Hayfever and Grade boundaries!

I have been suffering with hayfever my whole life but people who don't have it don't understand how it affects your life, especially exams which are predominantly during the summer. I think that grade boundaries should be lower for hayfever sufferers. What are your views?

No need for bad rep guys it just a debate :smile:

(edited 10 years ago)

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Reply 1

gman10

You don't take your exams in a field?

Reply 2

Smushy

I 'suffer' from hayfever and asthma, and I have to say I disagree. Exams test your abilities and how suited you are to academia. You'll still have hayfever at uni and at work, which means you'll carry that 'disability' with you. What would be the point of a test if it doesn't test/ try to predict how well you'll perform then?

Reply 3

Plainview

I'd say that hayfever effects you (me as well) about as much as some of the conditions that people are given extra time/marks for. But in my opinion such allowances are made too readily anyway so I wouldn't back it.

Reply 4

Phoebe Buffay

Original post by gman10

You don't take your exams in a field?

What an astute observation :colonhash:

OP do you take any medication for hayfever?

Reply 5

username1084946

Original post by Where's Wally?

**** IT! Leave more negative rep if you want.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 6

officelinebacker

Original post by Where's Wally?

It's a tricky one as hayfever is one of those things that can sometimes have a big effect on your performance in an exam and sometimes be barely noticeable.

Until this year I had never managed to find a combination of antihistamines that worked for me, and I have no doubt in my mind that I did worse in several exams (GCSE, A level and University) than I should have done, due to my hayfever. After all, sitting an exam when you're sneezing every 30 seconds, have a nose that's running like a hose and can barely see because your eyes are itching so much does make writing out an exam more difficult, but for the majority of exams I've sat over the years it's been fine and had no effect.

Let's not forget either that there is a huge range of severity when it comes to hayfever. I know people who technically have it but show no symptoms 99% of the time if they remember to take a single antihistamine in the morning, up to people like me who on plenty of days in the summer, even with a wide range of antihistamines in me, are unable to leave the house because it's so bad.

So I don't think that having hayfever should qualify you for a lower grade boundary, but I do think that all institutions should permit those who suffer from hayfever to be placed in isolation and take an exam either later that day or the next day, if their hayfever is acting up on the day of the exam to the point that it will have a major effect on their result.

Reply 7

officelinebacker

Original post by kk_15

No way. In all fairness, hayfever does not affect how your brain works or what you right down on the paper, neither does asthma, or if you can't walk.
You should be expected to control your "illness" with meds, and please don't be offended or leave negative rep - I have hayfever too, it just doesn't affect me because I've been taking Loratadine for two years now.

It's easy to say that you should control it with "meds" but it's not that simple for everybody.

Over the years I have tried every single over the counter medication available, not a single one of them works for me, have tried every single medication which contains an active ingredient only available on prescription, and not a single one of them worked for me.

The only thing I found which did was an injection called Kenalog, which is now illegal in this country, and recent found that a combination of three different antihistamines with three different active ingredients does work to reduce the effects of my hayfever, although even that doesn't work all the time, and never eliminates it.

Reply 8

usernme_

i have hayfever and i dont know why they cant do the exams in fall time ?
i know the next year starts in september but if they made it so school terms starts in dec instead of sept they would have enough time to mark ect.. then it would be much fairer

Reply 9

Blake-inator

and i suppose i deserve extra time because I'm a slow writer!

Reply 10

usernme_

i find hayfever symptoms lessen when i put a cold compress on my eyes , mabey if they had some air conditioning and an air purifier it could help
but schools would rather buy rubbish instead

Reply 11

naman

take tablets if it affects you then.. surely everyone will be saying they have some sort of allergy just to get better grades then!

p.s: i have hayfever myself (often quite severe) but I don't think that this should mean I get higher grades or more leeway in exams.

Reply 12

Mrkingpenguin

I too suffer incredibly badly from hayfever.

But instead of complaining about it I went and got heavy duty prescription pills and nasal spay so it didn't affect me in exams.

Negged because?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 13

Tiger Rag

How would you then prove whether someone actually has hayfever? Which isn't classed as a disability because it's a seasonal thing and not something you have 24/7.

Reply 14

GoodDay

if your grade is below your predicted grade and you get a note from your doctor on the day of your exam, I'm pretty sure you can get your grade boundaries lowered?...

Reply 15

Alleykat606

It's not as if you are being denied any treatment e.g. nasal spray steroids/antihistamines which work perfectly for hay fever sufferers. You should already be aware that you are a sufferer and therefore should take any precautions you can to prevent symptoms during exams. This year alone, I began eating local honey back in January as my AS exams were coming up and I knew I was a bad sufferer (as well as using a nasal spray every morning). If you fail to prepare to prevent from symptoms then you only have yourself to blame. Don't expect the exam boards to have any sympathy for you if it's your own fault.

Reply 16

Tiger Rag

Those of us with long term disabilities don't get extra marks.

Reply 17

LittleGilly

Bit late for this year but for next year, if you eat a spoonful of honey every day in the winter that is made from your area then you should be immune from hay fever for that summer. Something to do with pollen and all that jazz, but It works so... As for grade boundaries, I think it would be unfair on people who don't have hay fever as you can in fact treat it with out much problem. I too suffer with it and sometime it is so severe that I can't get out of bed. However once I have taken medication I am fine. I think it's just like a cold, and one of those thing you just have to deal with even though that sucks.

Reply 18

Scott.M

Original post by gman10

You don't take your exams in a field?

You can tell you don't suffer from hayfever.

The trip to school can be enough to set it off - last week if I even opened my window a little bit to let some air in my hayfever was starting as the pollen count was so high.

I have suffered through many exams where I had taken an antihistamine in the morning and my only exposure to pollen was the trip to school that day. Like someone said, when your eyes and mouth are itchy, nose is running like a tap, you're sneezing constantly and have the extreme fatigue/tiredness that occur during a hayfever attack, it can be very hard to concentrate and write things down, when all you want to do is curl up in a ball.

It can be hard to regulate, but at the end of the day a disability is a disability and it must be taken into account, as sometimes even medication isn't enough to stop an attack (doctors make this quite clear when they prescribe it - medication simply raises the threshold of pollen exposure needed to produce an attack/a certain severity of attack), so you can't say 'It's their own fault for not taking their meds'.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 19

usernme_

not all hayfever is cureable
dyslexics get more time
my eyes hurt and my nose is itchy and running right now and im in bed with no doors or windows in my house open and yes i have taken my medication this morning

schools dont care about hafever suffers , they make you do feild sports when they can see you are suffering badly and then give you detentions if you dont go

do schools with pools make the kids with glasses go swimming?