Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (of Studies),

I am a 2nd year Life Science Specialization (Bachelor of Science Honors) student appealing to drop ANAT 215 (Fall, 2019), CHEM 281 (Fall, 2019), LAW 204 (Fall, 2019), PHGY 215 (Fall, 2019), and PSYC 215 (Winter, 2019). Extenuating circumstances, beyond my control did not allow me to complete these courses. Recently, I became diagnosed with achromatopsia (also known as, total color blindness). Achromatopsia effects a very small proportion of people, statistically 8 of men and 0.4 of women.
Prior to the diagnosis and after an intense eye surgery, I experienced a hard time transitioning into the second year of the Life Science program. An ongoing grief as a result of a death (Fall 2017 - Winter 2018), I addressed in a previous letter (Fall 2018), made my first attempt difficult. Despite having achieved high marks to enter the program in my first year (Fall 2016 - Winter 2017), extenuating circumstances beyond my control prevented me from competing it to the best of my ability relative to my other classmates. I recovered from that event and was determined to complete the year (Fall 2019). At the time, I felt ready to start the year, however, I noticed a few subtle differences in my visual perception that were not obvious to me prior to entering the Life Science department. I started struggling with recognizing structures and features of anatomical parts, organic structures, as well as, legal procedures, that densely relied on colour for recognition. I left lectures nauseous and exhausted, not recognizing the source of this problem. This was extremely stressful physically and psychology leading to many sleepless nights. I noticed a similar problem in a course I took prior to Life Science, PSYC 215 (Sensation and Perception) (Winter 2019), where experiments manipulating color left me feeling extremely weak and tired. Due to the nature of the course, I thought this sensation was normal, however my performance in this course indicated a different problem. As I transitioned back to Life Science, I completed several other courses with no problems, PHYS P20 (Winter 2018), STAT 263 (Winter 2018), and PSYC 236 (Winter 2019). I completed these courses to prove to myself I still had the drive and discipline to study. Since the diagnosis, the sources of many of my personal and academic problems have become clear to me.
As I have stated, achromatopsia effects 0.4 of women, and I am in this category. I consider myself fortunate to have discovered this information early (at the age of 21), despite this being a lifelong condition many are born with (predominantly, men) and may never realize. I do not feel any emotional or psychological pain currently, but it took me time to understand the situation and to move forward. Now I simply acknowledge the condition as it is. I plan to switch from Life Science (BScH) to another department to finish my undergraduate degree. I am managing my condition by using all available resources, research, and alternative learning strategies to ensure that my extenuating circumstances do not continue to negatively affect my academic progress. I have attached a note from my family physician Dr. Cieslak.

Sincerely,
Eva Widajewicz