PhD dilemma!!!

[soappyblue]

I have neurological problems I.e my memory, understanding is affected. Obviously the viva is a face to face conversation type exam. I will have some exceptions to my examination and these are going to be agreed by the postgraduate team. I am due to submit my thesis this month and my supervisor has said that I will probably get a revise and resubmit when I do the Viva and that my work isn’t to the standard it could have been because of my health problem, she has suggested changing to an MPhil. Should the university be accommodating of my disability? I believe, it is some sort of discrimination that because my health is affected I should opt for a lower degree. I had a stroke in December and since then my cognitive ability has really been affected. I was fine prior to this

I haven't really needed help as such, my research field is my disability/education related which has meant my supervisors/examiners already have knowledge/awareness etc. for me it's been about understanding and flexibility more than actual adjustments, so I've been lucky in that respect.

@allhellcantstopusnow has articulated what you should expect far better than I could. I just know that something isn't right with what's being expected of you.

They shouldn't be making a plan without you (unless that's what you want). You should be part of the process and requesting RAs (if you are able).

Yes so initially when I had the meeting with my disability advisor she went through what would be reasonable adjustments and she then discussed them with the PGR team however, they said they will only be able to accept adjustments that would be appropriate for a viva type of examination

Were you happy with what was being put forward to the PGR team?

Are you having a mock viva? That might actually be quite useful to identify accessibility issues.

Yes it was decided that I would get to have the questions beforehand and practice them. It was also suggested that I take in notes with me and get breaks. Now it just depends on the PGR team

My supervisors haven't mentioned about any mock viva. Both my supervisors are not very helpful. One never checks my work and the second one checks my work however, sends feedback after 5-6 weeks. Every time she had to get feedback to me she would tell me to apply for an interruption and I kept listening to her. So I've had so many interruptions

That's shockingly awful. I imagine you just want it over and done now.

Taking notes in and having breaks should be standard practice. Getting main Qs in advance shouldn't be a problem, it's not a bloody memory test! I was strongly steered towards doing a presentation as a way of batting off some questions and I've found it really helpful to clarify and condense my thinking.

Vivacards are worth looking at too. Not cheap, but I like gimmicks!

The Tara Brabazon vlog I linked upthread is followed by one where she basically conducts a mock viva.

@Scampuss thank you so much honestly you've been so so helpful!!! What are these cards please

Here you go, like I said, not cheap, but I really like them:
https://vivacards.co.uk/

I really like this book too:
https://amzn.eu/d/5lA7lvh

Some good stuff here too:
https://gradschool.southwales.ac.uk/current-postgraduate-research-students/preparing-viva-materials/

If your supervisor is advising that you work is not ready, I really don't think it's a good idea to submit at this stage. Many PhD students don't complete "on time" and will apply to extend, and in your case you have valid health reasons which should mean any reasonable university would agree to this.

There may be financial implications to this in terms of if you are funded, that funding not continuing. If this is you, check the terms of the funding - sometimes there are medical exceptions in the T&Cs. If not, can you either apply for other funding, or work around this - either by doing some work within the university, or by picking up a part time job or e.g. some tutoring from elsewhere?

This will give you some time to make the work as good as possible, and also to recover which may make the viva appear less daunting.