Pre nursing student with learning disability

sailornurse · Mar 31, 2012

You need to find out about the ADA, the American's with Disability Act. Go the college and ask about being tested for your disability, they by law have to accomodate. Where I taught,

Some students needed more time to take exams or other accomodations. It is up to the department that does the testing to detemine if the learning disability is legit and what the accomodations will be.

Check with the program you are planning to apply at but it may be illegal to not accept you due to a learning disability. I once had a student that was very hard of hearing, he wore bilat hearing aids, and I had to learn not to turn my back and not to talk while writing on the board. He sat right up front, I had to learn not to walk around when lecturing, had to stand right in front of him as he read lips too. He completed his BSN and he already had another bachelor's!! Go for it!!!

jmqphd · Mar 31, 2012

While it is true that schools must follow ADA requirements, it is not necessarily true that the State Board of Nursing does. There is only so much "accommodation" that can be made for those taking the NCLEX. Nevertheless... you typed the original post... so you can spell and write and read and reason. That's probably enough native ability to get through any school. After that it's a matter of character and drive (of which you seem to have plenty.)

How many nursing students have children? These days just about all of them. Don't start nursing school until you have your support systems in place. You will be assigned to clinical groups. One semester you might be doing clinicals all day on Wed. The next it'll be evenings for 6 hours on Tues and Wednesdays. Your schedule can be radically different semester to semester. Your support system has to be such that you have time to study. A full time student has to put in at least 40 hours per week (classes, clinicals, and studying combined.) And sleep. You must program in time to sleep. (I know that sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised.)

If there was one obstacle that seems to be the hardest for my students to overcome, it is the necessity to work. Students who have to put in 40 hours/week will not be able to manage a full load in nursing school and that is a fact. I find student who have to work over one shift per week are hugely disadvantaged.

Just get all your ducks in a row before you begin your nursing courses.

Staragate, ADN, ASN, RN · Mar 31, 2012

I worked in the college Disabled Student Resource office for my first semester. If you have a disability, contact the office in your school. They will require some kind of documentation stating what your disability is and what accommodations are necessary. They will probably resemble what you had in high school extended time, quiet testing place away from others, someone reading the questions to you, etc.

The nursing program will consider your grades and accomplishments just like any other student. If you don't make the marks needed, then you may need to find a school who has a waiting list. Since you have a problem learning, take advantage to tutoring, study group and your teachers for assistance.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Mar 31, 2012

i'm always worried when a woman says, "my husband doesn't think it's important for me to have my own career/doesn't want to support my efforts/actively thwarts my efforts/refuses to watch our child while i study/won't let me..."

dear, i say this in all kindness and because i have been there, done that, and know what's coming. right now, before you start school, you and he must go to couples counseling to resolve this issue. yes, it is that serious.

a woman who lives with someone who thinks what she wants to do to better her professional life is stupid or trivial is a woman who will never become happier as time goes by. live with someone who trivializes your desire is very soul-sucking. living with someone who figures out ways to make you fail-- and makes it look like it's all your fault too-- is even worse. your son deserves a mother who is happy and productive, and watching you learn nursing and then work at it will be a good example to him. (now that i have a daughter-in-law i am more thankful than ever that i didn't neglect myself. son learned to be a better man than his father. she's a wonderful young woman and he treats her like a queen.)

if your husband is worried about the money, the counselor will help you work out a way to talk about it together. if it's about who will do the parenting and who will do the babysitting, the counselor will help with that. if it's something more, something to do with a basic vision of you, your worth as a person, your aspirations, then the counselor can help with that. whatever it is, ignoring it or wishing it were different is not a useful approach to take and will not result in a good outcome. it never, ever does.

counseling is nothing to be afraid or ashamed of. it's like calling a plumber when you don't know how to fix the leak-- somebody else knows how to help, and you go ask for it. if he won't go with you, go without him, because it sounds whether you are with him or not you're going to be spending a lot of time on your own, and the counselor can help you work that out too.

i see this as a prerequisite to school as much as, or more than, any academic work. oh, and be really good with your birth control-- it might just "happen" that you get pregnant again, and have another "set-back." good luck, and do let us know what happens.

dragonfly414 · Mar 31, 2012

Testing for a disability is done through the appropriate physician, not through the disability office at school. The physician must provide valid documentation to prove the disability. The school decides what they will accept as legitimate documentation for a disability. They do NOT decide if someone has a disability of not, that is left to medical professionals.

When you apply to nursing, there is NO reason anyone in the nursing department should know that you have a disability. They should see your application just like any other application. Unless for some reason you choose to disclose which I would not (I chose not to) they should never know you have a learning disability. There are laws which protect your medical privacy, and every school employee knows full well what the law says. HIPPA is not something anyone wants to be caught on the wrong side of.

As for accommodations once you enter a program, they have to give you the accommodations from the disability office of your school based upon the medical documentation provided. If you study hard, and submit your best work you'll be just fine. My impression is that instructors never have a problem with accommodations, as long your completing the same work as everyone else. Also, the instructor never has to know what your disability is if you do not want them to. All they have to know is that you need x number of accommodations and they must provide them for you.

As for your husband, I completely agree with GrnTea, this is a major problem and you should seek counseling. If he is not willing to listen to you or not willing to go to counseling you probably have bigger problems. Did your husband go to college? perhaps he feels threatened by the idea of you going to college if he didn't? You don't want your children to grow up believing women should stay home bare foot and pregnant just because their husband doesn't support them earning a degree and having a career. Bottom line: if having a career is important to you, than it should be important to your husband. If a Mother chooses to stay home with her children because she wants to and that fulfills her that is one thing. If she stays home because her husband wants her to, that is a whole different can of worms. Being a mother should not define every aspect of your life. You can still be you and be a great Mom.

Also having a career is majorly important to your independence and your happiness. I simply can't imagine feeling like I have to ask my husband before buying a new pair of shoes or whatever little thing it might be because I didn't have a career. I would literally go nuts! You sound like you genuinely want this and you deserve it! Don't let this stuff discourage you! You can get there and when you do someday your kids will love and respect your hard work and dedication to a nursing career, which will undoubtedly help provide them with a great life. You will be setting a great example for them and someday that will pay off.

m.con · Apr 2, 2012

Thank you so much everyone, you nurses are amazing! I will keep you posted, i plan on turning in my nursing application this monday.