Disability Services

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I recently graduated with a two-year Liberal Arts degree with an emphasis in the sciences. I plan to apply to a Nursing program, which I intend to finish within two years. My first degree took me almost 10 years to earn. To my credit, I went through a divorce, move, remarriage, move to another state, the loss of my first child, the birth of two more children, a serious health condition caused by my third pregnancy and both of my children receiving an autism diagnosis in a county that provides almost no services. It's not like I just took my time and/or couldn't handle the pressure. However, moving at mostly a part-time pace did slow things a bit too. Full time college was too overwhelming, both in content and social interaction - the mixture of the two.

Before going back to school, I want an official diagnosis so I can receive help through disability services. I know I will do much better if I have this assistance rather than having people think I'm just a lazy ass. I'm quite motivated, and I know I will do well, but I do need to pace myself. What I am worried about though is the repercussions of having an official diagnosis. Can this prevent me from obtaining licensure? Should I avoid seeking a diagnosis? Anyone "been there" who can tell me what I can expect from disability services as a college student? Is it worth it?

Not sure what country you are from, and not sure what you mean by Disability Services. I have a similar story, in that I went to college after having a child. It took me 6 years to earn a two year degree, because of going part-time (couldn't handle a full course load with part-time employment and raising a child). I got considerable assistance from Vocational Rehab services. They paid for my tuition, and made sure I had supportive services on campus. Of course, the Asperger's was not known about, at the time. Voc Rehab was mostly dealing with my back problems, and a learning disability known as Dyscalcula.

I am 99.99999999% sure I have Dyscalculia myself. I can begin to do math, but suddenly a page of calculations I've begun to make turns to meaningless symbols. My mind totally shuts down to it, and the harder I struggle to get it back, the farther it slips from my grasp. This has proven my nemesis for years, first becoming highly problematic in 6th grade. I also have a very poor sense of time.

What can be done to help with Dyscalculia? I've heard that there are methods to teaching, similar to those used in Dyslexia, which can help. I don't lack the intelligence, I just lack the ability to stop shutting down mentally when confronted with math. I'd love any input you have!

Well, I recently read that most math disabilities are due to negative incidents in childhood that happened around the time that math was being learned. Of course I believe that there could be other reasons too. In my personal experience, I decided to assume that this was why I was having problems.

So, I bought a children's math workbook, and started working on the exercises. I was amazed at how tense and anxious I got. I backed off, and then tried again. Soon I was doing 4th grade level math problems, with no tension. I next made up a multiplication table and started memorizing it. It was refreshing how easy it got, with no teacher breathing down my neck, or yelling at me because I needed to have some concept repeated. IMO, it's the classroom atmosphere that can screw up an Aspie's learning! I'm going to buy a 5th grade workbook soon. I think that if I approach math at my own pace, I may improve at it.