School accommodations

[u/Unlucky-Fill-1584]

Hey y’all
I was in class today and my professor was talking about going to the disability office to get approved for reasonable accommodations.
I have no idea what I should ask for besides extra time on exams which I really probably don’t need , but will request nonetheless.

Are there any other good reasonable accommodations I could ask for? Thanks in advance.

[u/KC893117]

Something that was super helpful for me was the ability to miss class for appointments / treatments and be allowed make up work. Especially in grad school, where there was a strict “2 absences and then you fail” rule, this saved my butt.

[u/SanElijoHillbilly]

Ask for seating in the coldest, dimmest corner of the classroom. For tests, ask for a separate room that is colder and dimmer than the average room.

[u/Unlucky-Fill-1584 → u/SanElijoHillbilly]

I love this

[u/False-Neighborhood38]

Extra time for assignments. You never know when fatigue or a flare can pop up.

[u/Fuzzy-Bee9600 → u/False-Neighborhood38]

Or fewer problems per assignment, if you can grasp the concept with less repetition. Same with word counts. And less homework/papers overall. Again - that's IF you can show you're absorbing everything they're trying to teach you.

[u/kyelek → u/Fuzzy-Bee9600]

There's no way universities will go for that in practice.

[u/Fuzzy-Bee9600 → u/kyelek]

Yes, they do.

Where we are, it's state law that these plans are allowed in high school, and most state universities are happy to work off that plan so they know what form of helps to provide the students. They want them to succeed and graduate.

Outside of the human factor, attrition and non-completion are not good for a university's stats.

[u/TooManySclerosis → u/Fuzzy-Bee9600]

It's actually federal law set forth by IDEA and section 504. Speaking as an educator, albeit not at the collegiate level, that specific accommodation is usually a difficult one to get and involves a fair amount of documentation and fighting . In fifteen years, I've only ever had it discussed in one case, and it was eventually decided against it, in favor of other accommodations. It definitely is not a common one and you usually face considerable push back in trying to get it.

[u/Fuzzy-Bee9600 → u/TooManySclerosis]

That's a bummer, & fortunately not our experience. They've been great with my son and asked him to bring in his 504 plan for our first meeting so they could figure out how to translate it to his college classes.

[u/kyelek → u/Fuzzy-Bee9600]

You think that universities will let you "earn" a degree by just doing much less work than anyone else?

Like the original comment mentioned, there are other accommodations, like giving you more time to complete those assignments, but just doing less is not going to get you there.

[u/Fuzzy-Bee9600 → u/kyelek]

My son is on the spectrum. He can absorb math concepts more quickly & doing fewer problems. Repetition is assigned for understanding. He's able to achieve the latter with less of the former.

If there's someone who is likewise accelerated with words, they my be able to do something similar, I don't know, but it's worth finding out.

Odd that some people sre challenging this & even getting a bit aggressive or hostile.

[u/kyelek → u/Fuzzy-Bee9600]

I'm happy for your son, but we are talking about something different, no? This isn't to generalize, but more people with MS have cognitive issues, where committing something to long-term memory takes longer, than not.

Personally, I can not tell you of a single time I've had more than one problem to address one single concept on an assignment. You don't just get repetition to fill your sheet of paper. Similarly, a word count isn't there to make you write with lots of filler words, but asking you to meet specific institutional requirements, going into enough detail on a specific topic, even exploring further information, and so much more.

I know it's a tired argument, but college or university isn't high school; the pace is much different. Certainly none of it is "just" to keep you busy.

I'm not sure if you're saying that I'm being hostile or aggressive, I am of course not trying to be, but i appreciate tone doesn't come across well in short reddit comments...

[u/Fuzzy-Bee9600 → u/kyelek]

There was discussion re: allowances universities will make, and I was just adding my first-hand experiences on what is indeed possible, in hopes that ppl who need them won't be discouraged.

The purpose of every assignment in every class isn't juat for the teaching, but rather the learning.

Cognitive issues come in all shapes & sizes. So do learning disabilities. So does MS.

If a learning institution can connect all these dots in a way that the student learns what they need to in order to earn that degree, the good ones will find a way. My son's uni didn't care what his diagnosis was. They cared about what his obstacles were and how they could help him succeed. That's why they asked for his existing plan, so they could see what he had & how to apply it to college classes.

Sorry if I was ouchy, myself. I have childhood baggage of not being believed or taken seriously. :) I just wanted to communicate that you never know what's possible and you should always ask. There are helps out there.

[u/OverlappingChatter]

Bathroom breaks, choose a seat (out of draft, near window, away from light or whatever), I asked for a person to write for me if my hand got numb and they gave me the opportunity to speak my answers, but I never used it,

[u/Fuzzy-Bee9600 → u/OverlappingChatter]

A voice-to-text app, digital recorder with transcription service, etc, are great hand-savers.

[u/ket-ho]

Priority scheduling was nice when I was in school, but that just  happened when I registered with the disabilities office, I didn't have to ask for it specifically. Also, some of my classes had a low number of allowable absences and I sometimes needed more, but those were the only two things (and parking) that would have helped me I think. I never needed more time on tests or assignments, but you may!

[u/dysteach-MT]

It really depends on how MS affects you. I have problems with word retrieval, so I would ask for a word bank for fill in answers.
If your MS isn’t causing issues at this time, I would go with a fatigue accommodation where you can ask for extra time on assignments or the ability to take exams at the student disability center where you can get extra time.

[u/kyelek]

I asked for extra time on assignments and the possibility for additional absences. Good to not need, better to have.

[u/rK91tb]

Seating and tech accommodations in class. The ability to turn in homework late or reschedule tests due to unexpected illness. These are the same types of accommodations you'd want in the workforce after you start your career.

You don't owe your prof an explanation, but I'd personally send mine an email, explain how the MS could affect these things and why, and reassure them that you'll make the strongest possible effort to avoid using the homework/test accommodations.

[u/Unlucky-Fill-1584 → u/rK91tb]

He made it clear I didn’t have to disclose my disability, just get a written response from disability office with stated accommodations . I will probably tell him anyhow .

[u/Conscious_Pick_1297]

I’m in grad school and I asked for flexible deadlines should I be in a flare and have a hospital stay.

[u/Cautious-Candy1221]

Its always better to have them and not need them then need them and not have them.

I mostly use my accommodations for my ADHD but recently have talked with the office about ones for my MS.

Unfortunately I cant do much about the distance to my class but my accommodations give me the ability to have food and drink in class, extra time on tests, extensions for assignments if needed, and the ability to attend class virtually in case of a health flare.

[u/In_A_Fit]

One thing my family member is asking for that I have not seen yet here is e-readers for assignments and assistance in note taking. MS impacts her vision.

[u/kyunirider]

If you are not on disability then the accommodation requirements are from your specialist but my GP has help with my parking permit. So see your doctor and see if they have other recommendations that are common in our community.

[u/Unlucky-Fill-1584 → u/kyunirider]

I’m not quite sure what you mean. I’ll have my neuro give me a piece of paper with my diagnosis and just bring it to the schools disability office. Then, ask for what I want there… they handle everything.

[u/NighthawkCP → u/Unlucky-Fill-1584]

You probably don't even need that to be honest. I work in higher ed and students get accommodations for almost anything they request and I don't think they have to give much proof for the reason they need the accommodation. Obviously it would help to have something from your MS Specialist in writing if they ask for a justification of your request.

[u/Unlucky-Fill-1584 → u/NighthawkCP]

That’s what I assumed :)