BPD and college accommodations

[In4thewin]

Does anyone out there have a child who received accommodations in college specific to a BPD diagnosis? If so, what were they?

Our objective is to better understand the struggles our child faces and to learn the skills to improve our relationship and provide a supportive environment and also improve on our own emotional responses, attitudes and effectiveness as a family leaders

[Leaf56]

All I can say is that if schools and colleges start granting accommodations for personality disorders we're in big, big trouble!

[kells76]

Does anyone out there have a child who received accommodations in college specific to a BPD diagnosis? If so, what were they?

Can't say I've heard of that on the boards here, though that doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

Some pwBPD have additional MH/brain issues going on -- autism, Asperger's, ADD, ADHD, learning disability, dyslexia, etc.

Has your D been assessed for any of those? She still has a few months left in HS so it is possible your district may be required to assess upon your request -- could be worth looking into. If that leads to SPED services and/ or an IEP/504 plan, those plans will spell out the accommodations your public school must provide. That in turn could be reference material if your D goes off to college -- while I don't think colleges are required to continue a 504 or IEP, your D could bring that to an admissions or inclusion staff member and say "this was my plan in HS, can we work with this here?"

You can also check out wrightslaw.com which is a reputable site for the law surrounding disability in education. They at least focus on grades thru 12th, you'll have to see if they have info for college age students too.

Hope that gives you a starting point;

kells76

[KBug]

Colleges are required by federal law to provide appropriate accommodations to students with disabilities so long as they don't modify the rigor of the education or significantly impact the curricula that the students get. Accommodations for students with BPD could include things like extended time on exams, certain waivers for attendance policies for things like hospitalization, the ability to take incompletes on a course to finish after the semester has ended, etc. Professors won't be told the nature of the disability, only what the accommodations are.

Somethings about BPD can't be accommodated. For example, I am a professor for a professional degree program. I have had a few students in the past that when we engaged in practicum behaved inappropriately with the people they were interacting with. I worked with them and coached them on professionalism and interpersonal interactions. While I didn't know what their specific disabilities were (I had accommodation letters for both of them), I suspected that they had personality disorders, probably BPD. While I went beyond what I would normally do for students and way beyond their accommodations, they still didn't have appropriate interactions in the practica. I recommended that they not be allowed to continue with the program. I had documentation of everything that happened and how I worked with them but the university was afraid of being sued under the ADA. They let them continue for two more semesters and it was disastrous. Both of them were asked to leave future practica by the organizations that were our field placements due to their inappropriate interactions. They completed their degrees but the university refused to recommend them for licensure.

This is all to say that structural accommodations are common. Academic depth and professionalism expectations are not likely to be accommodated. However, if institutions are afraid of being sued then they might be more willing to let some things slide in terms of academics and professionalism.

My own daughter has BPD and gets college accommodations. She is allowed to make more classes online than a typical student in her major because of her anxiety of being in spaces with lots of people. She can also turn in assignments late and take incompletes on classes and finish them up after the semester ends. She must finish the classes in the next semester or she can't take any more classes until she finishes her incomplete classes.

[InTheWilderness]

In4thewin, I agree that targeting accommodations for co-morbidities will probably get better results. My son received extra testing time due to his ADHD and dyslexia. Another big one is anxiety; professors are accommodating many students for anxiety, which is affecting more young people these days.

Another consideration, though I hate to say it, is the stigma associated with a BPD diagnosis. My own therapist, who has worked with kids with BPD, has said things about pwBPD that exposed her negative bias. I would think twice about sharing the diagnosis with anyone. Here we are, wanting to destigmatize this disorder, which requires open discussion, yet this comes with serious risk to our loved one, I think.

I hope your daughter can secure an accommodation that works for her. I do think it’s easier than just a few years ago (thanks to the pandemic and ill effects of social media). Professors are providing more accommodations than ever.