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Feb 04, 2010 15:28

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asperger, university

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nscangal February 4 2010, 20:39:38 UTC
I've had to go talk to professors about my asthma a few times. I'd suggest that you go to them in their office hours and ask for an appointment to speak with them privately, and then let them know that you have Asperger's. Give them a brief description of what it is, what limitations (if any) you experience, and how you're trying to cope with them. Try to stay away from medical lingo (I'm horrible for that - I'll say something like "asthma is a pulmonary disorder involving atopic inflammation of the bronchi" and then realize that a layperson probably has no idea what I just said, PhD in Chemistry or no), and instead aim for an explanation that someone with no familiarity with your disorder can understand (in my case, "Asthma is a disorder that makes a person's lungs inflammed, which makes it hard to breathe sometimes.") Ask that they help you in dealing with it. Professors, in my experience, get a lot of people trying to milk very minor things into carte blanche to brush off the course, so consider offering suggestions for substitutions that are as much work (for example, in my case, when I couldn't do lab experiments, I offered to use someone else's data for a full paper-style writeup as opposed to a short report form). That should make it clear that you're not just another whiner trying to get out of work.

Also, if your university has a student advocate, make sure that s/he and the disability counselor both know about you and have your back - it is a lot easier to jump through the university "special exception" hoops if the administration is on your side. At my university, all it involved was talking to the student advocate and saying, "My asthma is uncontrolled right now and my doctor doesn't want me in labs - and here's a doctor's note to support that," and that was that: No labs for me for a month.

Finally, if a professor gives you trouble, speak with the disability counselor: They may be able to get the professor to see reason, even if you can't.

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