On my very first day at university, I told my school that I have ADD and explained that I take Ritalin.
I am now in my second year, but I only just made it. As a fresher, I thought I was doing really well. In reality, I was never going to lectures and essays were very rarely written. I failed my exams and luckily managed to scrape through resits.
I started my second year with determination. I was not going to miss any classes, I was going to do all my reading and hand in all essays in time. It lasted about four weeks.
Just before the Christmas break, one of my teachers asked to see me about my attendance. I explained about the ADD and how it effects my concentration, memory and behaviour. She was startled that the department had not done anything about it.
I don't want help. I don't want to have special arrangements for exams. I don't want deadlines extended. I don't want to have people checking up on me all the time. But I do need help. I do need special arrangements and attention. It's not an easy thing to accept but it is reality and I have to face it.
The university has never come across a student with ADD before. They knew absolutely nothing about it and didn't seem to want to either. This made me very angry. In a few years time, the university will have a lot of students just like me. I was diagnosed before ADD was widely known about in Britain so it wasn't surprising that I was the first student at my uni with it.
However, in a few years time, every university in the United Kingdom is going to have many students with ADD on their hands. I want them to know this. I want them to prepare for their arrival. They need to know how to support these students best.
I would love to hear from anyone who is interested in ADD. In particular I would like to hear from other students with the condition or prospective students. If parents have any queries about universities and rights regarding ADD, then please feel free to contact me.