letter for school

[pamyla]

Hi everyone I need to submit a letter to the disability office at my school detailing my condition and any accomodations I may need. The letter needs to come from a doctor's office, but as pots doctors seem to have little time as it is, I thought I'd take a stab at writing something myself.

I plan to just reference my condition and then attach information taken directly from dinet's web site, but I'm not even sure how to reference it. Do I mention POTS? Or do I call it Dysautonomia? I think my diagnosis is technically POTS and NMH, but I'm not a fainter. Any advice on how to proceed?

Thanks!

Pam

[Guest tearose]

Hmmm, let me think, what is it the letter is to help you with? What is it you are asking for?

Funny, I have done this type of letter for my pcp several times like before a plane flight, going to a football stadium...

When I have need letters similar, they look something like this:

to whom it may concern, ms. rose has a medical condition which is compromising her autonomic nervous system. To maintain her health, she wears compression garments, a heart monitor and uses a seat cane. She must be allowed to move around to keep her blood from pooling, sit down to keep from fainting, and stay hydrated. (insert request for snack here if you need) Ms. rose is extremely capable of managing her condition without assistance. (insert special accommodation here if you need a wheelchair or assistance)

I am dr. wonderful, and am her physician and can be reached at 555 5555 if you have any

questions.

hope this helps you start your draft pamyla, tearose

[pamyla]

Thanks for your reply Tearose That will definitely help me get started. And, that's a good idea to bring a note when you fly, etc.

Here's what the disability office wrote to me -

<snip>

You will need to bring a letter from you physician to our office. The letter

should include a diagnosis, history, functonal limitations and

recommendations for accommodations.

</snip>

How much detail do you think I should provide about what my condition is?

Thanks again!

[Guest tearose]

Hi pamyla, I just avoid giving more than they need. I'm guessing that you are asking for a parking permit? It is probably that the office needs to figure out the real needy from the real lazy...So, okay, I would use the term dysautonomia as the diagnosis. I would insert something like: she has had this non-resolving condition for 00 years and it is not a condition that is going to resolve.

Put in all the accommodations that you need, I don't know what they are, I'm sure you can do the wording on that.

I would also not hesitate to telephone the office and say "my physician asked me to verify that this letter meets your request before she/he sends it to you"

regards, tearose

[steph37822]

oops

[pamyla]

Thank you guys so much! This board is such a help, not sure what I'd do otherwise!

Tearose, actually I already have a parking permit. I dealt with that last semester, and even with a handicapped permit I had to get a special handicapped school permit. My biggest issue that I'm worried about is giving presentations. I have to sit, otherwise I get the shakes and start sweating which is pretty embarrassing Last semester my teacher was very understanding. However, this semester one of my teachers has on his syllabus that if you need accomodations you need to go through the disability office and come talk to him the first week of class.

Stephanie, thanks for sharing your experiences with your school. My college has over 30,000+ so I relate! Luckily, my program, and hence my classes, are often small (15-20 people) and you get to know the professors pretty well. But, at the same time, it can sometimes be overwhelming because grades always depend on class participation , and on a bad day I might not have a clue what we're discussing