.

or go to youe doctor and get a note from him excusing you from the assignment.

How did you get those contusions in your brain?

by the way... is that a picture of you? if it is your REALLY cute.

Answer 3

id say go to your school counseler.. thats what i would do.

usually they dont help much but sometimes they do :)

if not go to your principal

Answer 4

This doesn't seem very fair. I would talk to a principal or administrator and tell them your situation. If that doesn't help, maybe a family member or friend could help you with the letters. Good luck!

Answer 5

Ask your doctor or parents to write you a note/call her and tell her the situation, otherwise talk to your counselor, or principle. the project should be excused or you should be given something different if you cannot do it because of a medical problem.

Answer 6

dude you should talk to your consular and tell her whats going on because what happened was not your fault, they should be able to get your teacher to let up on you.

Answer 7

I think you should talk to the superintendent, or someone on the school board. She is not using any judgement. But then she is a teacher and most don't have any common sense.

Answer 8

Punch her in the face an say it is a twitch due to the head trauma. But seriously...no. You should really take it up with school administration or the board. I don't think she should be allowed to treat you like that

Answer 9

absolutely not! go to your principal!

Answer 10

Maybe you would have more luck if you proposed an alternative assignment. If not, I think you or one of your parents should approach the principal and offer to provide a doctor's note explaining the nature of your injury.

Answer 11

She is definitely suppose to give you an alternative assignment...It is the law! You can actually sue the school and district!

Answer 12

No, teachers are supposed to be able to accommodate students who have disabilities.  Your teacher should come up with an alternate assignment that still maintains the purpose of the original assignment, but one that you're able to do.

I would talk to whoever is above your teacher and explain the situation, and possibly, be ready to show any documentation of your condition.

I'm really sorry you're going through this hard time.  I hope you'll be better soon.

Answer 13

Have your parents speak to the Principal about this matter.  If that is not taken care of, then take it to the school board.  There should be alternate assignments that you could do in place of those.  Also, check with your guidance counselor and see how much a bad grade would affect your overall credits.  If you already have enough credits to graduate, which most people do before last semester of Senior year, then i wouldn't worry about it.  As long as you are eligible to graduate with your class and walk in the ceremony i wouldn't worry about it.  

You could also try getting a note from the doctors who treated/are treating you for the injuries and have in writing what your limitations are.  Having a letter would give your case more credibility.  

Basically though, it's her class, her expectations.  A bit b-itchy but some are like that.

Had a friend who was out of school for 6 weeks after having MAJOR open heart surgery, valve replacement, ICU for a week, then home on rest for several more.  One teacher, her Spanish teacher, despite her doing work at home gave her a D in the class for the grading period simply because she wasn't there to complete the oral language exercises.  He was a real jerk but she was able to get the grade up and the Principal talked to the teacher about it.   The fact that she had a doctor's note from the Hospital helped a lot.

Answer 14

It sounds like your teacher didn't receive formal education in 'flexibility'. I'm schoked she doesn't allow you to do something else, but her behavior can be indicitive of one of two things 1. She's lazy and not very innovative, 2. She likes you and doesn't want you to think you're not as capable as the next person due to your accident- in other words, she can be in denial. In any case, I would schedule a time to talk to the school's principal and explain the situation. There is no reason you should be held responsible for an assignment you cannot physically do right now while ur healing from your car accident.

Answer 15

wow, that's a bit harsh!

even if she had no right to treat you like that, i don't think you would do anything about it, would you? would you go tell another teacher or the principal or your parents? you probably should...

Answer 16

As a teacher, I have many students who don't show up for awhile and then expect to come back to school and be able to make up 2-3 weeks worth of work in a few days.  The excuses I hear sometimes are incredible in their creativity and I have to make judgement calls every day.

That being said, did your parents make the school and teachers aware of your truama and hospital stay? Having the parent call/come by the school with your discharge papers adds credible to your absences and also makes the principals aware of your condition. And it makes a big difference with your teachers.

Did you catch her at a bad time? When you wanted to talk to her, was she trying to teach class, handle attendance, surrounded by students?  It's difficult to focus if you're doing 3-4 things at a time or answer several questions. Do you think her response would be different if you tried to talk with her when she's not busy?  It is the end of the year and there is a ton of stuff that your teacher has to finish before you leave school.

