The benefits of telling your college professors about your disability
There are many benefits to telling your professors about your disability in college. In an ideal world, you would have informed the college even before you applied about your disability so that the college could have been prepared to assist you by giving you advance information on its disability policies. Virtually all colleges nowadays have a disability policy to facilitate the education of people with both physical and mental disabilities and also those with learning difficulties but your college cannot help you if you do not make them aware of your disability.
The type of help available will depend on the type of disability you have. If you suffer from dyslexia, for example, your teachers may provide you with printouts of material that would normally be shown only on the whiteboard or by projection so that you are not under pressure to make notes during the lecture. Obviously, they cannot do this if they are not aware of your problem.
You need to decide if you intend to keep your disability hidden from your fellow students. Your first instinct might be to do this maybe because you suffered bullying and mockery at school because of it. But college students tend to be umpteen times more mature and are unlikely to give you a hard time. They may in fact get behind you with encouragement and support if they are aware of your disability.
When you go to college you will be allocated a personal tutor. As the name implies, this person has the task of helping you deal with all personal issues affecting you. You can discuss your disability in confidence with your personal tutor who will advise you on what he or she thinks is best for you. If you decide that you want only academic staff and not fellow students to know of your disability, then your personal tutor can act as an intermediary.
When it comes to assessments or exams, doing assignments and projects or submitting course work, it is clearly to your advantage if your teachers are aware of any problems you may have in completing any of these. You can rest assured that all your tutors will have experience in dealing with your disability and will know how best to assist you. Knowing that your tutors know will also help your confidence and free you to concentrate on the important things rather than having the emphasis on trying to hide and compensate for your disability.
If you suffer from any kind of disability and are intending to study at a college where you will be living in, it may also be advantageous to let the admissions office know in advance before your dorm is allocated. This allows them to possibly group you with others with the same or similar problems. For example, if you suffer from a sleep disorder and want to use nights for study then it is obviously helpful if you are rooming with others who will not have a problem with lights on at night.
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