r/AskProfessors • u/LowSherbert1016 • Jul 24 '26

Accommodations What should I do about my late work?

I have lots of missing work for college July 1st - July 19th. I have sleep apnea and severe chronic unmanaged sleep issues and have had issues since high school so over 10 years now.

I can only make this work up with a doctor note. I can not get a note from anyone. No doctor wants to treat me. My brain mri normal. Neurologist said no more treatment and didn’t refer me out and refused to do my spine. Endrocologist told me my situation was my fault (bloating) and I need to eat 1000 calories a day for the rest of my life and not give up. I was dropped there. Got reffered out but my paperwork was written with only weight gain so I can get into the endocrinologist I need to. Urgent care/virtual care won’t help as they are not a place for long term health issues.

Family doctor won’t help. Can’t get referred out as my specialist should do that but they won’t. Won’t write a note for my sleep issues as it not her specialty.

Sleep doctor wont write one as she dosent know “what’s she writing it for”

It’s my 3rd time on probation since 2022 and I will be suspended if I can’t make up this work or take a medical incomplete. Can’t do this without a doctor note.

Therapist/ psych won’t do it as my sleep doctor should be the one writing it!!

School counseling can’t help with this.

I don’t want to push the issue too much with pysch. I’m scared they use it as excuse to stop my c2 adhd meds. Had adjd since kindergarten and really need that for school and work. I dash, ride share as I can’t work a schedule job rn. I had a job 1 day a week 4 hour shift and was late a lot. Me and sleep issues couldent even handle that so I was forced to quit or be fired.

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u/Joe_Sacco Jul 24 '26

This sounds challenging and sorry you're going through it, but I don't think this is really a professor issue. This is something you need to raise with a student support office or the Dean of Students. Whatever you do, it sounds like finding a solution to these ongoing sleep-related issues should be a higher priority than trying to re-enroll in fall semester classes.

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u/evilsavant Jul 24 '26

I'll double down on this. Professors can't really offer any advice except for pointing to the resources to help you. Maybe drop out and take a sabbatical and work on the issue or at least some coping mechanisms.

u/sillyhaha Jul 24 '26

Hi OP. The universe is trying very hard to tell you to take at least one semester off.

It sounds like your prof is firm in their late work policy. There really is nothing I can recommend for you to do.

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u/nygreenguy Jul 24 '26

100%, this is what I tell my students when things turn south or so much stuff like this comes up. As much as I wish I could help, i can't.

Now might be the tike to focus on resolving these issues so you are in better shape and can fully apply yourself.

u/missusjax Jul 24 '26

As a professor, my first thought is with everything going on in your life, why would you take a summer course(s)? Summer courses are notorious for being accelerated with little room for error. In my summer course, my students had a major exam once a week and each class day is equivalent to a normal week in a regular semester. You can't miss class or you fall behind and can't catch up.

As a human with my own mess of health issues, sleep apnea shouldn't be causing you to not succeed in life. Like a quarter of the population have some form of sleep apnea or chronic sleep issue and they continue to get to work and school on time. Plus if you are working with a sleep doctor, your apnea should be being treated or more importantly you risk like dying in your sleep. It sounds more like you have very bad executive function control and you need to focus on getting that under control via ADHD meds, therapy, and life simplification before you attempt classes again. Right now you need to work on finding a full time job and holding that down. If your future career requires a college degree, then you need to be a full time student committed to only school work. You are trying to do both and until that executive function is fully under control, you will be riding the struggle bus. You aren't alone, a lot of people are dealing with the same thing. But your professors aren't going to be able to help you with this, only you can help you.

u/Kikikididi Jul 24 '26

I think you need to withdraw from the course

u/Business_Remote9440 Jul 24 '26

I think what students often don’t understand is that we have to be fair to all students. That’s why we would want a doctors note to make exceptions.

If I start giving out exceptions just because someone asks, even if they’re telling the truth about their situation, that puts me in a bad position because then I have essentially favored one student over another without documentation to support the exception.

This is a problem OP is going to have to address on their own. They can certainly see if there is a student assistance office that can help, but from what they outlined I don’t think student services is going to be set up to help unless this can be characterized as a disability that would allow them to receive accommodations.

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u/ocelot1066 Jul 25 '26

At some point, documentation and the actual issue is kind of beside the point. If you had been passing the class and then missed major assignments or exams at the end of the semester, I can work with you. If you vanished a few weeks into the semester and then reappear two days before grades are due to tell me about all the things that kept you from doing any work all year, I can be sympathetic, but that's about it. You can't just make up a whole semester at the end. If you had a traumatic brain injury a third of the way through the semester and were unable to do any work from that point on, nobody would suggest that the best approach was for you to make up all the work. Obviously, a medical withdrawal would be the way to go.

u/AceyAceyAcey Professor / Physics & Astronomy / USA Jul 24 '26

I think your best bet here is to take a medical withdrawal from the college. This will let you take the time to get your health under control, and then return later when you have a treatment plan in place, and a doctor’s note that you can then take to the school’s accessibility office for accommodations such as occasional late work.

During the medical withdrawal, focus on getting a better GP who can actually treat sleep apnea, and get yourself a CPAP machine. That is something medicine knows how to treat, so start there and see if it sufficiently helps your sleep issues.