<p>My 2012 D is headed off to college in the fall. She has been treated by a neurologist for the last 5 yrs for migraine headaches. At the present time the migraines are being kept to a minimum due to taking preventive medication daily. She also has meds available if she gets a migraine. I am starting to think about the fall.
I was wondering if it is a good idea to try to get her registered with the disablity office. She is going to attend a huge public university on the quarter system. If she gets a migraine she could be out of class for several days. Plus what happens if she has a migraine on an exam day. Has anyone requested accommodations due to migraines?</p>
<p>Sure, call that office and see what they say. If they do address migranes I’m sure they have the steps and documentation that would be needed. I would also call the Dean of Students or whomever has that position (Student Affairs…lots of different titles for that department) and ask if they have any formalized process that the students need to follow.</p>
<p>I would call the disability office, or have her, and set up an appointment with them for when she arrives. They will require documentation from her neurologist about why, and what she needs. She will also have a chance to speak to them about her condition and accommodation. At my school I emailed and they sent a form to have neurologist fill out.</p>
<p>During my first fall semester, (2011 graduate) I had a concussion, but I also suffered from migraines since 8th grade year. I was told once I was cleared from post concussion the school would also help me with my migraines. They allowed me to have a recorder in class, along with time and a half extra for my exams, and tests. They were willing to email my professors if I missed class although I also had to email the professor. At my school they did not guarantee though that the professor would allow make ups, but they would help me present my case.</p>
<p>Now for Spring I did not register which was a big mistake. I was at a new university and I thought I could handle it. Now for summer I am registering, in fact waiting on my neurologist to send my form via fax, school starts Monday which means I’m behind because he has not sent in my form. This school has an adviser who specifically deals with head injuries/conditions. Much bigger school about 20,000 students (including graduate) on campus.</p>
<p>Have her check the disability’s office website, that is where I found out about the specific adviser on my campus. I sincerely hope your daughter gets better. I found that for the most part I did better away from my house, and family because of less stress. Although now I’m trying to get my concentration back to normal hoping not to use stimulants.</p>
<p>Good Luck to you both!</p>
<p>It is a good idea to deal with the disability office as soon as possible. Some even have early deadlines.</p>
<p>If your daughter is 18 they will prefer to deal with only her, even if she gives you a release. She should call or go online and see what the required process is for getting accommodations, gather the required documentation (I suggest writing the letter for the MD to sign, with desired accommodations listed on the letter, and I mean the maximum list).</p>
<p>It is also helpful if the MD can explain that migraines are not just headaches. There are auras and confusion before, and cognitive and emotional effects for a few days afterward. Furthermore, the best prevention, and the best way to recover, is to REST, so catching up on missed school work can make the recovery after a migraine even harder.</p>
<p>There are difficulties with college for kids with migraines. They cannot party and stay up the way others can. It is often necessary to get work done in advance, just in case a migraine happens at an important time. Sometimes a reduced courseload helps.</p>
<p>In the schools I am familiar with, the disabilities office or dean or whoever will write a letter for the student to give to professors. The letter will not reveal the problem but will state that the student has a registered disability and needs the following accommodations.</p>
<p>Examples of accommodations include single room, excused absences (though this is usually up to the professor), extensions on assignments, extra time, reduced course load, note taker (or smart pen from home). Extensive reading can be a trigger, and I know one student with migraines who put her reading on a tv screen to help (not sure what the technology is).</p>
<p>Colleges do not legally have to provide the same level of accommodation as a public high school, but most are pretty good. “Reasonable” accommodations are the standard.</p>
<p>In addition to looking into above accommodations proactively, it may be worthwhile to see if tuition insurance that covers unexpected health problems would make sense. It seems possible that with the quarter system there may be more “critical periods” annually. Best to your D.</p>
<p>mom60 – you may have already covered this with the neurologist, but some women experience migraines at certain times of the month due to surge in hormones. I read somewhere that they experienced relief by going on birth control pills. Sort of an odd approach but it helped some people.</p>
<p>Does she keep a “migraine diary” to track the potential triggers? Changes in temp/humidity were always a big one for me. Good idea to notify the school plus perhaps her roommate or to find friends in each class, so if she’s laid out for 3 days in a dark room, her head throbbing, at least people can take notes for her.</p>
<p>Classof2015-my older D’s migraines seemed to be more hormone related and she found some relief by using BC pills. This D the headaches don’t seem to be cycled. Through lots of trial of different treatment plans they have reached a point of having the headaches under control but living in a dorm will be a different experience.
Compmom- thanks you for your post. Good information to have before she calls the school. She has an appointment with the neurologist in a couple of weeks. I think I will also call his office prior to see how they have handled this in the past. Hadn’t thought about the single room. She is working on finalizing a roommate selection. She has two in mind and both are in her major.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention. I know you said she is on a daily prevention medicine but I found keeping a dose or two of medication on me during the day was a life saver. No need to go back to dorm to take it. Some classes I didn’t have time anyway to rush back, and other times I did.</p>
<p>I informed my roommate via email about the migraines, and what I would need to do as treatment if I had one. Very understandable, but there were times when she stayed up past midnight, and I had been in bed since 8 with a pillow on my head trying to block her light/noise out. If I had to do it over I would’ve asked my roommate before hand about her going to a common area at night if I was asleep, and I would’ve probably asked residential living if perhaps someone contacted them looking for a roommate with migraines or a similar condition.
In regards to singles, please keep them in mind because at my university they had a wait list for them, and in the end only 1 person got one. She was blind and her seeing eye dog was staying on campus with her. They had temp. singles set up for potential roommate issues, I worked in residential living, and had a parent call me saying her daughter needed a single asap because she was being threatened by her roommate. They were not very nice threats and the daughter was very scared for her life.</p>
<p>Also if she has weather related migraines, or allergies if her university does not have A/C in all of the dorms she should request one! My neurologist wrote a note regarding this. I was told either a A/C unit would be placed in my window or I would be in an dorm with it.</p>
<p>Just adding a few quick things. Tuition refund insurance is well worth it (we have used it twice in 4 years). Good suggestion.</p>
<p>The ideal situation is a single room in a suite of rooms, with a common area- if available. Also, white noise can help with dorm noise (there are tapes and also we bought a free standing gizmo with rain and other nature noises.) Or a fan even.</p>
<p>Some schools have a policy whereby a professor will ask for a volunteer notetaker (someone who would share his or her own notes). The volunteer makes copies and the copies are left in a designated spot for anonymous pick-up. At the other end of the spectrum, a student can just ask a friend. Some schools have lectures online these days, too.</p>
<p>It is wonderful that the migraines are under some control. None of us expects perfection, but the situation sounds positive. There are all kinds of approaches depending on the individual (my daughter still has no rescue meds, again because of other health conditions; she also cannot take bc pills but did do bioidentical progesterone for awhile). </p>
<p>It sounds like the last 5 years, as hard as they may have been, brought some progress for your daughter. We have met several students with serious migraines who made it through with flying colors, albeit with a few bumps. Good luck to her!</p>