Student to Student

Thoughts and Advice From Students to Students

"The best advice I could give is to meet the challenge head on. Be open and frank when discussing your unique needs and best learning styles with professors and tutors. It saves a lot of headaches in the long run. Do your best not to overload your schedule, (know your limitations and work within them). Bend over backward to work with faculty. If you do your best, so will they. NEVER share notes that a Professor gives you with anyone. Professors hate that and will not help you or any other disabled student in the future if you in any way take advantage of the situation. Face the fact that you may simply need to put in extra time and planning into your learning plan."

Graduate student - Social Work

"Having a learning disability can leave you feeling very misunderstood. It helps to try to understand as much about what you can do to change your own situation. At first I was very skeptical about pursuing help through disability services. After deciding to keep an open mind and get psychological and psychiatric help I have been able to transform myself from the worrying student to one others can rely on. I owe much of this to the process of disability service's guidance during this time!"

Graduate student - Physical Therapy

"Just because we have a disability doesn't mean we're different, we may just have to try a little harder!"

Sophomore - Early Childhood and Elementary Education

"Take care of yourself first. Those of us with disabilities may feel that we have something to prove -- that we can do anything that anyone else can do, and in most cases, we can. But we often have to push ourselves harder and face more challenges than other students, and this can be very stressful. It's okay to take things a little slower than our peers. So what if it takes an extra year to graduate? Or two years, or three? Remember to honor your body, mind, and spirit. And remember that we also have some fantastic resources on campus to help us out. MU wants us to be successful. MU wants us to go out into the big, wide world and say, "I had a blast in college; I went to Mizzou!" Ask for help when you need it, and don't be a bit shy or embarrassed about it. The bravest people in the world are the ones who can say, "I need a little help.""

Junior - Interdisciplinary Studies