Starting an MA with disability

[GreenGoth89]

I'm going back to do an MA course in september, and I'm worried I'm going to struggle - not from a point of view of not having support, I've got my DSA being finalised but my condition fluctates and I'm living in a cramped house with not very much space (3 adults and a child in a 2 bed house) and I'm 60 miles away from uni. I'm not the most organised of people but we're seriously organising the house to make it less cluttered at least and my DSS will be in nursery for 15hrs p/w (fingers crossed) from next month, but I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips of how to keep myself on task with my health/other people/child all providing as distractions!

I'm in a similar situation.im only on my BA but have a fluctuating condition/ commute an hour/6 in a 3 bed house. Last year I found shutting myself away whilst dh had the kids or working elsewhere was better.
Also doing work ASAP so if I crashed or something happened at home I wasn't getting behind. then I got frustrated at people getting extensions for less

Go and talk to your disability advisor about the extensions thing, I know every uni works differently but I get automatic extensions.

You need to learn to be organised. Timetable /everything/ from pee breaks to dinner, it's all there & accounted for. Ensure your department knows about the fluctuating nature of your condition and you suggest to them/ disability adviser what adjustments you want rather than have them fit you into their tick box system of acceptable asjustments. They need to tailor support to the individual not fit the individual into whatever they've offered in the past (which is what most disability services people offer) Be clear and upfront about what you think will help eg flexibility on deadlines where possible, any additional time needed in exams but also maybe things like places you can go for quiet stress free time - eg do they have private study space for disabled students?

There is so much they can do but it requires cooperation and for you to make your needs known. Don't sit back and wait for them to make suggestions.
Good luck x

I need to learn organisation. My short time memory isn't the best due to my condition. Any tips on that one?

The department and student support services are really understanding of my condition and what I need, my DSA assessor has been a star but I totally underestimated how much the travel costs would be - about £45 a week, which is a fairly large chunk of our income. So I've got to re-do our budget and see where more money in our already tight budget can be saved.

But all the same really looking forward to it and I can always go part time if I can't manage.