<p>Missypie; Do you think your son is well matched with a program that focuses on your son’s area of high interest? I honestly think the key to your son’s success is making sure he is in a program which offers the kind of courses that he is interested in.</p>
<p>Hoping some of you might respond. I found this thread searching for information about getting a notetaker. S was diagnosed his first year of college officially with dysgraphia, a neurological writing disorder. (He suffered a serious brain bleed at birth. His prognosis then was some degree of retardation.) We’d long known he had horrible handwriting, but in high school he was such a great, and well-liked student that teachers overlooked. With a few exceptions, he was able to excel by reading the textbook thoroughly.</p>
<p>His college has recommended accommodations that include a Notetaker and access to instructors notes. Its been over a year and he still has not had luck in any class getting a volunteer notetaker or professor help with notes. He reads his textbooks and has managed to keep his head above water until this term. Hes learning that much of what is on the tests in two classes comes from lectures, from which he has no notes. He can type notes well, but these classes have many graphs and special notations.</p>
<p>While hes dropped the ball plenty, giving up much too easily when it comes to pushing for the Notetaker, why does it have to be so difficult? Professors write the request for a volunteer on the board but no one responds. Do other students fear the curve being influenced if they share their notes? My son is reserved, not exactly shy, but very unwilling to inconvenience others. How can we coach him to be a better self-advocate? As parents, what should our role be with the school and how much pressure should we try to exert?</p>
<p>One of my work-study jobs in college was being a paid note-taker. I never knew the students that my notes were given to, I just turned in my schedule at the beginning of the term and the disabilities office let me know which of those classes they needed notes for. I turned in my notes within 24 hours after each class to the disabilities office, and they passed them on to the students who qualified for them. The big bonus for me (in addition to getting paid for doing what I would have done anyway) is that most professors were very cooperative about going over the notes with me before I turned them in if I had any questions…extra review time for me.
I think it is terrible that the school is expecting volunteer notetakers to appear. It is extra work to make notes clear and usable for someone else, and that should be a work study job.</p>
<p>If you haven’t already checked… many colleges/profs make notes available online.</p>
<p>Online notes have been helpful in classes that have them. Unfortunately, these do not. S says professors lecture without notes - he’s impressed with their brilliance, but certainly not helpful for getting professor notes.</p>
<p>My heart goes out to you. He suffered a serious brain bleed at birth. Seems that the college should be able to provide this accommodation. I agree this should be a work-study job. Have you ever actually gone to their resource room (not the Sp Ed office). You might discover the people there can be very helpful.</p>
<p>He’s worked with the Academic Skills center, meeting regularly with an academic coach. They are in the same office but separate departments and duties. S finally got some notes from a reluctant kid tonight at 9pm - pretty much stalked him - and could not get through the hour-long technology maze in the library to scan and email them to himself. He needed cash to print, and of course didn’t have any - atm trip would have taken an hour, plus it would have been a small chunk of change. He has the notes until mid-morning, and I’ll be on the phone at 8am with the accessibility office to see if they can copy them. </p>
<p>This is only a temporary fix, as the kid was hard to track down, and reluctant to lend. There’s got to be a better and easier way. S said he spent an extremely disrupted study day trying to get these notes, and still hasn’t gotten copies or studied them. Very non-productive.</p>
<p>Geez - I saw the title of this thread and was going to get on it and tell the OP to “talk to Missypie, she may be able to help you”. Nevermind, girl. I haven’t even read it yet, but I will.</p>
<p>That’s a difficult situation! Is he friends with anyone in the class? If so, is there a possibility he could explain why he can’t take notes and ask if they will be the volunteer? Sometimes when you ask a group to do something, no one does because every person assumes “someone else will, so I don’t have to worry about it.”</p>
<p>On a personal level, I will tell you why I would never volunteer to be a notetaker . . . my notes get more and more hastily scribbled and borderline illegible as class goes on. If I have to take notes at a fast pace, I also misspell words pretty wildly. I loaned my notes to one of my friends and felt obligated to say, “Uh . . . I DO know how to spell, really.” I would be embarrassed to give anyone my notes on a regular basis (and don’t think they would make much sense to anyone else anyhow.) And I think that is normal for a lot of students as well.</p>
<p>The reluctant kid is a friend/frat brother, and his handwriting is pretty hard to read, apparently. Your explanation makes sense, and may be the reason he is so hesitant to share notes.</p>
<p>The accessibility office did mention that they don’t have fund to pay notetakers and depend on volunteers. Understandably, everyone’s budgets have been cut. My husband and son were dismayed with my extremely joking suggestion that he sell his college provided meds to pay a notetaker!</p>
<p>Is your son able to jot down a few key words throughout the lectures? My dd now has a disability due to an accident last spring and is working through the office of disabilities at her school. One of the things offered to her but that she declined is the Smart Pen [Livescribe</a> :: Never Miss A Word](<a href=“Livescribe :: Never Miss A Word - Livescribe – Livescribe Inc. (US)”>Livescribe :: Never Miss A Word - Livescribe – Livescribe Inc. (US)). I wish I had had one of these available to me while in college just because I was a lousy note taker.</p>
