Learning Disabilities/Disability Services

[ChasingMavericks]

I would love to hear about anybody's experience with disability services at graduate school. I know undergraduate was very accommodating and that the services at my graduate school will also have a lot of helpful options, but does anybody have experience with tolerant/non-tolerant professors? 

 

 

[ProfLorax]

I hope you get lots of helpful responses! Until then, have you visited the blog PhD(isabled)? It's written by and for graduate students with disabilities. Perhaps you'll find some relevant experience and advice there: http://phdisabled.wordpress.com/. 

[Lisa44201]

Much as in undergrad, in grad school you are expected to be your own advocate. None of my professors have given me a hard time about my accommodations. It's been a little different with my cohort, some of whom don't realize that some of how I function in a class is because a need as opposed to a preference (i.e., I bring my laptop to class because the nerve damage in my hands is such that I cannot take notes with a pencil, not because I'm going to browse LOLcats during lecture). Occasionally I feel like I need to prove my capability to my professors, but that's almost certainly due more to my insecurities than it is to something overt on their part.

[ChasingMavericks]

Oh that looks like a wonderful website thank you so much proflorax! I appreciate it  

 

Lisa44201 thank you for responding! I do hope that my professors are as understanding as yours have been. I think the fear of them not being tolerant is as you said due to my own insecurities of my professors (or classmates) thinking I am looking for an easy way to get my coursework completed, since a lot of my recommendations from my neurologist are extended test time, testing in a different room, computer note taking, open book/notecards for tests, etc. It is really nice to hear from somebody who has dealt with it personally. 

[danieleWrites]

I've gotten a bunch of excellent help with disability services at my grad campus. I'm epileptic and have ADHD, so I'm a two'fer. While my epilepsy was not controlled, I had problems with my profs because they couldn't understand why I couldn't always come to class, and these absences tended to cluster around midterms and right after Thanksgiving. Stress = seizures. The folks at the disability center, once I asked them to intervene and signed a ton of paperwork (it seemed), were able to help me intercede with these professors.

Anyway, these days, I get precisely what I need from disability services and they do a good job. I haven't noticed a bit of difference in the way they treat me from undergrad to grad.

[ChasingMavericks]

Danielewrites, oh I would love to talk to you more. I am an epileptic too along with attention issues! I completely understand the issues you have had with your professors, it's almost those issues exactly that I am worried about. Stress, computer screens, and lack of sleep have huge impacts on my seizures. My seizures are petit mal and myoclonic so they aren't very noticeable unless you know me, so I always just get that feeling my professors think I'm lying or something haha.

[danieleWrites]

It made life interesting! The thing that always got me was the flash rate in flourescent light fixtures, the light bulbs with the long tubes, particularly when we had to do work with computers. I literally could not do it. I have tonic-clonic and absences seizures. If I'm not mistaken, myoclonic seizures are subject to status epilepticus. However likely status epilepticus is for an individual with epilepsy, first aid for seizures instructions (which each professor should have given to them before the first class meeting, if possible) should include a when to dial 9-1-1 because the epilepsy just got life-threatening.

The thing that helped me the most was being proactive. I met with professors during office hours the first week of school with a typed sheet that I made as professional looking as possible, kind of brochure-like or care sheet like, that used information that I could cite from the epilepsy foundation. This made the look and feel of the thing that much more important. No one is immune to rhetoric. I would be very open about my seizures because a seizure can be a very public and very scary event. Never bothered me much (I didn't notice at the time), but it freaked my classmates out. Most of my seizures were absence seizures, so I just seemed extra spacey to them. I had to make it clear from the beginning that it wasn't that I hadn't done the prep-work for the class, but that I was having a seizure. It also helped to do what I could to manage my work-load. If a syllabus said I had a paper due at mid=term, I would be in the prof's office first week of class asking to start on that paper as soon as possible because mid-term stress would mean an ADA accommodation. I never took exams with the class; I told them that I would be very disruptive should I have a seizure during the exam. I had that happen my first semester. Over 100 people had to be given the opportunity to retake the final exam because I left it up to the professor to decide if I should take the exam with the class or elsewhere. Professors with large classes will choose the path of least resistance. I think my get-the-work-done-before-the-problem-starts approach to dealing with the professors helped them see it as epilepsy rather than malingering.

