Accommodations at university?

Anyone have any experience or knowledge about what universities can offer to somone who is struggling to be on campus and attend any group work sessions?  I know they'll probably ask the question about what the persont hemselves would find helpful.  However, i'm afraid the answer is likely to be, "Switching to doing the course online!"   I'm guessing this is likely to be a non starter.  :( 

Parents
  • Hi, JennyButterfly. Your university will usually have a department that supports students with disabilities - have you had a look at their website, or your student intranet site?

  • i've got the online information but struggle to think of ways of supporting someone who is not only reluctant to make contact with this department, but struggling with the thought of the interactions that this might entail.  The need is to know in advance what they could actually do and unfortunately anything we find listed online isn't deemed to be helpful.  To me it has the feel of not being able to access services because of the very nature of the problem (difficulties interacting).  

Reply
  • i've got the online information but struggle to think of ways of supporting someone who is not only reluctant to make contact with this department, but struggling with the thought of the interactions that this might entail.  The need is to know in advance what they could actually do and unfortunately anything we find listed online isn't deemed to be helpful.  To me it has the feel of not being able to access services because of the very nature of the problem (difficulties interacting).  

Children
  • Yes, I'm hoping that they'll assess his needs and be quite careful and patient with him.  We'll see.  It's not be equipment or travel he's after, more some consideration of the difficulties of actually attending on a busy campus plus the social aspects of his course like seminars and conducting a research project.   He'll be Ok with the purely academic bit, - project design, literature search and write up etc, but anything that involves approaching others will be difficult and might lead to him leaving.    

  • Heya :) 

    I can understand wanting to know what they can offer in advance, but as each case can differ, what they offer varies - the only way to know is to get in touch and go through the process. Generally, they can assist with things like specialist equipment, laptop, taxi fare (if mobility issue), printing etc. But as I said, it's hard to say exactly because they offer based on what you need. I know it's hard, but getting in touch will help you so much :) 

    Much love <3

  • It is frustrating. Admittedly, I gave up on seeking support with my online degree for the same reason - I found it difficult to engage with the department and I struggled to make sense of the information online. Would writing them a letter be an option? Perhaps you could ask a family member/friend who knows you well to help you with the letter?

  • difficulties interacting is the main reason why so many things are difficult. People need support to communicate with others. Another example is when people are experiencing financial difficulties or difficulties with other things like shopping etc. etc. and can’t get support partly to start off with people find it difficult to ask and communicate to people and people usually just bully if you tell them or ignore you or worse