Any uni staff - would you laugh at this request?

[homesickness]

I’m returning to uni in about 4 weeks - first time fave to face in two and a half years . Part of that involves clinical placement and obviously lectures too . Uni is inner city, half the buildings have like 17 floors - I have dyspraxia, horrendous vertigo at heights and causes panic attacks .

My GP has suggested I ask politely if my classes could be arranged to be on lower floors only, as I’d feel more comfortable and more able to engage, and turn up to class, and tackle fear of heights at my own pace .

I feel ridiculous even asking, but uni have asked me what adjustments I feel would help me - this would ... I’m already asking them though for a ‘quieter’ placement (ie not based in a huge hospital) and I’m worried that I will come across as me being demanding and fussy if I ask for both .

Would you laugh at a student asking for these things? GP said use the vertigo excuse and leave the fear of heights out of it in case they think I’m being a bit daft ... I genuinely don’t know if should ask - I know the lecturers well (going into third year) but don’t want to embarrass myself any more than I already have after being sent home two years ago very unwell !!

Absolutely ask, it certainly won’t be the strangest thing they’ve seen and they might even be able to sort it

My university would try to accommodate this if the request came through the right channels (so through disability services I think, sounds like you know the systems in your university already). However, room bookings are under pressure like never before this year - it's been getting worse, and then all the extra students admitted last year has put massive strain on the system. So at this stage, timetabling is done and it may not be possible to move.

Basically, it's a reasonable request but ask asap or it may not be logistically possible.

You can ask but it's very likely teaching room allocations will have been done already and depending on your course some specialist teaching spaces (clinical skills, labs etc) can't be moved.

Regardless it's worth talking to them to ensure staff are aware. The uni should have a disability support team

You can ask, if your GP can also provide a letter explaining your medical need for it then it would be classed as a reasonable adjustment on disability grounds, and nobody is going to laugh about it. They’ll probably tell you there’s only so much they can do due to scheduling and timetables, but they’ll be more than willing to work with you where they can.

It would need to go in a learning contract I expect, not because of your lecturers (because they have minimal control over the rooms they’re allocated to), but because timetables will have been arranged ages ago and they will need evidence / ammunition when they request a change.

They won't laugh, you have a condition.

I hope it'll be possible to accommodate you

I don’t think any uni staff would laugh, certainly not. But I’m not sure this is something they’d be able to do either. Would it help at all if they drew the blinds when you were in the classroom if it is on the upper floor?

If they've asked for accommodations, absolutely go ahead and suggest this. They may not need to know more than that your doctor recommends this. It's likely that they have the flexibility to do this - I've made similar adjustments quite often at this time of year to make things easier / safer for students with disabilities. It won't seem an odd request even if your university's layout makes it impossible.

As pp said, I wouldn’t laugh but in my institution it would be logistically impossible.

Definitely ask.

I think it would be difficult at this time in our university but they certainly wouldn't mind you asking. The issue in ours would be that timetabling as a dept operates fairly rigidly, so not sure student services could make that request. It's usually be between me as programme leader and timetabling and possibly my head of department.

As a plan B if it's too late or difficult to do a room change, could you ask to be seated in middle of room away from windows and have blinds down? Would that help? I know you still have the issue of getting to the room though

I’ve emailed the HoD asking as it was her emailed me in the first instance - fingers crossed . There’s just one building I can’t cope with at all, as it’s 17 floors and I find even getting in there a nightmare . However - I am moving into a student residence that has 13 floors, so might find that I very quickly have to adjust and get used to it . I desperately don’t want to have a panic attack in front of my classmates, if I can avoid it at all - though that may not be possible !

My timetable at the moment is only showing four potential hours of teaching per week and all of them are still marked as online only (possible - other two days are placement) so I’m not sure . Hopefully that is actually the case for semester one but not sure .

Thanks 😊, hopefully the HoD is as understanding - she usually is !

I just got my draft timetable and it is even more crazy than usual, same class at different times in the week due to lack of rooms. I fear this will not be possible but you can only ask.

Room bookings will have happened long since at mine, OP, so the best that could be offered if a switch to, say a different tutorial group on a lower floor (if multiple classes existed.) Also, talk to your lecturers — I’ve had very positive relationships with very committed students with very bad claustrophobia and Tourette’s, where we were able to work out things to help.

And sympathies, OP — I don’t have any of your conditions, but I once totally screwed up an academic job interview because it involved going up to a high floor in a paternoster lift, and I was completely freaked out.

