Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, A level year & uni applications......

[northender]

Ds is in Y13 & has had 2 years of health problems (glandular fever, multiple tonsillitis, eye infections, surgery etc). Due to ongoing issues and chronic fatigue, he has been seen by an endocrinologist & diagnosed with CFS. He is relatively high level functioning as he manages his sport (cricket) but is struggling with A levels, Business, Maths & Geography & juggling this with sport & general 18 year old life! We encouraged that spread as he didn't know what he wanted to do next, he is bright & capable & at the end of Y11 we hoped his health issues would be resolved quickly. He is struggling now & I'm worried he won't make his expected grades (originally A* A & C )
As he now has the diagnosis, college are giving him the support he needs & more really I think. He's having exam rest breaks, hopefully extra time too & is finding both beneficial in tests so far.
He is planning to take a year out after A levels which I think will be right for him. He then hopes to secure a degree/higher apprenticeship locally. He wants to apply through UCAS now as a back up, but the grades required even at the local ex poly uni are high.
It's been such a tough couple of years & we've left the UCAS process late because of this & the CFS & now that is adding to the pressure he's feeling. I don't know what to do for the best as a parent, feel exhausted by it all myself & would love to hear about the experience of others in similar situations (good & bad).
Sorry for the long post.

[froggers1]

I've had CFS although I was late 20's when I had it. In my opinion I would take the pressure off. It all sounds very stressful. Why not get his A Levels done and apply next year when he knows his grades. I would be using a gap year to rest and recuperate and try and regain health. I tried lots of things to get better including diet and so on. The one thing that actually got me better was a therapy called Mickel Therapy. A bit of a leap of faith maybe.. but have a Google

[northender]

Thanks froggers I'll have a look at the Mickle therapy, someone else mentioned that to me a couple of weeks ago as something a friend of hers had found beneficial. I am trying to take the pressure off ds, but college have mentioned resitting this year if he doesn't get the grades he needs & he really doesn't want to do that so he is doing his best. Vitamin D is a major issue for him. He played cricket in the Sun in Feb half term this year & following that had his healthiest 3 months in ages. We have booked a sunny week away for Feb again in the hope it has a similar effect.

[Ginfordinner]

DD has CFS and was fortunate enough to be referred to the CFS team near us. The therapist has come up with some sensible solutions for DD to pace herself, and wrote to school so that she could get extra time for exams. She also wrote an open letter to DD's university so she could get extra support there.

DD saw disability services last week and they have been fantastic. She has a tendency to fall asleep during lectures so they are providing her with a recorder so she can record them in real time rather than wait for them to be put on the university VLE. She will get 25% extra time for exams and will get subsidised transport for when she goes into her second year if she gets accommodation that is too far to walk comfortably.

She also had a gap year.

[northender]

@Ginfordinner thanks for posting. I'm glad your dd has got to uni and is getting support. The recording lectures idea might really help ds I think. He struggles with staying awake in geography in particular & that could really help.
We looked at a local uni yesterday & although it is a newer uni & not regarded as the most highbrow, the course sounded suited to ds as it was quite practical & with a big focus on employability

[Ginfordinner]

Interestingly DD used to fall asleep during geography A level lessons as well.