Petition Letter
Dear Dr. Johanne Bénard
I am appealing to drop PHGY 210, CISC 101, and BIOL206 after the deadline without academic penalty.
I have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety since before attending Queen¿¿s and have been regularly seeing a psychologist for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) since November of 2015. I have struggled to receive appropriate assistance from accessibility services throughout my time here at Queen¿¿s.
I found the fall semester of this year exceedingly difficult, and my psychologist suggested I get a psychological evaluation to test for other possible ailments. As these evaluations are costly, I decided to consult with my parents about a way forward. We decided it would be helpful if I met with a new family doctor at home in Vancouver over Christmas break to discuss options first. During that appointment, after a lengthy discussion he diagnosed me with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
Upon returning to Queen¿¿s my psychologist told me that it was likely that Queen¿¿s would have academic accommodations relating to this diagnosis, and suggested I go see accessibility services. Despite having all relevant paperwork in order including a note from my family doctor recommending accommodations, my accessibility services coordinator at that time, Ms. Parsons, decided that while I may be diagnosed with ADD, it was not relevant to my receiving accommodation, and recommended time-management strategies instead.
My repeated difficulties with accessibility services have had a severe and ongoing negative effect on my mental health, with the situation regressing to the point where I had to book appointments with my psychologist specifically to address how I was going to get help from disability services. Since early January myself and my psychologist have encouraged accessibility services to contact him if they had any questions regarding my situation. My psychologist Dr. Brad Mac Neil will be submitting a supporting letter explaining the effect my experience with disability services has had on me from his perspective.
After hearing about my last appointment with Ms. Parsons, my psychologist recommended getting my parents involved to speak to the administration of disability services about my experience. The head of disability services subsequently reached out to me and we booked an appointment to meet. By the time I had my appointment with Ms. Dods on March 14, I was significantly behind in all of my courses and extremely distressed. My meeting with Ms. Dods was constructive, and she connected me with a new disability services coordinator, who told me I qualified for multiple accommodations relating to my health. While these accommodations were helpful, they came months too late, and I have not been able to salvage any of the classes I was taking this term. Ms. Dods has assured me that she will send a supporting letter to be attached to this request.
Although it is only relevant to my appeal that I had to take my case to the head of accessibility services who deemed my case was mishandled and connected me with a new coordinator, I think it is important for you to know how difficult my experiences with accessibility services have made both my academic and personal lives. I cannot express how difficult it is to ask for help, especially regarding mental health issues, and be denied repeatedly. There are many small things that come from these situations that can add up to a great deal for someone with mental health issues. Whether it was the worsening of my relationship with TAs and classmates over missing classes without accommodation, the disruption to my degree plan from having to drop a core course, having to divert time away from self-care to be spent defending my case against those who were supposed to help me, the embarrassment of being told to try time-management skills, or the stress I had come to experience in the days leading up to accessibility services appointments, this ordeal has affected me in countless ways. I have been blown away by how helpful my new coordinator, Ms. Hunt, has been. I¿¿m confident I¿¿ll receive the appropriate care in the future, but I am concerned for others who may have experiences similar to mine.
In the future I plan to continue seeing Ms. Hunt, and believe that with the proper accommodations finally in place I will thrive. I will keep seeing my psychologist regularly and continue with CBT. I plan to take courses over the summer in order to have my prerequisites met in future terms. I am excited to continue my education at Queen¿¿s with the support accessibility services is now providing.
I am appealing to drop PHGY 210, CISC 101, and BIOL206 after the deadline without academic penalty.
I have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety since before attending Queen¿¿s and have been regularly seeing a psychologist for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) since November of 2015. I have struggled to receive appropriate assistance from accessibility services throughout my time here at Queen¿¿s.
I found the fall semester of this year exceedingly difficult, and my psychologist suggested I get a psychological evaluation to test for other possible ailments. As these evaluations are costly, I decided to consult with my parents about a way forward. We decided it would be helpful if I met with a new family doctor at home in Vancouver over Christmas break to discuss options first. During that appointment, after a lengthy discussion he diagnosed me with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
Upon returning to Queen¿¿s my psychologist told me that it was likely that Queen¿¿s would have academic accommodations relating to this diagnosis, and suggested I go see accessibility services. Despite having all relevant paperwork in order including a note from my family doctor recommending accommodations, my accessibility services coordinator at that time, Ms. Parsons, decided that while I may be diagnosed with ADD, it was not relevant to my receiving accommodation, and recommended time-management strategies instead.
My repeated difficulties with accessibility services have had a severe and ongoing negative effect on my mental health, with the situation regressing to the point where I had to book appointments with my psychologist specifically to address how I was going to get help from disability services. Since early January myself and my psychologist have encouraged accessibility services to contact him if they had any questions regarding my situation. My psychologist Dr. Brad Mac Neil will be submitting a supporting letter explaining the effect my experience with disability services has had on me from his perspective.
After hearing about my last appointment with Ms. Parsons, my psychologist recommended getting my parents involved to speak to the administration of disability services about my experience. The head of disability services subsequently reached out to me and we booked an appointment to meet. By the time I had my appointment with Ms. Dods on March 14, I was significantly behind in all of my courses and extremely distressed. My meeting with Ms. Dods was constructive, and she connected me with a new disability services coordinator, who told me I qualified for multiple accommodations relating to my health. While these accommodations were helpful, they came months too late, and I have not been able to salvage any of the classes I was taking this term. Ms. Dods has assured me that she will send a supporting letter to be attached to this request.
Although it is only relevant to my appeal that I had to take my case to the head of accessibility services who deemed my case was mishandled and connected me with a new coordinator, I think it is important for you to know how difficult my experiences with accessibility services have made both my academic and personal lives. I cannot express how difficult it is to ask for help, especially regarding mental health issues, and be denied repeatedly. There are many small things that come from these situations that can add up to a great deal for someone with mental health issues. Whether it was the worsening of my relationship with TAs and classmates over missing classes without accommodation, the disruption to my degree plan from having to drop a core course, having to divert time away from self-care to be spent defending my case against those who were supposed to help me, the embarrassment of being told to try time-management skills, or the stress I had come to experience in the days leading up to accessibility services appointments, this ordeal has affected me in countless ways. I have been blown away by how helpful my new coordinator, Ms. Hunt, has been. I¿¿m confident I¿¿ll receive the appropriate care in the future, but I am concerned for others who may have experiences similar to mine.
In the future I plan to continue seeing Ms. Hunt, and believe that with the proper accommodations finally in place I will thrive. I will keep seeing my psychologist regularly and continue with CBT. I plan to take courses over the summer in order to have my prerequisites met in future terms. I am excited to continue my education at Queen¿¿s with the support accessibility services is now providing.