
Aug 07, 2016, 06:18 PM
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Member Since: May 2016
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,928
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Miswimmy1
I feel ya with not wanting to go back to school. I'm starting to anticipate it a little bit as well.
I definitely urge you to seek out accommodations. Don't be embarrassed. Mental health and/or learning disabilities is a legit reason. If you had a physical disability, and needed accommodations to help you get to and from class, you wouldn't have any hesitation to get the modifications that you need. Think of your mental health in the same way.
I am a college student who recently received a bipolar II diagnosis. Prior to that, I was receiving accommodations already for ADHD. I wasn't sure if I was going to want or need accommodations but thought it would be best to get established with the disabilities center in the case that I needed them. You can always opt not to use them - in most colleges, you disclose to your professors what you want them to know. If you don't say anything, the center isn't going to tell them so no will ever know. But having accommodations approved and in place if you need them might give you a little bit of room to breathe.
Also - if you are in a decent sized school, no one is going to even recognize that you have accommodations. Most of my classes last year had hundreds of people in those lectures. When I would take my exams separately, no one would even notice I wasn't present, except friends that I had in the class. And I felt comfortable telling those friends about where I was. On the whole, professors were more than willing to arrange the necessary accommodations. I was granted extra time on exams and tests and a private testing space. As for in class accommodations, I was allowed to use/was provided with note-taking aids such as a Smart Pen that allowed me to record lectures and sync the audio to my handwritten notes, a transcript of which could be uploaded as a typed copy that could then be annotated/printed/rearranged/etc. I was also allowed priority class registration (meaning that I had first dibs of signing up for my classes). And in one instance last year, was able to get a waiver that allowed me to take a class on a pass/no pass basis. Little things like this were helpful in cases that I was having an "off" day, or especially when I was changing my medication regimen and was feeling very out of sorts.
I really urge you to seek out whatever help you need. I think you will be happy that you did - even if you don't end up needing/using whatever you are given permission for.
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The funny thing is I actually do have a disability that I was born with, although no one would really know unless I told them. I was born with a birth defect known as Spina Bifida. Growing up I was always too ashamed so I never sought special accommodations while going through school. If I wasn't planning to get into a Masters program eventually I wouldn't care as much about the grades. The way I look at it is...you can only learn so much from a textbook.
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Dx: BP2 and MDD
Current meds: 100mg Wellbutrin; 200mg Lamictal; 400mg Seroquel at night; Xanax 1mg/PRN; 100mg/PRN Trazodone at night for insomnia
Diagnosed in May 2016
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