Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Stephenson,
I am asking to drop all of my failed courses from the 2023/24 academic year, and to waive the requirement to withdraw for one year. About two years ago, I was diagnosed with ADHD, and have struggled with managing it since, continuing throughout this past school year. Since being diagnosed, I have been trying to find a medication and a dosage that works for me, and so far I have tried 3 different medications and every possible dosage, still without success. Entering this past year at Queen’s, I was hopeful that I would be able to find a medication that would help me with dealing with how my condition affects school, and to figure out how best to manage dealing with assignments, deadlines, and other expectations outside of that. Because of that, I did not feel the need to register with QSAS, and so I was not receiving any accommodations last year for any of my classes. At the beginning of the school year, I was able to keep up with everything asked of me, and complete all my schoolwork to what I believe was the best of my abilities. However, after a couple months, the amount of work I had started to catch up with me, and I began to struggle to complete everything on time. What I was completing was often rushed or did not have much effort put into it. I was having trouble with everything, including going to classes, concentrating in lectures and labs, focusing on schoolwork, and especially managing my time. This continued through the rest of the school year, only getting worse in the second semester, and it ended up having a large impact on my courses and my ability to successfully complete them. Moving forward, I plan on registering with QSAS before the next time I return to school at Queen’s, whenever that may be, and to continue to try and work with my doctor to find a medication that can help me with my ADHD. I also plan on taking some time to come up with a plan on how I can make my return to school successful. That plan may mean taking some time off to prepare myself and return in the winter term with a reduced course load. When I reached out recently to a Queens academic advisor, I was encouraged to take advantage of services the university has to help me be more successful, in addition to QSAS, connecting more regularly with an academic advisor from the faculty of arts and science, accessing support through the Student Academic Support Services or from a counsellor from the Wellness Centre. I have an appointment set up to meet with a private educational counsellor close to my home, who can help me formulate a more definitive plan for my next steps. I would like to receive direct coaching on time management and organizational skills, which I believe I may be able to access at Queens as well upon my return there. Please find attached a letter from my family doctor, with whom I have discussed this issue.

Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Alexandre Twigg