@Wonderbox

Room bookings will have happened long since at mine, OP, so the best that could be offered if a switch to, say a different tutorial group on a lower floor (if multiple classes existed.) Also, talk to your lecturers — I’ve had very positive relationships with very committed students with very bad claustrophobia and Tourette’s, where we were able to work out things to help.

Thank you, that’s reassuring - I had to take two years off as the anxiety got so bad before, it’s taken me all of that two years to recover and I desperately don’t want to go back the way now . Hopefully lecturers can help . Disability office suggested I could get taxis to and from uni, placement and even said someone could maybe meet me on campus to get to classes ... possibly . I suppose it’s worth exploring every single avenue to see what’s possible !

Room changes like this are really quite common in our place. Wheelchair access, limited mobility, tendency to seizures - prefer ground floor in case of emergency evacuation. I've also requested the change for a student with autism where particular spaces trigger sensory issues. I'm told we have a strong reputation locally for supporting students with disabilities - pity that's not one of the metrics we are everlastingly assessed on.

Would the vertigo be helped if you had someone to accompany you to classes, if spaces aren't easily changed?

@LooksGood

Room changes like this are really quite common in our place. Wheelchair access, limited mobility, tendency to seizures - prefer ground floor in case of emergency evacuation. I've also requested the change for a student with autism where particular spaces trigger sensory issues. I'm told we have a strong reputation locally for supporting students with disabilities - pity that's not one of the metrics we are everlastingly assessed on.

Would the vertigo be helped if you had someone to accompany you to classes, if spaces aren't easily changed?

Yes to the latter - if I had someone to walk with me to classes at least that would help enormously ! I think if I knew someone was trained to support me and to get me to the right room that would be hugely helpful, yes .

Are you doing Nursing? I can’t see how it’s practical for you to be accompanied by someone in a hospital with many floors longer term… or even the university. Can you access university counselling to address your psychological issues perhaps?

@LowlytheWorm

Are you doing Nursing? I can’t see how it’s practical for you to be accompanied by someone in a hospital with many floors longer term… or even the university. Can you access university counselling to address your psychological issues perhaps?

Speech and language therapy - not to have someone go to placement with me, just lectures ! Placement a bit more doable . Yes I’m getting psychological support, have had a years worth of weekly therapy and been told it will most likely be continuing - though passed onto a different health board for them to take over - once I move back to campus .

We definitely have people who do this with our students - often for visual impairments, sometimes covered through their Disabled Students Allowance. With dyspraxia in particular, you might well qualify for that? Worth looking into if you haven't already.

But we have mentoring and buddying schemes that could cover this too, without charge.

yes 100% ask!

fwiw OP if I was at your university I would have no issue walking with you to classes. I think a buddy here would be a great idea? Perhaps also approach your lecturer and ask if a class rep would be willing to support you in this to walk to lectures?

@GettingItOutThere

yes 100% ask!

fwiw OP if I was at your university I would have no issue walking with you to classes. I think a buddy here would be a great idea? Perhaps also approach your lecturer and ask if a class rep would be willing to support you in this to walk to lectures?

Yes, good idea re course reps.

If your SU has an officer for students with disabilities / wellbeing issues, contact them too
They'll know about informal support mechanisms and they may have examples of how other departments have handled similar issues.

Ive always believed that if you dont ask you dont get.

When I was an undergraduate I had worked for a first. However I got RSI in my right hand and was unable to write by hand without pain. I did have some therapy at the hospital which helped somewhat but did not solve the problem. I tool in a letter from my consultant which recommended I be allowed to do my exams on a word processor and this was permitted by the university. One of the other mature students was quite snippy about it and made the point that she had been in bad period pain for one of her finals papers but she "just got on" with it. I congratulated her on her stoicism.

Ive also come across this attitude before with some people who have a disability or disabling condition that they dont want to "make a fuss".

My argument is that people who are eligible for adjustments do not ask for them then these rights may disappear. Being afraid of making a fuss is buying into an old fashioned and dated model of disability whereby people with a disability or special need are seen as requiring a concession. Rather we should be looking at how our society is organized so as not to place barriers in the way of people who are differently abled.

Would it help getting to class slightly earlier so you can sit near a door rather than a window? Echoing PP, timetabling has been done for a while at our place and space is beyond limited (they’re turning 4/5 office blocks into teaching space it’s so desperate) so while they will definitely try it may not be possible at this point. In your conversations with them try to be really specific about what the issue is and what your need in relation to it is. Given enough info there’s a good chance they’ll be able to think outside the box and get you sorted out.