University slowly killing me

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Heh, when I could work a little (in disability work programs), I loved repetitive work because it meant my brain wasn't on concept-overload all the time the way it is with intellectual work. If I could work, I'd totally choose repetitive stuff.

In the US, the ADA requires accommodations for disabled students. The college is legally required to tailor itself to you to a reasonable extent. Obviously all students need to put forward some effort, but it is not reasonable to expect disabled students to put out more effort than abled students. I am not sure what you mean by "overcome the barrier," but the college needs to do its best to insure that the barriers don't exist in the first place.

This doesn't happen, obviously, but it's not reasonable to place the burden on students to deal with the problem.

How about take down the barrier, dismantle the barrier, meet the challenge and suceed, Its not totally up to the college to make sure the barriers do not exist, the student has to take the effort to "overcome it". You seem to be speaking of physical barrier, while I'm talking about more barriers than that.

let me give you a real life example of overcoming the barrier. This method of chatting with you is a big barrier for me. I find it hard to communicate this way. Its time consuming to write down my thoughts because it is hard for me to express them. I then fear that I wrote does not reflect what I am thinking. I end up spending hours and hours editing the post. The longer the post the more time spent on it.

I could say, its not for me. Its too much work, gives me headaches and wastes time. Should I expect WP to put in a voice chat in so I don't have to write to express my thoughts with you. Better yet should I expect WP to give me a device that will read my thoughts and type it up for me? Should I blame WP for giving me the headaches, wasting my time trying to write something and feel like what I have to say sounds stupid.

The answer is NO. WP can do what they can to accomoate me, but at some point its up to me to rise to the challenge and overcome the barrier that prevents me communicating. The question I ask myself, is it worth the time and headaches. Of course it is!! !! I enjoy "talking" with people that understand what I am going through, I like debating ideas with people on the forum and just hanging out. Any other forum I would not bother, but this one means a lot to me.

Thats what the OP and other people who find college hard and stressful need to ask themselves. Is it worth the trouble, stress and extra work to overcome their "barrier" in college. Some people think no and thats their decision and find alternate ways to educate themselves. Other people it is worth the trouble. To each person there is no wrong or right answer just what works for them.

It would be great not to have things like the ADA enforcing legistation for people with disabilities. People should empthaize with what the person with the disability has to go through and do their best to accomodate them. But it doesn't mean that the person with the disability (again mental or physical) gets a free ride. They have to make a effort themselves.

I need stop writing and take a aspirin. I have a huge headache

Thanks for the replies, I am glad I am not the only one that has struggled with this(probably why I always seem to eventually come back here).

mikeseagle: I do appreciate the tips a lot. Nothing I haven't heard before but great to be reminded when you are in a slump(like today). For 1) and 2) I am great at planning but screw up the execution. When I do plan I am twice as productive but I was slammed these two weeks because of mid-terms. Plans went out the window at that point. 4) is what I usually do. It is actually the only way I survive. 6) I am really stubborn. Like it is bad, I can't take notes but have a good memory so when I get home I right down anything I remember. because I don't want to need help. That said I am in the process of getting diagnosed, and my medical files for the ADD diagnosis haven't been released from deep storage. So I am stuck in limbo for the time being on that one. What I really want is some extra exam time because of my disgraphia(spelling??). 8 ) I need work on and 9) is the reason I am in this mess


For the other discussion, I think it is a both and situation. University might not gel with their personality or they might find there time better suited elsewhere( it is a big investment). There are things that schools could do to help Aspie students (like not having so many florescent lights ) The individual student has to have the right mindset going in. We do live in a mostly NT world so something just need to be dealt with. Like the fact that I want to cry from the overload whenever I enter the library My point is that it is a give and a take. One of my long time interest has been Abnormal Psych so I want to do counseling but need a degree to do that.If that doesn't work it's voice over work in my PJ's ( my back up plan)

I'm confused about where anyone said anything about giving anyone a "free ride".

I think there's a massive disconnect here between people who think of disability as an individual circumstance that is that person's job to overcome, and people who think of disability as the result of a society that will bend over backwards to serve the needs of one kind of people, and totally balk at serving the needs of another kind. It's nondisabled people getting the free ride, every time. That's what nondisabled means -- that your society gives you a free ride but throws barriers in the way of other (disabled) people.

Actually, it is up to the college. Obviously, there are barriers to participation for disabled people everywhere. I encounter barriers all the time. One barrier I couldn't overcome was managing to come across appropriately in job interviews, even after learning what one is supposed to do, I still wasn't able to manage it appropriately. There wasn't really a good way for me to take that barrier down because I didn't even realize that's what the barrier was, and getting feedback was often like pulling teeth.

But okay, it's like this:

An abled student comes to college at 0. The college is designed around students starting at 0, although probably someone coming in at -10 or even -20 can probably still manage it with some effort, without the need for accommodations.

A disabled student comes in at -100. The college provides accommodations to bring that student as close to 0 as possible. This is not a free ride at all, but an attempt to put the disabled student on as close to even footing as possible with abled students. Is it really fair to ask disabled students to spend all that energy themselves to reach 0 just so they can learn while other students just coast at 0 with no effort? Also, some students may be at -50, some may be at -200 or more. These aren't insurmountable obstacles, but it's a ton of work that no one person should be forced to shoulder just to have the same chance at an education as any abled person does.

It would most assuredly not be great to not have things like the Americans With Disabilities Act, as prior to its passage, things were pretty grim. Things still are grim, but at least there's an avenue for action and redress. Since people in general typically don't display helpful empathy towards those who may need assistance, it's difficult for me to imagine a world where such regard would be so automatic as to make such a law unnecessary. I wouldn't mind living in such a world.

Also, I agree with everything anbuend said about society vs. individuals.

Also, yes, I think that (I know there's exceptions) just about anyone who thinks it's better without the ADA, hasn't had the really serious barriers thrown in front of them that the ADA tried to rectify. Personally I don't think the ADA goes far enough, especially since people have been trying to whittle it down to nothing lately.

Just imagine this is you:

You cannot get onto most sidewalks, and are forced to walk in the street. Many people like you routinely die because you have to walk in the street.

You cannot get into just about any building. Stores. Post offices. Voting places. Workplaces. Schools. Movie theaters. Nothing. If you can get into a building, you cannot get into anywhere but the first floor, or you can't fit down the aisles, or...

You cannot get onto a bus, and there is no equivalent transportation for you. So you have to walk everywhere. Except... you can't get on the sidewalks. So you have a greater chance of getting hit by a bus than getting on one.

People constantly discriminate against you in employment, making it impossible for you to get even jobs you're totally qualified for (including when you're the best person who applied). They do this openly. This is totally legal. So is refusing to make it possible for you to, say, get in the door to the building if you do get hired.

And none of this is possible to simply "overcome", and none of this is your fault.

You really want to put people back into that situation?