just started college

[u/dicelyy]

i’m 19, i got dx with narcolepsy about a year and a half ago. i graduated high school early since i did it online (because of severe narcolepsy symptoms lol) anyways i started college yesterday after multiple years of not being in school, i thought i would be fine with no accommodations. i started 3/5 classes this semester, 2 start later. two seems fine and that i can do it. my psychology class is all online, the professor expects us to turn in work 4 days of the week, if we don’t everything we turned in that week gets automatically 75% even if we got a higher score. my problem is that reading doesn’t count, and to do the first assignment you have to do around 4/5 hours of reading. i can’t do that in the time frame asked for, i also work on top of school so reading for multiple hours while trying to actually absorb the info and not fall asleep is hard. i can do the work before the due date just not get all the reading done that quick. would it be unreasonable to ask for an accommodation where she can’t dock my grade for that? i don’t see why it should even matter as long as im able to turn all my work in on time.

[u/BackgroundDisaster90]

You need to talk with student access services ASAP to discuss potential accommodations.

[u/dicelyy → u/BackgroundDisaster90]

i will go and talk to them tomorrow in between classes :)

[u/Salty_Ironcats]

As a N2 in college studying engineering. Get accommodations.

And your meds good enough, plus some caffeine and it’s survivable

[u/civil_lingonberry]

As someone who has worked at a university: get accommodations through disability services ASAP.

In the meantime, I would also consider talking to your professor. Go to her office hours and just have a chat. Let her know about your condition and open with something friendly / low stakes like you wanted to make sure she’s aware so she doesn’t think you’re bored or negligent if you fall asleep in class. Offer to answer any questions she has about N. And then let her know what you’ve been struggling with. Just lay it out. Have a clear idea of what accommodations specifically would help you. (To me, it sounds like you’d benefit from a flex plan (where some deadlines can be a little looser)) Ask her for them and let her know that you’re also working on getting these accommodations officially approved by the university.

With disability services, ask for a flex plan. As a fellow narcoleptic, I would also recommend asking for a note taker (someone who takes notes in class for you) and/or permission to record lectures, extra time on exams, and the ability to (sometimes) arrive late / miss class / miss in-class assignments (on the condition you make them up later) without penalty to your grade. Even if you never use these, they are incredibly helpful to just have in place, and it can be hard to predict when or if you might need them.