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Mental illness in university
If mental illness counts as a disability in university, what type of "special treatment" do you get in school? How do you even bring that up to get special treatment? Like, writing in seperate rooms - but anyone would want that. I'm all for special ed students but I don't really feel like I should be there for depresion, you know? And wouldn't it be bad for me since I'm not going to get special treatment in my career anyways?
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Sorry for not answering a lot sooner... usually I keep on top of Advicenators, but my modem broke and I didn't have internet access for 2 weeks. I'm back, though.
It definitely does count as a disability. I had trouble figuring it out myself, but when you look at it there are ways that it would seriously impact your success in the academic and working world.
One thing I did forget to mention is that you only get the accommodations so long as you're under a doctor's care. That means you can't just forgo treatment in favour of receiving accommodations. The whole point is to ease your treatment, not to substitute it out.
To see what kind of accommodations are available, talk to your school guidance counselor. They will be able to help pull some strings and get you what you need. You will need medical documentation to prove that you need the accommodations.
I know it seems totally unnecessary, but it's very different from special education. In fact, I have a genius-level IQ. I was in enrichment classes up until high school. It's not a matter of not understanding the work, it's a matter of having difficulty in actually doing it. So it's not like special ed. Would you tell a blind student that they can't write an exam because they won't be able to read it? The blind student will do the same amount of work, but they will get special accommodations. Same deal.
I write my tests in another room so that I can get extra time (time and a half) to write them. I need the extra time because I have OCD, and I need to read and reread all the questions, check all my answers multiple times and rewrite any answers that look sloppy. Same goes for homework. Sometimes I need extra time because an assignment that should take a half hour takes three hours if I'm not in tip top shape. I am working on treating my OCD, but I'm not at the level where I can deal with it under high pressure.
I also get covered for absences. For the most part I'm okay, but recently I needed a medication adjustment for my bipolar disorder. For two weeks leading up to it and two weeks after, I was a wreck. I either wasn't sleeping or I was sleeping 18 hours a day. I couldn't focus on schoolwork, or anything for that matter. Because I have the accommodations in place, I don't fail entire terms because of situations like that any more. Usually, I'm okay, but I am still in the process of figuring out what my treatment dosage should be, and it's pretty tumultuous. Again, it's a hand-up, not a hand-out.
And actually, you're incorrect about not getting special treatment in the working world. Right now, I'm working with an occupational therapist. He works with people who are in school or the working world who need help fitting their illness in around their lives. An employer can't fire you for taking a disability related leave. He makes sure that you can get the accommodations you need while you deal with overcoming your illness.
Keep in mind that it's not a permanent thing. It's not like I'll always need special accommodations. I just need to be able to live life while I sort myself out, and this allows me to do so. I've tried to do things without any assistance, and because of it I've failed out of school and had serious lapses in treatment for the last 5 years. Now, with proper support, I'm finally making headway in living with a mental illness, and it's not so bad.
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