ocd, crowds, & school

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kinda seems like my ocd has morphed into a more general form of anxiety--a really intense fear of something going wrong in a crowded place. i feel so overwhelmed and scared in crowds, i cant even explain how horrible it is. it's not really an obsession though, and i don't have any related compulsions. it's just an overwhelming fear that makes my heart pound and my stomach burn. i've always been scared of crowds, but it seems a lot worse recently. every little unexpected sight or sound is a reason to panic.

my counselor suggested i talk to the disabilities office at my school about ocd and i might be able to get accomidations like a quiet place to take tests. i don't know if this is true or not. is ocd even a disability? i'm afraid to talk to them, but i really can't handle "normal" school life. too crowded and busy. if there is anything they can do to help...well, i'm eager to learn and to improve my grades. i'm just afraid they will turn me down and be jerks about it.

Heres something to think about, what could go wrong in a crowded place.
Think about it...a murderer isn't going to come after you with a bunch of eyewitnesses, as long as you have people with you, you are probably safer.

I TOTALLY understand that about the tests.
Like if somebody taps their pencils...UGH!
I ask them if they could stop making that noise, and hope that I won't get in trouble.
When I do get in trouble (very rarely), I tell the teacher why, and they understand (except for when I took the ACT, that was painful).

I know the feeling. I have the advantage here of being mostly homeschooled now apart from on class that I take via the local high school, but I still can't stand crowds when I'm in one. In school situations it helps to have the teacher or teachers know that you have asperger's and what I need them to do to help make things work. I don't go talk to teachers myself, though, I have my parents go in and explain first. From my limited experience, some teachers will not accept things as easily from the mouths of students as from parents. There's not much that can be done about crowds at school, but excessive noises in the classroom can be minimized. However, in the one highschool class that I go to that I mentioned, there is a back room that I go into when things get overwhelming for me and I just stay there with the cameras, lights, greenscreen and other equipment until I feel ready to go back again. The first time I did it it was because some students that were messing around knocked a $1500 iMac off of a desk and the screen shattered. Naturally there was some chaos in the following minutes. I went to the back room in a panic. My brother was there and he helped me to calm down, and my teacher came in a bit later to see if I was OK. We later established that if I ever need to, I can go rest in that room.

One thing that can really help you is listening to music through headphones/earphones with noise-blocking buds on them. I have a similar problem, where my heart starts beating faster when I'm in a crowd and I turn around at every single sudden noise. I've found that having my own music greatly helped me to reduce my stress in crowded places. Also, does your school have a quiet classroom of some sort where you can just go to hang out? I've avoided lunch as much as possible, or I went to the library and buried my nose in a book, or I went to the resource room (which was quiet and where students were allowed to stay for lunch unless there was a meeting) at my school if I ever had to stay at school for lunch. During breaks, though, when moving between classes, I would always make sure that I had my music on.

I get overwhelmed with a lot of people around,on campus-it's so BIG! I end up rushing around and later,people will say "Oh I saw you,but you seemed in a rush".hmm