<p>The neurological part of the disability prevents him from being able to listen and write at the same time, though he can type. It’s been explained to me that the brain is consumed with the mechanics of writing. Dysgraphics write in cursive as to not have to decide where to put their pencil down after picking it up in between letters. S also cannot construct notes without an example. Fortunately, he took three computer application classes between 6th and 9th grades, which taught him great typing skills.</p>
<p>Sent S link on pen - might just work.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone.</p>
<p>I think the disabilities office needs to understand that the ADA obliges them to accommodate this student. Your son should not need to advocate for himself in this way, chasing down a student with notes, making copies himself and so on.</p>
<p>While it is true that the standard of accommodation at college is lower than in public high school, I think this particular lack of accommodation makes them legally vulnerable.</p>
<p>They should have paid notetakers, as someone else said, and an anonymous system whereby the notes can be easily picked up. The purpose of accommodations is to level the playing field.</p>
<p>Campuses are not all up to par with this stuff, that’s for sure, and legal precedents are only now being established for some issues.</p>
<p>You can decide to be part of the solution for your son and for others, by consulting with a lawyer or advocate. This situation is not acceptable at all.</p>
<p>You all have been very helpful and I very much appreciate your thoughtful responses. It’s ironic that my son finds himself in this position. An eagle scout, he was the unofficial advocate for a young wheelchair-bound scout in his troop. When I asked him why he didn’t earn the Disabilities Merit Badge, he irately responded that it was “just wrong” to chance that scout thinking the badge was the reason other scouts were helping him.</p>
<p>Teachers were perplexed that S made 4’s on their AP tests and his SAT writing score was much lower than M & V, which prompted us to ask at his pediatrician’s office (his had just retired, but often mentioned not being admitted to a service academy because of a minor thing on his medical record). The long-time nurse immediately gave the name for S’s disability – spring of S’s senior year. With S’s stellar school success, seems his long-time pediatrician didn’t want anything negative on the medical record, especially since S had mentioned interest in a service academy.</p>
<p>We took the nurse-generated, doctor signed letter to Student Accessibility upon the recommendation of a friend “just in case” S ended up needing help. They required extensive testing producing diagnosis of two disabilities: Dysgraphia and ADD (thought that was just boy-dom). We’re new at advocating and helping S advocate. S has also not used an advisor in picking classes, which has bothered us. We now realize an advisor could steer him to professors who post online notes. </p>
<p>I will begin proactively seeking better information and help today.</p>
<p>There was an article on that Livescribe pen in the NYT magazine earlier this year:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19Livescribe-t.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19Livescribe-t.html</a></p>
<p>I was amazed by it and wished I had one when I was in college!</p>
<p>getalifemom, I haven’t followed this whole thread but, similar to your son, ShawSon cannot listen and take notes at the same time. His college pays for kids in the class to be notetakers. He evaluates them. This was something we explicitly asked about at schools after he was accepted.</p>
<p>I have gotten ShawD and ShawSon both livescribe pens. She loves it and uses it lots. He tries to use it for courses with proofs/derivations. He’s had it for a few weeks so I’ll ask him when he comes home (he’s going to drive home today – yea) if he is finding it useful. I’d say 50/50 probability that he is actually using it.</p>
<p>I have issues with listening/writing at the same time (but can type fine) and LOVE the idea of the livescribe pen, but as someone with dysgraphia due to neuropathy I could never use it. I wish there was a similar technology that didn’t require actually writing by hand. I can’t hold a pen!</p>
<p>S was given a very small lifeline by the panic-attack test’s professor. She (and we) was not happy that hed not been in for help. He will start going to office hours regularly. He enrolled early on in a study group, but decided after one meeting that it was not helpful. He is a loner in many ways, including studying so that if he gets on the wrong track he stays there! Weve admonished him many times to, at the very least, find a study partner but he doesnt. Is this personal temperament or ADD typical behavior? </p>
<p>He’s meeting with the accessibility director on Monday and hopefully a solution can be found for getting notetakers and notes. S’s dean, who hes never gotten to know but needs to, personally copied the borrowed notes yesterday morning while he was in his first class so that he could return them to the friend in 2nd class. The school is being reasonably helpful, but understandably requires S to try to help himself, which has been his downfall.</p>
<p>S got a much needed break from this three-day saga going to an out-of-town concert last night, is back safe, and will start deciphering the copied notes today. Im nervous because, while Id like to believe he has the gumption to fight his way back, hes slipped in his other two classes, too, and needs to manage many things at the same time. Drop date has passed.</p>
<p>We are trying to get him seen by someone who can address the panic-anxiety situation hes faced and try a different medication over the break. Previously, he talked with his local doctor about the anxiety, which he experienced even in high school, but the treatment plan has been to address the ADD and hope that remedies the anxiety. Im learning its possible that the ADD medication, which he says he doesnt like and uses only sporadically, may be inducing or exasperating anxiety. S has the neurological background to support an ADD diagnosis, but also family history of depression and anxiety. He may have a combination. S has joined a frat (a social step we support even though we know it is contributing to the academic demise) and is drinking a little, plus trying to eat better and may have reduced his caffeine intake by cutting back on soda. No illegal drug use. The alcohol, caffeine, and sporadic medication use combination need to be addressed and balanced. Ive got to read up on this!</p>
<p>Those of you who have dealt with similar issues for years are so very helpful and I cant thank you enough for your insight.</p>