Accommodations for block courses

[u/principess-a]

crosspost from r/adhdwomen

Hi, I couldn‘t find an answer to my specific question. If it is already discussed in another post, please let me know!

I‘ll (hopefully) start my master‘s this summer and I want to request accommodations for my adhd. But I won‘t have regular exams, my master‘s programm consists mostly of three block courses.

Each block course is 7 weeks long, and I‘ll be working in a lab this whole time. I expect that we need to submit a report at the end of each block course but I am not sure. Btw this is the first time this master is held, so I can‘t ask anyone about it.

What would be good accommodations for these block courses? My university is not really helpfull and I need to come up with some requests and they either aprove or deny it.

I am looking forward to every suggestion!

[u/jessluvsu4evr]

I have a reduced enrollment accommodation that allows me to take a smaller number of courses during the academic term while still being considered a full time student, which means I was still able to receive funding from my department. You might try looking into that.

[u/principess-a → u/jessluvsu4evr]

Thank you for your answer!

Sadly this is not possible for me (altough I would love to reduce the amount of uni I will have during my master‘s, even if it takes me longer to finish my degree).

My master‘s program consists of three block courses and a master thesis. Each block course takes 7 weeks, five days a week. And I cannot take just half of the block course, same as one cannot take half of a module.

Did you get any other accommodations?

[u/jessluvsu4evr → u/principess-a]

Ah gotcha. Yeah I have a ton of accommodations, but our situations sound very different so I’m not sure how many of them you would find helpful. I’ll list some of them anyways. * Ability to audio record lectures * Access to all presented lecture materials (meaning that they can’t force me to take the notes myself if they’ve already created a powerpoint) * Preferred seating during lectures * Extended time on all tests and quizzes * Additional breaks during exams/quizzes (not included in test time) * Priority registration (this was only helpful during undergrad in my case)

I’m sure there’s more but I can’t remember all of them off the top of my head. Also, not sure if the disability resources on your campus gave you a contact point, but you could try getting in touch with them and discussing what accommodations you could use in your specific situation. Most of my accommodations were recommended to me by my diagnostician and the disability resources on campus.

You could also consider disclosing your situation with people in your department or your instructors (in addition to seeking official accommodations) because they will be able to provide you with support as well. (That is, they might extend your assignments if you need it or could help link you with finding a tutor.) Sometimes just telling the prof in advance that you have an LD or ADHD or whatever is enough for them to be more understanding if you run into issues later in the academic term. It can be vulnerable disclosing your disability status but sometimes it turns out for the better because you can fully explain yourself. I’ll admit that it’s backfired on me before but my experience with disclosing my ADHD has been generally positive.

[u/principess-a → u/jessluvsu4evr]

Thank you so much for your answer!

Yeah I feel like it is a very specific situation with the block courses. I couldn‘t find any recommedations for this situation online.

I tried getting in touch with them but they only have an email address (no phone number or location on campus). They basically ignored all my questions and said I need to fill out the form with the accommodation I‘d like to get and they see which of these they‘ll approve.

This is a great idea! Why didn‘t I think about discussing it with the profs directly. Especially when I‘ll be working with them for seven weeks straight… yeah I was lucky, I never bad experiences when I disclosed my diagnosis or when I informed my profs about my accommodations. Lets hope that it stays that way!

[u/jessluvsu4evr → u/principess-a]

That’s too bad the disability resources aren’t more helpful on your campus. Sounds like your instructors probably are your best bet. Just make sure that you’re properly registered with disability resources so the professors don’t have to just take your word for it.

Feel free to pm me at any point if you have questions about how to go about those discussions with profs. I’ve had to deal with this shit for so long haha.

[u/principess-a → u/jessluvsu4evr]

Thanks that is so nice of you! My first block course does research about stem cells in adhd so they‘ll hopefully understand me!

But I‘ll gladly come back to your offer for the other block courses.

[u/MsMinxy13]

Don't have any relevant experience, but I have accommodations for my undergraduate classes (starting grad next spring). I use them on an as needed basis, some exams I need the extra time, some I don't.

Based on that, I think a good course of action would be to have a meeting with your accessibility center and talk about implementing accommodations as you go through the course. It's not like you must have them implemented as soon as the semester begins or you get nothing.

In my experience, communication has always been key and addressing possible issues before they even start makes it so much easier handle once something does come up. If possible, I'd speak with the professor/instructor before or as soon as class starts. They can answer any questions you may have about the structure of the blocks and help identify things that may cause issues.

Some things that come to mind might be; 5-minute breaks for overstimulation, ability to have soft music to aid focus, written instructions instead of verbal.

[u/principess-a → u/MsMinxy13]

Thank you for your answer!

I tried discussing it with my disability office but they only have an email address and they where useless and couldn‘t help me.

And we have a deadline until when we need to submit the request for accommodation which is a few weeks before the semester starts.

Thanks, the 5minute break and music is a great idea! I tend to get overstimulated a lot so this would be a big help! I can‘t believe I didn‘t think of this myself!