accepted, now what?

Parents Forum Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD
1

<p>Hi, this is my first post, but I was just hoping someone would be able to help me. I'll try not to make this too long. </p>

<p>I am a top student. However, in middle school, I started having more and more problems in school. The work was fine, but I was always sleepy and couldn't stay awake or pay attention. I also have always gotten sick a lot and it's hard for me to fight things off, so I miss a lot of school. Still, I've always had straight As. I went to a lot of doctors, who told me a lot of nothing and I was getting worse. Last year, a specialist diagnosed me with a neurological disorder and put me on medication.</p>

<p>Long story short, the medication didn't work. He referred me to better specialists, etc & they tried 6 different medications, but nothing helped me and I had horrible side effects. I had to stop going to school and start home tutoring because I was not only sleepy, but I suffered severe memory loss and other symptoms. </p>

<p>Okay, so this isn't just a sob story. I took the SATs and scored 2250 (the only area I wasn't perfect in was CR). I was accepted to a top private university in CA with a scholarship. I didn't tell the school about my disabilty.</p>

<p>HOWEVER</p>

<p>Since nothing was working, my "world-renowned" doctors gave up on me and, after doing a new sleep study, told me I might not even have a neurological disorder and the first test much have just been a fluke. A friend of the family recommended a doctor he had gone to, who I saw at the beginning of March. That doctor thinks I may have Chronic Fatigue. He ran a lot of tests and I'll get the results in April. </p>

<p>My problem is this... I want to register for disability at the university for a few (pretty simple) accomodations, like the ability to use a tape recorder in class, etc. I have a neuropsychologist who assessed the damage to my memory & she is going to be writing a letter to the school explaining that. She can't provide a diagnosis though, so her report is insufficient without one from an MD. My neurologists won't write it because they have no idea what is wrong with me. My new CFS doctor won't write anything until the test results are back and I can be stabilzed (it could be months). The disabilty office has deadlines, though, which are fast approaching.</p>

<p>What would any of you do? Please? I know my admission can't be recinded because of my disabilty, so I'm not worried about that. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>You might talk more with the disability office. Students are often diagnosed with disabilities after starting college, and upon diagnosis they should be able to start getting accommodations they need. I can't imagine that the deadline is a "set in stone" deadline since you cannot (officially) apply for or receive accommodations until after you are diagnosed. </p>

<p>One immediate thought is that if you are unable to get the accommodations through the disability office, perhaps you can approach your professors on an individual basis and explain the situation to them and get their approval. I am not sure how receptive professors are to granting such things without being officially told to but it seems like that might be a way to accomplish the same thing?</p>

3

<p>Now that you're accepted, find out what the disability services offices requires for documentation. My understanding is that in cases like yours they would be looking for a psychoeducational evaluation, ideally with documentation of why specific accommodations are needed. Schools vary in terms of type of professional to conduct the test and other requirements. It can get pricey; if that's a problem see if you can get it done at your school once you're there, but that timing might not work for you.</p>

4

<p>Did you have a neuropsch. exam when you were diagnosed? If so, it's possible that you can use it as documentation. If not, I strongly encourage you to get one. Some insurance companies pay if you have a referral from your primary care physician. </p>

<p>My D was diagnosed in the third grade. We tried to manage with behavior modification as long as possible. She did not want to take meds and we were also skeptical. By sixth grade, she broke down one day after school and said "I just can't do it anymore, mommy! I'm can't keep everything straight anymore. Mrs.XXX yells at me all day to stop fidgeting and I now that we change classrooms I am an absolute mess!" Her grades had started to plummet and she asked if she could try the medicine. After trying 5 meds. she found one that actually helped. After two years, she had to switch to another because it no longer was affective. So far, so good, EXCEPT at the end of soph, beginning of jr. year, things started to get bad again. She obsessed about the time whenever taking test, she spent too much time on certain problems etc. Subjects that were not absolutely engrossing becames excruciatingly boring and impossible to focus on. We sought an accomidation for timed tests. She was denied because she had been too successful in the past.
My point is that because we worked very hard at home and put the entire family on ADHD behavior mod, D had been successful. That's great, but I'm a stay at home mom and I've worked my butt off helping her. Next year she'll be at college and I'm very worried! We are proceeding in the process to try to get an accomidation for her at college because we believe that the hs school denied her because of money. They had so many other kids who's parents were not their advocates to deal with, that they could not be bothered with our child.
I think that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If you need help, you have to ask for it and quite possibly demand it if you have to. Don't give up because living with ADHD is about learning to cope. Medication or not.</p>

5

<p>You can register with the disability office at any time. But you will need documentation. Also academic adjustments are not retroactive.</p>

<p>The Department of Education has two excellent pamphlets on the transition of students with disabilities from high school to college at: <a href="http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transitionguide.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transitionguide.html&lt;/a> and <a href="http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>