Neurodivergent on Yik Yak | Hi! I’m a chronically ill recent grad and interviewing to be a college disability services advisor! But I mainly have experiences with physical disabilities. What do you wish your disability services ppl knew that would make your experience better?

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Neurodivergent 9w

Hi! I’m a chronically ill recent grad and interviewing to be a college disability services advisor! But I mainly have experiences with physical disabilities. What do you wish your disability services ppl knew that would make your experience better?

Anonymous 9w

Even if I look “okay” on the outside I may still need supports/accommodations

Anonymous 9w

Sometimes, when advocating to professors for students, you have to talk about cognitive disabilities in the context of them also being physical disabilities, but invisible ones. I found this out when advocating for myself after my school’s accessibility office “couldn’t help me” with certain aspects of the accessibility process. Really, a lot of it was them not being prepared for my needs to be outside of the “one size fits all” model they had set up for those of us with invisible disability

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Anonymous 9w

That none of the professors cared to follow the accommodations at all, and I really wish they would have explained what to do when they don’t follow the accommodations and how to let the professors know about the accommodations, as well as emergency resources if you get sick and need a medical withdrawal (because I didn’t even know that was a thing until long after the deadline).

Anonymous 9w

i’d want everyone to be aware that a ton of different mental health issues can cause cognitive difficulties—it’s not just the diagnoses most commonly recognized as cognitive / developmental disabilities, or the ones that list these setbacks as part of diagnostic criteria. executive dysfunction and brain fog, for instance, are way more common than most people recognize

Anonymous 9w

Sometimes accommodations can conflict. Like if someone needs to have a fidget toy to help them focus, there is a possibility that the use of that fidget toy will overstimulate someone else. I know there’s a name for this, but I can’t remember it. A similar example would be someone who needs attendance accommodations, which could impact their partner(s) in a group project. So basically, just be prepared to potentially come up with solutions for conflicts like that.

Anonymous

#2 9w

specifically i would want this reality to be taken into consideration 1) when neurodivergent & mentally ill students are asking about potential schooling-related accommodations, and 2) any time paperwork or phone calls may pose an accessibility barrier

Anonymous

#1 9w

Absolutely, most disabilities are invisible! If I want someone to believe me when I say I need help it’s only fair that I extend that to other people no matter what!

Anonymous

#2 9w

Totally agree. I had to fight to retake German because I literally couldn’t remember any of my German language skills after developing PTSD. But they said it wouldn’t be fair cause I “had experience”. I remembered nothing. Students don’t make this stuff up for fun. I also firmly believe 99% of things could be an email (boo phone calls) and paperwork is needlessly complicated. I’ll definitely make a sign saying I help with paperwork!

Anonymous

#3 9w

For example, I had a combination of chronic illness and depression, both of which caused me to be bedridden some days. I had to fight tooth and nail (and eventually pull my dad into it when my emails kept being ignored) for an attendance accommodation.

Anonymous

#3 9w

Even after that, I had one prof who would take points elsewhere because me being able to “skip class” while not being “visibly sick” made him very angry for some reason I do not understand. You will need to potentially warn students of this behavior, and believe them when it happens. Because it very likely will.

Anonymous

#3 9w

*note: the chronic illness was, and still is undiagnosed. This was a HUGE hindrance in the process, because they basically required one for me to get in the door of the Acc. office. I’ve been to many doctors for it, and nobody can give me a name for it, so we went at the accommodations through the route of my migraines, using a diagnosis from my psychiatrist.

Anonymous

#3 9w

Not to be blunt, but it sounds like your office sucked and I want to be nothing like that! I think battling with the stubborn professors will be the most rewarding part of my job bc they made my life hell too! I also had an attendance accommodation and graduated summa cum laude. They’re really not a big deal (if the profs ego is in check!) also you don’t need a Dx and I don’t need to know it. You only need a MLF to be impaired. That’s all I need to know and I’ll fight for you!

Anonymous

mother_russia 9w

Honestly my answer would be “come to me”. I know lots of schools say you should talk to them first, and sure maybe one reminder if they really forgot, but we know most don’t just forget. It’s not your job to keep them in check, it’s mine! And all the schools I applied to had a notification system in place with letters of accommodation. But I’ll definitely make sure that’s super clear.

Anonymous

mother_russia 9w

Anonymous

#5 9w

I think it’s just conflicting access needs/accommodations. I think I’m pretty good at dealing with this since I have a service dog and know people who know people with allergies or phobias. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot I can do if no one speaks up about the conflicting need but I can definitely counsel mindfulness (quiet fidgets, reasonable attendance modifications for group projects or more communication/proactiveness, etc)

Anonymous

OP 9w

Yup, that’s another way of saying it. And I’m glad to hear it! Another thing you can do is bring awareness to it, let people know that there’s someone who can help them figure out what to do in the case their needs conflict with another’s