A professor or two, in my time, had to be dealt with on a different level. Absence seizures were daydreaming to them. One publicly humiliated me in class, so I returned the favor. Tenure does not protect them from anti-discrimination and hazing. He was an odd duck. Once the snarling was done, he turned out to be my favorite professor. My worst problems were left behind in undergrad (other students in large classrooms that would not give up a tonic-clonic-friendly seat).

Mostly, I think grad school so far has gone so well for me because I went to office hours and I worked with the professors to adjust the course schedules to best fit my seizure thresholds and their preferences.

[CBclone]

I'm curious to hear more from other (as well as those who have already posted) about their experiences with Disability Services. I have accepted a position in my school's DS office to begin next fall -- mostly preparing textbooks to adaptive formats, learning about adaptive computer technology, and administering tests for students who need different accommodations. I have experience in therapeutic recreation (adaptive sports) but nothing in this type of setting other than a strong background of knowledge in disabilities, activities, ADA, etc. 

 

Things you think would have been helpful? Things that worked well? Overall experiences?

[hillary511]

I have concerns about this as well. My situation is pretty mild. I have dyslexia so it's much better to type my notes. For some reason (I think a study saying writing is more effective) I had a couple of professors at the end of undergrad try to give me a hard time. I'm really hoping it won't be a problem.

[CBclone]

hillary511, do you register/identify yourself to the Disability Services (or equivalent) office at your campus, undergrad and/or grad? If so and a professor gives you grief over wanting to type notes, notify the DS office and put a stop to it. I have a close friend who has dyslexia and at his former job had to take skills exams to maintain certification every year or so...he constantly got a hard time from trainers and test givers about poor spelling, grammar, and handwriting despite letting them know he had dyslexia. One in-house trainer even called him out on his "poor handwriting" in front of my friend's student. There's a time, place, and situation for things like that.

[hillary511]

My undergrad gave me a REALLY hard time about it, and tried to retest me for all learning disabilities, which I declined eventually because it involved missing a lot of class time. I'm just moving to my PhD, so I may look into it.

[justanotherlostgrrl]

I'm very curious about other people's experiences especially using disability services in grad school when it's more pratical, studio based work.  If I was asking for extra time because of tests because of my learning disability, that might make sense - but I honestly don't know what kind of accommodations make sense when you're in small group work, other than notetaking support or recording the classes.  If I disclosed that I've suffered from chronic depression, that may be understandable - but anything like ADHD may seem like an 'excuse'.  I'm worried about the perception that profs might have if I disclosed my issues.  I'm going to sign up for the Disability Services, but don't know if or when I should reveal to profs.

[nugget]

Your profs do not need to know anything about your private health information. They simply need to know what kind of accommodations you are eligible for and require. You can discuss your accommodations with your doctor and your adviser at the Accessible Learning department and your adviser should be able to give you suggestions if you aren't sure what you might need.  The last thing you would want to occur is for a prof with a non-medical background to determine what kind of assistance you require.

 

I make this comment because I've actually heard of this occurring to an undergrad - an Italian Lit. student disclosed to her mental illness to her prof who did not understand the implications of mental illness and didn't accommodate her at times because of his own personal biases and perceptions regarding mental illness. He was pretty much determining whether or not she should be given accommodations based on his limited knowledge of her illness as it was up to the prof to determine whether or not extensions should be granted. 

 

This is a rare occurrence, however. Generally, most profs are accommodating once you have the support of Accessible Learning services. But if it were me, I'd keep it simple and only mention the accommodations your require because this is all the information that they need to know.