If your parents notified the school and you attempted to talk to her one-on-one, you've done all you can do as a student. Yes, you should have an alternative assignment to accomodate your injury. No, do not go to her department head; there's no real power there. With your parent, go to the principal, lay out your case with detailed facts (don't go angry), and propose a resonable alternative assignment. If you can, have your doctor write a summary of your injury and what he/she thinks you're capable of doing.  The principal as a rule will try to side with the teacher; however, if you can present a rational, thought out argument, you can change his mind.  Ask the principal to help you.

If you don't get the alternative assignment that way, then go to a school board member (they're elected and don't want to lose their seat), then to the superintendent.

Hope this helps.

Answer 17

she sounds like a *****. you should take the matter to the principal and ask for an accomodation. your teacher's expectations are too high for you right now, and she obviously can't be reasoned with. you should be allowed more leniency than you're getting. i mean, you're recovering from a brain injury, it doesn't get much more intense.

good luck with your recovery, and i hope this mess gets sorted out.

Answer 18

that's a little rediculous. im a senior this year too. and i got into a bad car accident over february vacation, and i was out for probably a little more than 2 weeks due to a bad spine injury that i had no possible way of moving. i missed a 7 page research paper, 2 major tests, and a project worth 1/4 of our term grade. and even though i was fine enough to do the work, she knew it was impossible for me to finish it all on time by myself, so i just had to do the 2 tests and instead of a project and paper, i had to write a 2 page paper on some bullshit current event.

if you're hospitalized, you should be able to get an easier way to make up work. especially in your case.

go to your principal or guidance counselor and ask them. im not sure how your school operates. but they should be able to help. maybe they can even go to your teacher and talk with you and her and work something out.

your a senior, its rediculous that she's making you do that.

i hope you're ok, and everythign works out well for you.

and congrats class of 2008! =)

Answer 19

I can empathize with you completely. I suffered a serious closed head injury in 2001 and could not have written two coherent sentences for quite a while. It was a very long road to recovery. I suggest that your parent meet with the teacher and bring a letter from your Neurologist briefly explaining your limitations. You have to understand that teachers hear some very creative excuses from lazy students, although your situation is certainly not just an excuse. She also may be operating under the assumption that you need to be pushed beyond the limitations that she thinks you are accepting too readily. You and I both know that that is not the case. She needs to know that you appreciate what she is trying to do, but you are physically unable to complete the assignment at this point. It's not that you won't, it's that you can't.

Answer 20

Lord what a horrible teacher. Tell your parents to go to the principal right away

Answer 21

go to the principal and ask

Answer 22

Maybe I'm wrong (and I hope I'm not),  but I think she should give you an alternate assignment.

Answer 23

i dunno, i guess it's her choice, but there might be some things you can do. i'd try to get a doctor's note or something, like when you get a doctor's note to get you out of gym class, maybe you can get one to change the assignment. or maybe even a note from a parent/guardian so she believes you. also, she might not want to do it bc it would take a bunch of work to make up a whole new assignment, so see if you can just reduce it to like a 5 page thing instead of having her create something entirely different for you. if it really affects your grade, go see a councelor. good luck!

Answer 24

OMGsh this is pritty much wat happened to me the other day! for medical reasons i couldn't complete this big internal nd my teacher was a total looser about it!

I think you should go and see another teacher in the sam department if you can. The Head of Department would be a good start. If not, can you get a medical note or something from your doctor to prove to her that you are literally unable to do what they are asking? either way, your teacher is totally in the wrong. You should definatly stand up 4 your rights. Good luck hun!

Answer 25

Have you parents conference with her first, then with the principal, then with the board. Always go chain of command, therefore no one is overlooked or misunderstood.

I mean there is always a chance one party didn't know the full circumstances of the situation.

Answer 26

Assignments are not just given out to keep you busy, they are supposed to help you learn something specific.  An alternate assignment doesn't make sense unless it teaches you the same thing in a different way.  You didn't really make it clear what it is that the class is - is it a typing class, or is it an assignment that just has to be typed?  If the latter, then is there any way someone can type it for you?  I can understand that she may not be able to read the equivalent long papers in your handwriting, but it seems to me that some sort of accommodations might be appropriate.  You, or preferably your parents, might need to talk to someone in administration at your school.  Individual teachers are often pretty ignorant about accommodations for disabilities, and they may need to have the ADA laws explained to them by someone at the school who is more expert in them.

Answer 27

I think that she should have provided an alternative assignment. How hard hearted is she, doesn't she understand that it's hard for you? She probably thinks your just trying to get out of doing it. You should get your Doctor to write you permission slip or something telling her that your not lying.

Answer 28

WOW

thats soo dumb

looks like you have an a*****e teacher.talk it up with the princlipe and your parents..