Exams are now virtual signalling?

[WarOfTheWolds]

Details changed to protect identity, but in summary:

DS had an exam today, He's at college. The exam mark will go towards his final grade. He was tasked with answering questions on several case studies. One of the subjects of a case study was a person called Sam. Sam had they/them pronouns and Sam's sex was unclear.
DS has ASC and dyslexia. He's bright, but can tend towards rigid thinking. He said that he just kept on getting confused by the case study, having to re-read it several times to understand it because of the plural pronouns (other people were also involved in the case study, so a lot of pronouns flying about). DS also ended up editing his answers several times to try and make sure he got the pronouns right and consistent.
It seems that adding these pronouns to an exam question, when it was unnecessary to the case study
(a) was virtual signalling of woke-ness by the examiner
(b) likely to confuse students with issues like ASC and dyslexia and
(c) therefore be discriminatory towards some students - both in terms of understanding, and the extra time taken to check and re-write answers.
DS gets extra time in his exams, and usually doesn't need it all. Today he only just finished in time.

So, AIBU - inclusive pronouns are great and including them in exams is important because it raises visibility
or
YANBU - these pronouns are confusing and including them in exams is unnecessary and unhelpful for students with learning difficulties

(With thanks to the posters on my first thread attempt who pointed out my logic fail on the poll 😂🙏 )

New pronoun for nonbinary people? Meme. It's a word the young folk will already be familiar with. Encapsulates being both male, me, and female, me, as an harmonious hole, meme.

YANBU

Zee and zeir are sometimes used.

The irony of berating the OP for grumbling and pointing out that people are entitled to chose their own pronouns, then going on to use incorrect pronouns for the OPs son.

A little deliberate perhaps?

“They” is appropriate for anyone, and 5 years ago nobody would have batted an eyelid at being referred to as “they”

examples:
where is mum?
They are at the shops.

have you heard from Tom?
no, they are on holiday.

have you fed the dog?
they had a tin of dog food.

The OP quite clearly refers to her DS as he/him - these are obviously HIS chosen pronouns, why not use them?

Or does using a persons chosen pronouns so as not offend them, only work one way?

*“They” is appropriate for anyone, and 5 years ago nobody would have batted an eyelid at being referred to as “they”

examples:
where is mum?
They are at the shops.

have you heard from Tom?
no, they are on holiday.

have you fed the dog?
they had a tin of dog food.*

At least one of those (possibly two) is grammatically incorrect so yes, lots of people would have batted an eyelid.

where is mum?
They are at the shops.

Why would anyone say 'they are' to refer to a mother, rather than 'she is'? The speaker knows she's female and that there's only one of her.

Until recently, the only time I ever heard 'they' used to refer to a singular person was when the person's sex was unknown. 'Is there going to be a new person in Accounts?' 'Yes, they're starting on Monday.'

It’s not a phrase I’d use personally, but I would also not care if someone else did. Language changes over time, and I think this will become more normalised over time (similar to how we no longer use ableist, racist, or homophobic language)

I don't know a single person in real life who would be referred to as anything other than the pronouns customarily associated with their biological sex.

I have never seen anyone on a TV show addressed as "they/them", nor on the news. The only occasions that I ever hear "they" or "them" written down or spoken aloud is in the context of a group of people, or a single unnamed person.

I'm hardly old and out of touch, I'm in my twenties.

No one used "they" to refer to a singular, known person.

"She is at the shops"
"He is on holiday"

Obviously I don't know the sex of your dog because we've never met, but I certainly knew the sex of my cat so "she had a tin of food".

I think it depends whether that co tent has been taught and how it is examined. I teach a humanities/social science and we expect students to engage in case studies that include people who have radically different ideas about sex and gender (from all around the world) and to handle those differences with respect, interest and careful critical engagement too. Generally the idea is to be interested in difference rather than resistant to it, but also to think about what these different ideas do within society and where they come from. But we teach all that first, it doesn't come from nowhere on an exam...

What I mean is that if those phrases HAD been said, nobody would have been claiming that they “misgendered” someone. And I’m sure that in 20 years time, “they” will become interchangeable with using gendered terms.

The next generation are far more comfortable with it than our generation (and the older ones)

Yanbu

There is absolutely no way this is a new concept to a young person. Absolutely none.

YANBU

YANBU

The marker won't care what pronouns he uses in the answer

The marks come from application if knowledge to the scenario not whether the person is they etc. You say gender/ sex is not linked so he or she or they wouldn't affect the quality of the answer

YANBU at all. I agree that exam questions should be clear and they can donate plural etc. I have no learning difficulties and usually got very high marks. Even this might potentially confuse me. It sounds really dumb and unnecessary. Sorry your son struggled. I'm normally one of those people who would say to suck it up, but you are not BU at all!!

Never mind misgendered, I'd be wondering if you'd miscounted.

If you had said "they are on holiday", my next question would have been "who has he gone with?"

The marker won't know that the OP's son spent five minutes rereading the question and wondering if he had missed another element.

How lovely for you all. I’m sure with such a range of autism in the family you are quite aware that not everyone presents the same way …….
Reading the thread before you replied would have given you the answer to that…

'You are aware disability is a protected characteristic?'

so is sex and gender identity but you know wokeness = pronouns

It's interesting that the 'inclusive' brigade isn't being very inclusive to your son, OP. It's his own fault, why didn't he just do better <sarcasm>

Ableism is alive and well all over this thread.

Anyway, I agree with you OP, there's no need for they/them pronouns in exams, it's needless virtue signalling that makes life harder than it needs to be.

I've ASC and manage to deal with different pronouns, no matter my personal opinion on the issues to hand. YABU for using this as a skirmish in a culture war. There are MUCH bigger fish to fry.

YANBU. Words, especially pronouns and articles, should convey clear meaning. Pronouns, articles, prepositions, and some verbs (was, is, have etc.) are function words and we read them subconsciously, giving our brains energy to focus on the nouns, context and less frequently used verbs which our brains use a different part to interpret. When function words are misused in text, it weighs down our processing and our comprehension (e.g. Give the ball to his. They is missing an chance to play). This is particularly onerous on kids with learning disabilities and people whose first language is not English. I'd find a language specialist and a linguist or editor to help you write a very clear letter you can use to contest his score.

Purposely confusing students on a test seems cruel. It seems like a 'gotcha' move.

Real world impact? I'd hire your son over anyone listing pronouns in their bio. Tell him to seek out managers who do NOT have pronouns in our bio. We tend to be higher up the chain and more experienced.