Accommodations for University students??

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I'm still awaiting a specialist's diagnosis, but have met with a campus councilor and was told that with an AS diagnosis I will be able to receive accommodations like flexible assignment due dates and a private exam room.

What other special accommodations has anyone received that they find helpful?

Also, I'd like to hear of any personal ways of overcoming difficulties in higher education.

I have ADD/HD and I went to our Disabled Student Services last year.
It was easy to do... in addition to my official diagnosis, they needed to show I had a 'learning disability' so I took a test.

I had to report into the center so many times during the semester.
I could use their facilities such as tutors, computers, and other resources, I was allowed to have a recorder in my classes (not the instrument ), take tests in the testing center by myself, and probably other stuff.

Oh.. and I get to register early each semester.

In reality though... I don't use the center any more, and I talk with my instructors about all this.
Talking with my instructors helps me out way more than the center did.
I'm sure the center helps some folks out... just not me.

Last edited by wsmac on 20 Mar 2008, 12:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

I have trouble with writing, but all they would give me was extra time on exams and using a computer during exams (both of which are extremely helpful, don't get me wrong)

I asked for flexible due dates and such, but they said it was totally up to the professor. Fortunately the couple times that I've really needed extra time, I've managed to work things out ok. I asked for a couple of other things also (and had a psychologist document the need) but they said no.

Wsmac, you almost had me playing recorder solos of 'mary had a little lamb' in lectures.

Cool, I'm in the process of sending an email to one of my professors right now. Oh yeah, they also told me there are often note-takers available. But I'm good at taking notes as long as I make it to the class. That's a whole 'nuther issue; feeling overwhelmed by my course load and virtually forgetting about some of my classes altogether. Ugh!

Officially, I don't have accommodations.
In actual fact, my doc wrote a letter to one professor saying that I needed copies of his overheads outside of class, but he posted them online so that the whole class benefited, so that isn't special to me.
The letter she wrote also says that I would benefit from extra time in exams, but I don't know if or when I will ever bring this up with him. I guess I will ask him about his exam format beforehand and then decide (since the reason she wrote the letter in the first place was due to my difficulty with a previous exam format in the same subject).
The nice thing about extra time would be that I would write in a separate room, and thus it would be free of the noises and irritants of a normal exam (however, that isn't to say I can't distract myself quite well enough alone).

Unofficially, I also spoke to one professor about it as one of several reasons why I was asking for an extension, and I did receive it. On the whole, though, I think it is better to bring it up in advance if you need a hand, so you don't look like you are just trying to pull in benefits for it.

I think I would recommend these accommodations if I were asked:
- access to the professor's notes/presentations outside of class (some people, like me, get so caught up in writing everything down and having the notes be 100% complete and in perfect order, that they miss the lecture itself)
- exams to be written in a separate room (to avoid irritants or distractions), with or without extra time as necessary (some exam formats may be more troublesome than others)
- a separate seat if the lecture hall is crowded (to avoid uncomfortable proximity or touching)
- accommodations on group work (for example, getting to tell the professor in private which people you are comfortable with in a group, or getting a substitute assignment or an assigned "support person" in the group)
- perhaps some people with more severe motor issues might need note-taking services?

That's exactly it Jeyradan! I was diagnosed with ADD (wrongfully?/co-morbid?) when I was in grade 2 and in order to keep me from getting distracted the teacher sat me in a corner of the room facing the wall with big noise-blocking headphones on. It didn't work though. I managed to keep myself thoroughly entertained with nothing more than the wall in front of me, lights above me, and I even remember rhythmically lifting and dropping the ear-coverings to let the whooshing sounds in and out making for a symphony of sound in my head. I'm 25 now, so I've learned to deal with distraction from others as well as I've learned to deal with self-distraction. Also, I feel being isolated in a separate room would be no better, or none less stigmatizing than sitting in the corner with those headphones on.

Technically we're not supposed to give letters and documentation and stuff directly to professors - we can if we want, but they're not supposed to grant anything "special" without at least getting a notification from disabilities office that I have documentation (then the professor can do almost anything they want as long as it's not really unfair to everyone else)

I talked about the note-taking thing with them but somehow it got lost. Next semester I'll bug them up again about it since they didn't explicitly turn me down for it like they did for other things.

I never ended up having attention problems with exams since I tend to be hyperfocused, but professors usually want to move you to a spare room for the extra time part anyway, so they usually ask if you want to start the exam there since it is pretty disruptive to stop and move. So basically everyone who gets extra time usually gets a different room anyways.

I was kind of surprised at how many people in a class of about 150 got at minimum extra time - it was probably at least 12 or 13 (those that I asked usually had dyslexia or ADD/ADHD)

I'm in the process of getting an official diagnosis for Asperger's and this information is comforting to know. I have a lot of trouble with my time management and keeping all of my assignments straight, as well as exams. However, i've always been nervous about contacting my profs, because quite frankly, there are some that could really care less. How do you guys go about requesting accomodations and extensions from profs?

I've found most professors to be sympathetic. Plus, it's only been a couple profs that I'd had to ask for extensions to assignments and such, where it's up to them to decide what to do.

As for "official" accommodations like extra time, I don't usually have a problem, since professors don't have power over that kind of thing. I'm granted extra time on exams, for example, and according to university policy professors have to honor what the disabilities office says. If they don't want to then it's up to them to petition the disability office and claim that extra time (or whatever) changes the nature of the exam too much for it to be fair.

