<p>People are also going to tell you what happens at their school as if it is the only way to enforce the law. Not so. You need to check with the uni your child will be attending.</p>
<p>Whatever way a university attempts to accomodate students with disabilities-it is still up to the student to make their requests known and to make them work.</p>
<p>
[The</a> Civil Rights of Students With Hidden Disabilities and Section 504](<a href=“http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/hq5269.html]The”>The Civil Rights of Students With Hidden Disabilities and Section 504)</p>
<p>Fordham appears to have enough students with disabilities to have a transition yr program for freshman as well as other services. ( although it sounds like slots are limited)
The info available on their website is quite a bit more specific and helpful than several other schools. Good to know.
[Office</a> of Disability Student Services - Mission Statement](<a href=“http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/student_services/disability_services_/]Office”>http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/student_services/disability_services_/)</p>
<p>In college, there will NOT be a teacher/case manager who makes sure the accommodations are carried out. It is imperative that your daughter understand what HER university will and won’t do, and understand that SHE needs to advocate for herself. </p>
<p>I would contact the disabilities office at the college. They will want to set up the plan with your DAUGHTER. Yes, she can agree to allow you to come too, but at the end of the day, it will be your daughter’s plan with the disability office.</p>
<p>With regard to choosing a quiet roommate…sometimes this is hard to predict based on the info the incoming students provide. In addition, someone who was quiet as a high school student might not be so quiet in a college setting.</p>
<p>Thank you so much, everyone, for the very helpful feedback! Seperate and apart from being bipolar, my daughter is extremely shy, has some social phobias and is super sensitive. Her bipolar quirks are not really noticable from the outside (she has bipolar 2, so no noticeable euphoria) – it’s all internal, comes out in her poetry, etc., and inner turmoil. She is very smart and very pretty, and this has helped her with friendships in the past, but her very quiet temperament is starting to alientate even close friends. It comes across as boring and colorless, when her mind is teeming with creativity! I do worry about self-advocacy. Some shy people are that way for life – I know my mother is. That is a challenge to deal with in therapy.</p>
<p>emeraldkity4, I will follow up with the Disabilities Office. I’ve been on the Fordham website a million times, and never noticed the transition year!
Proudpatriot, my daughter will be an hour from home, so commuting could be an option, if necessary. She also has a much older sister in Manhattan. She wants to make friends, and feels dorm living is the way to do that. I am nervous, as much for her shyness as for the bipolar 2.</p>
<p>thumper1 – I guess I don’t really know what kind of room mate would be best. She’s not extremely social – a homebody, but the boys have always flocked to her because of her looks. As she seems to get shyer, though, I think her peers are favoring more fun-loving, outgoing types. The bipolar and the shyness is not the usual combination – very complex.</p>
<p>ordinarylives, good point; I will seek out specifcs about Fordham.</p>
<p>Request that she be able to register for classes earlier than regular students. This will allow her to pick her schedule so that wake up time can be controlled and she will be sure to be able to eat and take meds at the appropriate times. I think a consistent schedule is important when dealing with a mental illness.
Are there any other accommodations that would make her life easier (Ie: teacher not call on her unless she has her hand raised)? Perhaps someone in the disability services could help her draft an email to her profs at the beginning of the semester.</p>
<p>Those are perfect suggestions for my daughter, flyaround! I’m definitely going to keep them in mind!!</p>
<p>At some schools, academic accommodations are not listed in the letter provided by disabilities offices, but are negotiated between student and professor, sometimes with support of doctor or dean if the situation is a crisis. This might be one of the key things to find out.</p>
<p>In my experience, deans and disabilities offices welcome documents and to some (limited) extend, introductory e-mails from parents but, no matter what the disability, want to meet alone with the student and after that initial meeting, it is all up to the student herself.</p>
<p>There is absolutely no reason why a student with bipolar 2 should live at home or feel that different. Bipolar 2 often means charisma, energy, and productivity that is impressive but does not seem at all abnormal. Down times are more of a problem but, after all something like 50% of college students are on antidepressants at some point.</p>
<p>Really, it is distressing how a label can affect perception.</p>
<p>Some of the posts here may be lumping bipolar 2 in with bipolar 1, which involves true mania at times, along with depressions. But plenty of students with bipolar 1 also do fine. And they are not any more difficult to deal with than other students dealing with a hard time of life- and bring a lot of special gifts to the table.</p>
<p>If you don’t have personal experience with these things, maybe be careful of what you write, to a parent dealing with a transition like this.</p>
<p>Students with disabilities, in general, are thriving on campuses thanks to the ADA and improving awareness at colleges (one of mine has significant health issues).</p>
<p>Thanks, compmom!</p>
<p>I have an aunt and cousin with bipolar 1, and I have to say, my daughter’s symptoms never approached theirs, though some of that may be due to meds.</p>
<p>I do want to talk freely about her disorder, but there is a lot of misperception. Mental health issues have to be better understood, and treatment more accessible and affordable, if we are going to avoid tragedies. I have seen some friends pull away after her diagnosis, and many teachers are completely clueless. Information is essential. The movie “Silver Linings Playbook”, though not representative of everyone with bipolar, is a good place to start. It especially offers a message of love as healing.</p>