http://talk.collegeconfidential.com en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:28:31 GMT vBulletin 30 http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/images/misc/rss.jpg http://talk.collegeconfidential.com http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/810201-question-regarding-mentally-ill-pre-med-student.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:46:36 GMT If you have been treated in a psychiatric hospital for suicide/depression/etc, can medical schools find out when you apply? I know there are HIPAA laws but would that student be protected? The student has since then been in treatment, on the right meds, and very healthy. I also posted this in the premed forum. If you have been treated in a psychiatric hospital for suicide/depression/etc, can medical schools find out when you apply? I know there are HIPAA laws but would that student be protected?

The student has since then been in treatment, on the right meds, and very healthy.





I also posted this in the premed forum. ]]> Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD catharsis-310176 http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/810201-question-regarding-mentally-ill-pre-med-student.html http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/808640-mom-cs-great.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:43:49 GMT Hi Everyone,

My son (grade 10) was recently disagnosed with ADHD-Inattentive. Long story short: he thinks C's are more than fine. He has an above average IQ, so ability is not an issue. Personally, I think he could get all A's if he put his mind to it (which he won't), and I am not expecting that. He's content to coast along and get C's. (He's not yet on meds, but we are looking into that.)

So, how can I convince him that C's are not just fine? I've told him that a 2.0 will get him into the local comm college and leave him with no other options, but that seems to fall on deaf ears. I'm not obsessing about him getting into a top school, I just want him to have some options when the time comes.

Any advice for helping him see the light? Thanks. ]]> Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD BfloGal-289945 http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/808640-mom-cs-great.html http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/807917-princeton-student-sues-university-accommodations.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:00:03 GMT It is hard to know about the merits of the case, but I did not think Princeton would be especially accommodating with respect to accommodations.

See Princeton University student sues for more test-taking time - NJ.com

Princeton University student sues for more test-taking time

Sunday, November 08, 2009 Linda Stein SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

A federal judge has denied a request for a restraining order in a recent lawsuit by a Princeton University freshman who is asking for more time to take tests because of her various disabilities.

Diane Metcalf-Leggette, 19, contends the university is violating her rights for reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act because it refused to grant her "100 percent extended time during classroom examinations," according to the lawsuit filed Oct. 16 in U.S. District Court in Trenton. While Congress had amended the ADA to strengthen it in 2008, Metcalf-Leggette contends the university is not complying with the strictures of the law that is supposed to prevent discrimination against the disabled.

Metcalf-Leggette has "multiple disabilities which significantly slow her ability to read, to mentally "process' what she is reading and communicate her knowledge in the course of work in response to written communications," the suit said. While the university has granted her limited accommodations, "these are not sufficient to address the disadvantage she faces in a timed examination."

Metcalf-Leggette, of Centreville, Va., had tried to get the court to intervene before she began taking midterm exams, claiming irreparable harm if her requests were not granted. However, Judge Anne Thompson set a hearing in January, before final exams. "At this point, we're in the early stages of the lawsuit," said Emily Aronson, a spokeswoman for the university. "Still, the primary point is that the university is committed to ensuring access to its programs for students with disabilities. We are attentive to our obligations under state and federal law to ensure equal access to our programs and activities, and we have an Office of Disability Services that helps respond to these requests on a case-by-case basis as they pertain to the specific individual needs of each member of our community."

The school had previously agreed that Metcalf-Leggette can limit her exams to one a day, be in an area of "reduced distraction" for testing and take breaks during the exams. But her lawyer, Seth Lapidow, of Blank Rome in West Windsor, argued in the lawsuit that the university's efforts weren't enough.

"These are not sufficient to address the disadvantage she faces in a timed examination," the suit said. "Although Princeton University has acknowledged her disabilities and entitlement to accommodations under the ADA, it has denied her extended time on the internally inconsistent ground that she is not disabled." Lapidow declined to comment about the lawsuit.

Metcalf-Leggette had given the university documentation from a clinical psychologist/neuropsychologist showing that she has been diagnosed with four learning disabilities: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mixed-receptive-expressive language disorder, disorder of written expression and developmental-coordination disorder, which is a problem with performing written tasks, according to the lawsuit. She said that she disclosed her disability, which was diagnosed in 2003, when applying to the Ivy League school.

Metcalf-Leggette also argues that her older brother, David Metcalf, who graduated Princeton in 2008, also had learning difficulties and was allowed 100 percent time extensions on university exams. ]]> Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD shawbridge-65468 http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/807917-princeton-student-sues-university-accommodations.html http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/804742-math-issues-dyscalculia.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:24:09 GMT For quite a long time I've felt plain stupid when it comes to math: In second grade I cried over math homework, and in forth I wept over times tables (My parents had a teacher tutor me, and even then I struggled.) and each sucessive year of math has gotten worse and worse. When I entered High School, I had trouble but I wondered if it was the fact that my teachers switched suddenly rather than my learning.

But my mother has always commented that my math skills are generally over looked because I'm a gifted student. I do exceptionally well in my other classes, and did wonderfully in sciences without a lot of heavy calculating or figuring. (Biology and Environmental Science versus Honors Chemistry.)

I started to wonder more and more about this as I've found in Pre-calc all the equations I see on the board never *quite* come out the way they should when I write them down, or when I (in dismay) lose the 'x' or am subjected to giggles when I can't answer what x^3 * x equals, because I can't recall any of the rules of exponents (that have been reviewed in every math class *in* HS). I recently took a test, and one of the problems I did was right...save for the fact that two numbers had switched themselves. (Despite the fact that I had written down on my test that the odd numbers went in one place, and the evens went in another.)

I quickly pleaded with my math teacher that it was "obviously a moment of math dyslexia! I explained it over here, so those numbers just got mixed up!"

But that was neither the first, nor the last time numbers have done things I did not want them to. I did a little research and came up with the term Dyscalculia.

Quite simply, I have trouble with math. A lot of trouble, and even if I study, or ask for help, or peer review, nothing seems to help.

In fact, I looked up the common symptoms and found this:

Symptoms: Dyscalculia.org ~ Math Learning Disability Resource

Which covered things I had no idea would be included. (Severely poor at athletics, or dancing, trouble conceptualizing streets, maps, etc. I actually don't drive for this reason, and once got lost along the more major streets close to my neighborhood...I have difficulty with sequences of events, mental math, obssesively count cash before I use it, and am otherwise very creative and verbally/linguistically gifted. Everything but: Can't keep scores in games and unable to read music.)

I've logged countless hours of fruitless math learning, only to forget most everything on the test, or the formulas needed, or switch/lose/drop numbers. I've asked my current teacher nicely to allow for formula sheets on tests, make up work, re-doing of tests, or extra credit of some sort, but to no avail. My own Grandmother is a Math college teacher, and while known for being patient and kind, is often stumped when I suddenly 'lose' some of the equation she's helping me on, or multiply when I mean to add.

The only question I have then is, how do I approach my guidance counselor about what I believe is an actual problem somewhat beyond my control? I attend a public school...is it reasonable to ask if they can do diagnostic tests on me? If I do have a problem, can I explain my diagnosis to colleges via my counselor (and to a lesser extent the fact that my grades are barely passing in math?)

Is there a way to get help for this problem, or do I just have to grit my teeth and pray I don't fail math? ]]> Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD Yurtle-252850 http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/804742-math-issues-dyscalculia.html http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/804359-colleges-support-ld-add-students.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:15:57 GMT I am looking for recommendations for the best colleges in the Northeast for students who have LD's including ADD. ]]> Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD jjw1231-294624 http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/learning-differences-challenges-ld-adhd/804359-colleges-support-ld-add-students.html