posted
When I first became too ill to function two and a half years ago, I was in the middle of my few remaining courses before I was to earn my BA as a psychology major. I was literally just about to go into my last quarter of classes.
The program I was studying under was distance learning; some of the courses were done online on a type of forum and others were completed with a series of phone calls and mail exchanges of my work and feedback through "mentors" approved by the college.
This may seem unusual but it was accredited and worked well for me since my husband and I traveled often. Before I became ill I was an A student which I have been most of my life.
The trouble with the school (which I am not going to name at this point) had one professor out of the four I was working with who refused to allow me time to catch up on my work when I started to deteriorate.
This baffled me because I was close friends with a student who had taken the same course with her the previous quarter and had no health issues and was given plenty of extended time when she fell behind out of laziness.
I explained to this professor what was happening to me and she adamently refused to grant me time to complete. The part that bothered me the most was that if she had given just a little extra time I probably would have been able to complete the course.
Since it was taking all I had to get by as it was, fighting with this professor so as to not fail the course completely drained me to nothing. After a drawn out battle with this professor and this school, I was granted time to finish the course with another professor.
This is was only after we had my doctor at the time give them proof of my mystery illness which was a documented diagnosis of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. ***Note: I did not have a diagnosis nor was I even aware that Lyme disease was the actual culprit.***
I was told that with this on file with the school, there would be more understanding when I needed time to catch up or other special allowances. Unfortunately, I never became strong enough to return and after three consecutive leaves of absence, I was automatically dropped withdrawn from the college.
I was also told that it would affect my being awared financial aid and that I would receive no credit for the courses I was in the midst of. I understand receiving no credit but I feel that they should be removed from my transcript.
It's not like I was just being irresponsible and flunked and now I'm trying to get out of it, which is what they seem to think. If those courses remain on my transcript it is my understanding I will have no chance of getting financial aid and I cannot afford it on my own.
I don't know what to do. I figured someone on here has to have been through the same thing and I am feeling slightly stronger as of late so I would at least like to brainstorm. Its hard to do it on my own anymore with a variety of cognitive neuro symptoms.
posted
I feel you. I'm in my last year, and though I've been intermittently sick for years and struggling with school, its never been so hard. I've never been quite this sick or had this level of neurological problems. I'm a design major and most days my hands are in too much pain and too rusty to get anything done. I'm so behind and there's only a week left in the semester. It's all so overwhelming.
Posts: 9 | From Northern NJ | Registered: Nov 2008
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Geneal
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10375
posted
I have a B.A. and a Master's Degree in Education.
No one asked to look at my transcripts....
Just the "degree".
Hang in there.
Hope you get to feeling better and finishing up your school.
I wouldn't hesitate to have my LLMD write a letter supporting
My abilities and lack thereof to present to the college you choose to go to.
Or just take a lighter load. One class at a time.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posts: 6250 | From Louisiana | Registered: Oct 2006
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posted
Thank you for your suggestions. It is good to have an objective point of view, especially because it's hard enough to think at all let alone problem solving.
I think I'm going to wait until I am stronger before I tackle this. My husband reminded me that I need to rest rather than push myself into a stressful situation. I think he is right.
posted
Just wanted to add that you can call the nearest federal Dept. of Education's Office of Civil Rights for advice on this anytime. You do not need to be filing a complaint to call them.
I got my daughter through high school, and now part of college, thanks to my wonderful contact person at the OCR.
This can be done even when you are tired. It is possible that they will call the college for you, too, to work with them in a way that is NOT yet an investigation, but an educational effort.
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Thanks so much for sharing that information! I will definitely look into that since I didn't want to get into an investigation at this point. I've relapsed again and have no energy to get into anything too stressful.
posted
I used to be a professor. I know that the title seems to make some individuals who have it feel entitled to certain "powers" regarding their students.
In all of my years of teaching (nearly 26) I NEVER held a student's illness or handicap against them. If it took them 3X the time to complete their work, I didn't care.
I felt my job was to see them through, and feel confident that they were leaving me with the knowledge and skills that they needed.
On a personal level, I had to do it. I knew what it was like to be sick and have to work.
On a legal level, we were required to prove that we HAD done everything possible as an institution to assist a student in graduating. I believe the ADA has a say in that.
Here in NJ, many (I will not go beyond what I know and say "all", but I hope so) of our schools (again, I will not speak for all of our post-secondary schools) provide extra time for Lyme and similarly diagnosed students for tests, SATs, course work, etc.
I can tell you that there definitely IS a way for you to complete your studies ---
it will take some leaning on certain depts at your college.
OptiMisTick has some very valuable information there for you. I see that you're not feeling too well at the moment, but know that it's there.
You should prepare a letter explaining all of this for your school's Department Chair (of your major) as well as the Dean.
Now that you have a Lyme diagnosis, include that. And include what types of accomodations you require (time, work from home, work online, etc).
You should also prepare one for the Financial Aid department as this department is tied into the state, and is subject to state requirements and regulations.
In other words, the state (which gives their money into a school's Financial Aid dept) would not be happy to hear that a student with a disability was denied assistance when they requested it and that assistance would have benefitted them (graduation).
You may also, as suggested, contact a neighboring college and tell them your story. They may be willing to accept your credits and allow you to continue and complete from there.
If you are considering returning to your original college, request a meeting with the Dept Chair and Dean. Be sure that they understand and are going to back you.
Remember this --- the college is providing you with a service. You are not asking for anything out of the ordinary. You are paying them for their services and are entitled to rightful assistance.
Again, I see that at the moment you may not be well enough to tackle all of this. But just keep this info and when you are up to it, get the process started, little by little.
Feel free to PM me if you need anything.
-------------------- The Bite: July 1995 Next 13 years: Treated for things I didn't have Symptom total: 45 1 faint Lyme IgM May 2000 5 More negative tests IGeneX says YES! 3/16/09 Finally feel human: 2012 Posts: 120 | From Plainsboro NJ | Registered: Feb 2007
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