I don't technically even need to tell anyone I have asperger's and a writing disability (and I don't tell them about the aspergers at all), the disabilities office writes each prof an email stating what accommodations I've been approved for without specifying what the disability is.

For my HFA and other issues, I get extended time of exams and papers (if needed) and special "heads up" to professors that I cannot be in a large group (and if it is advised that I not work alone on assignments, then I have no more than 2 other people in my group due to anxiety). I also have a note on there that states that I have trouble speaking during presentation and to not grade me on that issue (sometimes I talk too fast, too slow, sometimes I sound drunk and I'm not, etc.) - which is a part of my auditory issue, as well (get double doses from HFA and auditory issues).

For my auditory processing disorder, I can get a note taker and a special FM system. That diagnosis came too late, however, so I never requested it (no point, it's my last semester).

I also just heard through the grapevine that I could have gotten a special waiver for my loan. Usually, I have to take two classes to get my loan - with the special waiver, I would have been able to waiver this requirement. If I had known when I first began graduate school, believe me - I would have taken it! (Although, if memory serves me and in all fairness, there might have been some mentioning of it but I didn't take up the offer because I had the pride element of "Damn it, I'm a graduate student, I don't need reduced course load!" - HA! Sometimes I'm too stubborn for my own good).

To clarify my position a little more...

When I discuss this with my instructors I make sure I tell them I am not looking for special favors if I hand in work late, etc.
I also inform them that if I appear to not be paying attention, or doing anything that looks like I'm not interested in class or the work, that it's probably my way of coping with any distractions around me.
I tend to find a seat close up front in most classes.
In my two computer classes, the instructors know that sometimes I get a bit overloaded with the lectures so I may just put on my earphones and work on the project we are currently assigned.

This really happens more in my digital media class where the instructor is showing us different things in Illustrator.
I can keep up at the start, but eventually he gets way ahead of me when showing commands and effects to work with.
I just focus on the ones he has shown that I got all the info for and work with them with my music on while he takes the class farther on.

So, I am careful to let them know I want to take responsibility for my actions in class concerning my work and not use the ADD/HD as a crutch.
The quality of my work evidently shows them that I am trying and often going further than what they asked for.
This helps also.

I actually haven't had any issues with tests because I just bend down close over mine and blast right through it.
I have found most written tests I've had were based upon lecture and videos we watched in class, so for some reason that stuff sticks in my head fairly well... that, and the fact that most of the questions seem to be multiple choice which are way easier than anything else.. in my book.

I set things in my cell phone as weekly or daily alarms, that way I don't have to think about when I have stuff to go to. My phone calls me and tells me! I also found it helpful to schedule my classes in a block (10-10:50, 11-11:50, 12:-12:50, hour break for lunch, 2-2:50). I got into some trouble the semester I had a 9am class then no other classes until 2pm. I'd get up and go to the 9, then get sidetracked and forget about the 2...or, I'd oversleep the 9. Sometimes it's hard for me to get up for 8 or 9am classes, because I get really engrossed in something the night before and go to bed super late. I've also preferred to schedule the classes as either MWF or TH classes, rather than having places to be all week. It's nice to just be able to vegetate (or be weird) for a day without having to show up somewhere and interact with people.

I'm assuming we're talking academics here. Usually, no problem for me.

Areas where I've struggled:

-a criminal justice class I'm taking now...lots of social reasoning that I have never learned about (outlaw reasoning), very difficult; will be happy with an 80% or better.

-a philosophy class, dropped it in fear of failing.

-any content relating to sex; I simply do not understand it and why people like it so much

-the showing of movies in class (not documentaries/book stuff...I'm talking actual film that they want us to analyze...I HATE most movies and cannot analyze them)

-the lack of pencil sharpeners in some of the rooms (not a biggie, but still an inconvenience)

I get:
a notetaker - so I can be sure I didn't misunderstand something (and for when I miss class due to other craziness)
extra time on tests - this is especially useful on math tests since I have some dyscalculia
a calculator for any math tests
a computer for taking tests (which means I get to do it in the special little separate rooms so no distractions. Yay!)
I also have a coordinator, so if I have trouble understanding something, I can email her and ask.

Oh - and this quarter I started using a hearing assistive device because of the acoustics in the classrooms. It's awesome to actually hear the instructor without straining.

I've also sometimes gotten extra help interpreting confusing assignments.

I'm currently a junior and really enjoy my classes. I've had a couple that were bad but otherwise it's been really fun and interesting.

I didn't get or ask for special accomodations because I didn't know anything was wrong with me. It screwed me up a couple of times when I didn't properly drop out of classes and it messed up the GPA. But my issues with speaking actually helped me. My NT friends would talk to counselors and get bad information about taking classes for their major or General ED. I never did so I went by the book and never had trouble with that aspect.

I didn't get diagnosed until grad school; forcing me to rely on wits alone through undergrad. Mostly, with the help of understanding teachers (when I needed them), good friends, and a general desire not to give up, I made it. And graduated at the top of my class; which was followed by my taking a year off from school to get my head back on straight. Heh.

Now my only thing is to let profs know why I'm being hyperverbal and to tell them sometimes why I might have to leave the room (overstimulation etc).