|
by Linda G. Tessler, Ph.D., Psychologist, Bryn Mawr, PA
Continued from previous page
Develop Your Support System from the Beginning
As soon as possible, or before school begins, make yourself official,
register with the college's Office for Students with Disabilities. Find out where the
tutoring and editorial services are, introduce yourself, and create your supports. Make
friends in class. Other students are excellent supports.
Remember the fundamentals. From the first day in class be dependable.
Attend all classes: arrive on time, and complete work by its due date. When possible do
extra credit work. There's no substitute for hard work. This conscientiousness helps you
advocate for yourself, because professors want to help responsible students.
Decide in which subjects you are most likely to need help. Use your
high school experience as a guide. It's unlikely that those trouble spots will evaporate
when you get to college. It's also unlikely that you'll require accommodations
in every class.
By meeting with professors before something goes wrong, they will
not think you are using your learning disability as an excuse, and you will be in the
position to get the help needed from the start.
Be Professional
When you are ready to meet with your course instructors, schedule an
appointment. What you have to discuss is important. Don't catch the instructor in a rush
before or after class.
Bring some documentation describing your learning disability to the
appointment. Some people need things in black and white. Be friendly, greet your instructor
and maintain eye contact. Before getting down to business show interest in your instructor.
In life, if you want someone to be interested in you, show interest in him or her. The goal
is to get your instructor to cooperate with you and to promote mutual respect in the
process. School life is political and learning how to play the political game will be
good practice for life.
Explain what kind of learning disability you have and what accommodations
you require. Explain, for example, that you have an attention deficit disorder and therefore
need a quiet room, if you are dysgraphic you may need to tape record classes to enable you
to take better notes. When this connection is made between your disability and what you need,
few professors will turn you down.
It must be clear that you are not asking for standards to be lowered.
You are using tools to help you perform. To pass, you must perform the task that your
classmates perform. You may, however, need to get there in a different way. Dyslexic
students have to read the textbook just as non-dyslexic students do. They may just do
it differently through the use of books on tape.
Don't be aggressive. It isn't in your best interest to turn a professor
against you. But don't be passive either. Stand up for your rights. The best approach is
to be assertive. If things don't go well, ask the Office for Students with Disabilities
for help. No matter what happens in the meeting, thank your professor for his/her time.
Stay professional.
Many students have no problem getting their professors to cooperate.
Their success has a lot to do with how it's done. By developing these social skills,
you're developing your emotional intelligence, which is in the end one of the most
important accommodating techniques for overcoming a learning disability.
Linda G. Tessler, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist in private practice
in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Dr. Tessler's major interest is in serving persons
with learning disabilities.
©Copyright Tessler, Summer, 1998
Page <
1,
2 >
Back to top
|
