People with autism often have dysgraphia where good handwriting takes a significant mental load. It may be genuinely hard for him to take notes and learn from the lecture at the same time. The cramping is because he never bothers to try and use his uncoordinated flippers to do anything other than type. He could get accommodations from the professor or take the time to develop a workaround that he could use for the rest of his life. He could even fix his handwriting with a small amount of practice which might confer other unexpected cognitive benefits related to his busted basal ganglia.
But instead he decided to paint a big target on his head and learn nothing. If people were lined up around the block waiting to kiss his ass with puckered lips he'd pick fights with them over the color of their lipstick.
One thing that was truly bizarre about Skylar's time at Carroll was that he was never signed up to receive any sort of accommodations in the first place. Neither he nor his parents informed the administration that he is autistic, until his behavior got him into so much trouble that he faced expulsion.
Just because a student has informed a college of their disability, and potential need for accommodations, doesn't mean they will actually use them. Plenty of autistic and ADHD kids get through college just fine without asking for extra time on tests, or computer-based instead of hand-written ones, or any other accommodations. And plenty of autistic kids get through college without needing an "asshole pass" for their shitty attitude and belligerent behavior, because they've been socialized well enough by their families and previous schooling, and don't act like Skylar.
Eligibility for accommodation also doesn't mean that all faculty and staff who will have contact with a given student will be informed in advance of the student's disability. A student has a right to privacy, and their disability status is confidential medical information, so there isn't going to be a big, red
DANGER: AUTIST next to their name on every document, and in every communication.
The student signs up for accommodations with the college administration, so they are on file with the institution as being eligible for such. But the student
still has to approach each professor in each class they need accommodations for, and tell them what accommodations they need, because each class is different and only the student is able to determine what accommodations they will need in each one. The professor checks with the college to make sure the student is eligible, and makes arrangements accordingly. Or, if it's an easy accommodation to make, and not prone to abuse, and the student asks nicely, they'll sometimes just do it without even checking eligibility.
But Skylar and his parents never signed him up for eligibility for accommodations with Carroll, despite allegedly having a medical diagnosis for his autism. Which just begs the question, "Why?!" Seriously. What the fuck?
So one thing his mother said really jumped out at me this time: she complained that Carroll claims that their faculty and staff have all undergone training in making proper accommodations for disabled students, including those with autism--and yet they failed to recognize that Skylar was autistic, and make appropriate accommodations for his shitty behavior. To grant him an "asshole pass," as it were. She was indignant that nobody recognized that he was autistic, because, in her mind, all they had to do was look at him, and his shitty behavior, to know.
What Skylar's mother was too fucking stupid to understand is that training faculty and staff to better accommodate students with disabilities does not qualify them to
diagnose those disabilities. They still have to be told that an autistic kid is autistic, because they are not doctors, and not qualified to determine that themselves.
Sure, a given prof (especially in STEM classes) might have recognized that Skylar's behavior and social ineptitude was a lot like that of autistic kids they'd encountered before, and even come to the private conclusion that Skylar was a probable autist. But if no accommodations were requested, and Skylar himself didn't inform the prof that he was autistic? Then the prof was under no obligation to decide, "Oh,
of course he's autistic!", give him an asshole pass, and accommodate his odious behavior. There are, after all, a lot of young men who act very much as Skylar did, in college classes--dominating class discussions, shouting down opposition, beating everyone over the head with how smart they think they are--
and they're not autistic. Should a prof be able to make a half-educated guess that they are autistic, and go ahead and accommodate them (at the expense of other students), despite the fact they aren't registered with the college as disabled and eligible for accommodation? Fuck, no.
My guess as to why Skylar was never signed up to be eligible for disability accommodations is that it was pure arrogance on the part of himself and his parents. They were so convinced he was such a genius that he'd never actually need accommodations, so why bother? Really, that's the only explanation that makes sense. And then, in the end, to whip out the, "Oh, but he has a disability! He's autistic, and you should have known just by looking at him!" card? Haha, god these people are so far up their own asses, it's amazing.
