Within our increasingly medicalized society, information processing disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can easily be conflated with Adderall and similar “miracle drugs,” peddled nonchalantly across campus by students who don’t always understand the deep issues behind the disabilities. Due to a culture where legitimate treatment for learning disabilities can be marred by stereotypes of partying or cheating the system to get ahead, students utilizing a variety of accessibility services on Dartmouth’s campus are often misunderstood.
The Student Accessibility Services office, created in 2006, works to ensure that undergraduates with disabilities, including information processing disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, receive the adjustments and services they require. In the 2012-2013 academic year, Student Accessibility Services worked with 286 students with disabilities, 142 of whom had diagnosed information processing disorders, according to Student Accessibility Services director Ward Newmeyer. This number represents a nearly 25 percent increase from the 2011-2012 year. The office also serviced 118 students with ADHD — some of whom are also included in the information processing disorder count — in the last academic year, a 60 percent increase from the year before, he said.
Some students who request accommodations through Student Accessibility Services enter Dartmouth having already been diagnosed with one or more disabilities. Though some have long-standing histories of diagnosis and academic adjustments, Newmeyer or a staff member speaks with each student directly to assess individual situations and needs. After a pre-screening in the office, some students are referred for official testing for a disorder, which can cost up to thousands of dollars but qualifies those diagnosed for services that will tailor Dartmouth’s academic experience to their needs.
“We’re looking for issues that the student may or may not have identified for themselves, but we’ll ask questions because there’s no cookie-cutter approach,” Newmeyer said.
N., who spoke on the condition of anonymity like the rest of those interviewed about their personal experiences, was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder as a teenager. She had never used the extra time offered to her in high school, but when she came to the College, N. quickly found herself falling behind on exams and in-class essays. She soon decided to approach Student Accessibility Services to explore the available options. N. has found that professors are sympathetic to students’ requirements for test-taking adjustments and always give her the extra time she needs.
Not all students, she said, are as understanding as professors are required to be. They see the services provided to her as an unfair advantage used to get an edge in class, she said.
“Sometimes I feel like other students and even my friends, especially if we’re in the same class together, are judgmental about the fact that I get extra time because they see it as an unfair advantage,” N. said.
She says she is often frustrated when classmates and friends make light of taking medication or claim they could easily get diagnosed if tested. When acquaintances come to her seeking pills for a long night of studying or writing papers, N. turns them away.
H., who has had extra time and a separate testing room since fourth grade for an auditory processing disorder and ADHD, said accommodating her packed schedule for extra time on tests is sometimes difficult but necessary. H., who also takes Adderall, emphasized that qualifying for a disorder and receiving the adjustments that accompany it is more difficult than acquiring medication, which is sometimes prescribed without extensive testing.
“Extra time isn’t the new Adderall,” she said. “You don’t just get extra time — it’s not something that you just apply for.”
The diagnosis of one or more disabilities can be a welcome relief to students who wonder why they fall behind in certain classes or in Dartmouth’s fast-paced atmosphere.
After struggling to complete Dartmouth’s language requirement before her approaching graduation date, M. met with her undergraduate dean, who advised her to seek help. After a pre-screening, M. was referred to a psychologist for testing. While M. had always suspected she had a mild form of ADHD, she never underwent any testing because of expenses and the slower pace of her high school classes.
“At my high school, I would never have wanted to get diagnosed with ADD because the people that I knew that had ADD were extreme cases and were sometimes picked on for it,” she said.
After talking to a psychologist, M. was shocked to find out that she had been diagnosed with a reading disorder, an auditory processing disorder and mild ADD. The College waived her language requirement and granted extra testing time and note-taking services. These services enable students with various learning disabilities to receive notes taken by other students in the class, supplementing their academic support system. Though she has not yet used extra time on any tests, receiving notes through the program has helped her stay on top of classes, she said.
“The services I received after the process are extremely helpful, and I feel much more confident and aware of my learning styles now,” M. said.
M. said she has found Dartmouth students and staff to be more open to those with learning disorders and mental health issues than students at the large public high school she attended. Instead of being stigmatized or ignored, it seems commonplace for students to seek aid for the difficulties they face.
“Here, I feel like every second person I talk to is taking some kind of medication for a disability or illness,” she said. “It seems to be more normal than anything.”
A., who was diagnosed with ADHD without hyperactivity and several processing disorders his sophomore fall, said he had contemplated getting tested for years. He worried that doing so would relinquish his control over the process and alienate him from other students.
“I wanted to be sure that I would not start blaming everything on my disability and that I was the one making all of the decisions, not a parent or legal guardian,” he said.
Much of the stigma around seeking aid stems from result of widespread abuse of controlled substances meant to treat ADHD, A. said. Such abuse can remove the legitimacy from the real benefits that medication can provide for many with ADHD.
For A., who hails from Europe, coming to Dartmouth removed some of the barriers and stigma that he had experienced back home. While a student in a European school system, A. had long suspected he had learning disorders. The deeply entrenched stigma surrounding learning disabilities, however, deterred him from ever getting tested before moving to Hanover. The process is made difficult by how seeking treatment for “invisible” disorders is stigmatized more than finding help for physical disabilities, he said.
In spite of the adjustments some students make in the face of a learning disorder or ADHD, different learning styles do not have to limit academic potential. Newmeyer said that many students develop strong character and unique problem-solving abilities after embracing the difficulties associated with their conditions. Formulating a sense of “disability pride,” he said, is important in a society that often overlooks the potential benefits of a wide range of disabilities.
