Accommodations for college

[TechWife]

If anyone has had their child request a private room for college due to a disability, would you please pm me? We need some tips. 

 

Thanks

[GoodGrief]

I don't have specific advice about the private room, but if there is a disability office at the college, consider registering there, or even just talking to them.  We have had a very positive experience at my oldest's large university, and there are helpful things they can do that one may not have considered.

[Michelle_NC]

I was wondering about this too!  Has anyone had to accommodate migraines?

[GoodGrief]

Michelle, we haven't dealt with migraines, but a similar "invisible" issue.  The office at my daughter's school will help in ways like notifying professors if the student needs to miss classes, which I could see going a long way in alleviating associated stress.

[Gwen in VA]

At least at dd's college, profs receive a letter at the beginning of each semester listing the accommodations that each student has requested. The student is then supposed to go and talk to the prof about what to expect -- as a type 1 diabetic, dd's list is rather long and rather strange, but she just explains to the profs that she has type 1 diabetes and has never yet needed to use any of these so they probably won't be relevant.

 

The BIG things about accommodations ---

1) Getting them is a pain. It is a red-tape process that involves letters from doctors, etc.

2) The process at every college is different -- some expect the doctor to request the accommodations, some expect a letter from the doctor but expect the student to request the accommodations, etc. Read all the fine print, make lots of phone calls, and follow the process.

2) They cannot be given retroactively. In other words, if your child does not have any accommodations but gets in a situation where they are needed urgently, the college may shrug its shoulders and say you should have sought them earlier. If your child MAY need accommodations, go through the process ASAP.

3) Once you have them, go to the medical folks on campus and say "hi." According to my friend who is a dean of students, colleges do not look kindly on students who do not seek normal avenues of help and then get into a crisis and expect everyone to jump. Lay the groundwork so if/when there are serious issues people are already on your side.

4) If your child's situation changes, remember to update thee accommodations. Again, there are no such thing as retroactive accommodations, so make sure that what is on the books is what your child needs.