DSA

hello there guys! as winter draws in ive decided to make myself come back here more often and get myself a good support structure going!

So, those of you that remember me will know that im now at University in Aberystwyth, Wales. Im studying countryside management HND which sees me largly working outdoors, which beleive me is every SAD sufferers dream :lol:

I have mondays 9-5 doing practical estate skills, in which yesterday i did directional tree felling, cutting down trees all day! i did feel the change, different times of light, the general darkness in the woods for most of the day particularly from about 3pm onwards, i started to slow down a fair bit. However i had an excellent chat with my teacher richard who wanted to know all about how SAD effects me and how it will need to be treated in terms of work. Hes concious of the fact that if im very very tired and using sharp tools they need to keep a good eye on me. So we talked and decided that if im tired i should tell them and have a bit of a rest for a bit.

Then 2 afternoons a week (not every week) i have a practical session which usually envolves a mini bus ride ouyt into the sticks and a nice wlak around making notes, identifying landscape features, different species and habitats etc. which is all good fun. But the University is being great about the SAD once again. I was too tired one afternoon to climb up Cadar Idris a local mountain which was really crucial as i have an assignment based around the trip that is 50% of the marks for the module. They have aranged for me to do a different assignment instead based on one of our other visits.

My lectures are long slogs, especially days like today where i had 5 hours straight of lectures, and the essays are really really hard work! but the most important thing is im having fun most of the time and have some good mates.

Ive been in touch with the universities disability officer as suffering from SAD and depression means that i qualify as disabled. Ive been 'green carded' which means i get acess to special computers around the university and i get special measures for dealdines and exams, like extra time and being able to use my light box during the exam. I have also applied for DSA- disabled students allowance which means i will get money to fund things like my light box, laptop, printer, text books, and for the university to supply me with a notetaker ( a real person who comes and takes notes in my lectures) and for me to be able to see a mentor 3 times a week!

Sooo what im trying to say is, if your at university make sure you tell them about your SAD i cant beleive how seriously they are taking it here, they ignored me when i told them about my SAD at my 6th form /School.

things would be perfect here if it wasnt for the slight hiccup this weekend i had with a couple of my mates! im sure it'll all blow over soon tho...

Anna, it's great to hear from you, and reading your message really cheered me up. Is this the same person who was writing to us last winter (LOL). Sounds like you've found the ideal subject to pursue in order to manage your SAD, and wow, look at all the support the university is giving you. It must feel like such a relief to have the SAD taken seriously. I'm really happy for you! Please keep in touch here and let us know how you're doing, and remember if the days are dark and you're feeling rough, we are here to listen and understand.
Best wishes,
Linda.

Hi I have just read your post...I am glad your uni is being so supportive.

I just wanted to remind everyone that if you have been diagnosed with SAD for over a year, or it is likely to recur and has a substantial adverse effect on your day to day activies then you may be covered by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

The DDA gives you rights in employment, services and education and protects you from discrimination from organisations. You also have a right to have reasonable adjustments to help you work, this may be having a light box at work or during exams.

if anyone is having problems let me know or contact www.drc-gb.org for advice

i know what you mean Sal.

i never got an official diagnosis from my docter at home.

i tired to get him to commit to it, but all he would say is 'yes your probably right, you probably do have it.' which is a fat lot of good.

however i go to a psychologist (or did at home) and he agreed with me that my symptoms are winter reltaed etc.

the way i seem to have got around this is that im classed as disabled because i was going to see a psychologist and im on anti-depressants. on my forms i put 'possible SAD diagnosis' as my docter seemed to think i did had SAD but would never commit.

the university sees it as 'yes she does have SAD' and my psychologist wrote a letter of evidence for my DSA application saying that i have mentioned SAD and he would agree that i have it as he has seen the change in me during the winter yada yada.

so, i kind of have a diagnosis but not fully :roll: which is wierd.

but the university see it as enough evidence to beleive me so thats enough for me. plus my new docter seems to be ace- i told her that i think i have SAD and that my pshycologist and docter tended to agree and she seemed happy with that. althuogh she asked why the hell i was on citalopram all summer. i told her the docter hadnt fully commited to a SAD diagnosis and had made me keep on the citalopram.

she seems keen to get me off the drugs in the summers so hopefully this might finally give me a full diagnosis!

bah, long explantation!!! anyhoots, i posted off my DSA application yesterday, so hopefully the ball in is motion!

i spent the weekend at home in birm ingham, after ending up in A and E twice last thursday. my asthma got really bad, after i got a cold, and i ended up on a nebuliser, after having blood tests and xrays and all sorts!

hi, I've been at two unis, UCL were so unsupportive, compared with APU, but with the DSA, it is the local authority who controls what they pay for or not. Cambridgeshire LEA will not pay for lightboxes, as they say that to get any support for a mental health problem, I need a full diagnosis, and even though I have had issues for 7 years, my GP will not refer me.

When I lived in London, I was on a waiting list for cognitive behavioural therepy, for 9 months, get to the front of the queue, and I have to move.

Ask my new GP in Cambs if I can go back on a list here, and she tells me not to bother as the waiting list here is 2 years. I have given up on the NHS and medical professions.

my assessment was last thursday!

Its excellent, im goingt to have so much support!!!

the officer bloke has suggested:

*a digital recording kit for lectures and visits
*a note taker to take notes for me in lectures (as in a real living person)
*mentoring for an hour a week- this could be split up however i want it.
*laptop
*printer
*software

now i already have the latter three, so all i have to do is provide reciepts and hey presto they'll give me the money for them.

how ace is that? life is going to be so much easier now.

also, i htuoght id post up a couple of pictures for you all of the veiw from my bedroom window, and also the beach down in town. Its sigths like this that has made life so much more amazing since i got here. When yuor spending every day looking at veiws like this wherever you go you can't help but smile and vow to make the most of life.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/phonicsgal/SA500038.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/phonicsgal/SA500016.jpg

today has been a good day. i spent most of my time cooking a full christmas dinner for 6 people using the smallest oven ever! then we all sat down and ate in the kitchen like a family, wiht crackers and smiles all round. then we washed and cleared up together, it was really lovely and will last with me forever. Then i went for a quick walk up to the stables next to my block, gave a couple of horses a stroke and came back. Since then ive sat and whatched the sun go down over the hills listening to a lovely album. My desk is against my winodw so i can make the most of the bounties ful of sunlight i get in my room and to cheer me up when im finding work hard.

HI anna,

Wow you are very lucky... I like Joel went to Uni and they were the biggest bunch of to**ers one could find. They even rejected a doctors note of cronic fatigue...!!!

You see in the summer, I am rather a kick ass get it done type person, I stand my rights and dont get pushed over easily.. And in the winter im a complete and utter whimp! They were like a pack of wolves in the winter, they must have smelt the anxiety setting in... LOL!!!

Hey but I got there, dispite they made me re-sit and re sit and re sit till my ass was grooved on the chairs... Maybe I still have the bite of a cha-wow-wa in the winter...... (he he im making myself laugh...)

Good luck with your degree and let us know how you get on!
LOve Gailx

I don't know if the Romans first used 'drinking quantities of water' to act as an alarm call to get them up for an early battle. Could be American indians........................... :shock: