How disability impacts time management in college students: ‘crip time’ in college kids

Sophie Reynolds
Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:59:34 +0000
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The outside of the office for Student Life Disability Services, located inside Baker Hall on Ohio State’s Campus. Credit: Kyrie Thomas | Former LTV Campus Producer

Students with disabilities often find barriers in their daily lives, whether it is physically attending class or being able to submit assignments on time.

This can partly be explained by a phenomenon known as “crip time” that refers to how time management is approached differently within a disabled body, often affecting their day-to-day activities.?

Even though phrases like ‘crip’ or ‘cripple’ were once strictly derogatory, they are now being used in disability studies academically and as a symbol of pride socially, Courtney Felle said. Felle is disabled and a graduate student in English with an interdisciplinary specialization in disability studies.

“I’ve definitely seen an uptick in ‘crip’ being reclaimed by disabled folks as this term of identification,” Felle said. “The disability community is a source of pride and care and mutual aid. You will probably see folks referring to themselves as ‘crip’ or having ‘crip’ in like, event titles or article titles.”

This accounts for the extra time needed to complete certain tasks or other results of accessibility barriers.?

Felle explained what crip-time reminds them of.?

“It’s like, someone being late because the elevator wasn’t working,” Felle said.?

Crip time can also refer to a disabled person having less productive time in a day due to their symptoms.?

Danny Schubach, secretary for Buckeyes4Accessability, a group for disabled students on campus and a third-year in social work said being disabled does not always mean they are in control of what their body does.

“A disabled person’s body can sort of decide, now is the time to rest regardless of our obligations,” Schubach said.?

This can lead to having to manage academics differently.?

Jacob Leath, a third-year in psychology with a minor in disability studies, said he often experiences crip time with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

“When you deal with a lot of crip time, you have to optimize the time you have outside of that,” Leath said. “Someone who doesn’t experience any disabling period of time, they have a lot of leeway. If you forget to do something, you know that you have that free time later on to get it done. Whereas if I slip up, the periods of time I actually have to fix that is very limited.”

A flare or flare-up is a period of time where symptoms of a disability are worse than usual for someone. Functioning can be limited during these periods, which can stop a student from completing coursework.

“It’s also approaching your work or your education in an alternate way,” Felle said. “I used to do a lot of work in very dedicated bursts, so that when I had flares I could essentially do nothing for an extended period.”

Felle teaches courses within the English department. Students can work ahead with the coursework because all assignment information has been available from the beginning of the semester, Felle said. In addition, they offer a 24-hour grace period after assignment deadlines so if a student is experiencing a flare, they have time to make up for that work without having to ask for it.?

“I don’t want students who are already struggling, who are already having a lot of symptoms, who are potentially, like, fighting for accommodations and accessibility in other areas of their life,” Felle said. “I don’t want them to then also have to fight me.”

Schubach said they also advocate for flexibility with attendance.?

“Last semester, when I was in a partial hospitalization program for like, inpatient, one of my teachers for a psychology class just let me do all the homework and not show up to class for the rest of the semester,” Schubach said. “That was super helpful.”

Accommodating for health issues is important even if you do not have an investment in accessibility, Leath said.?

“You could incur a disability at any point in your life and you could do absolutely nothing wrong,” Leath said. “You could still take the most selfish stance of ‘I only care about myself,’ and it would still be in your best interest to implement good things for people with [a] disability.”

The article was edited on March 3 at 1:06 p.m. to update a Lantern job title and correct a grammar error.