Making it through long, large lectures at UCLA can be tough for
any student, but try doing it with Attention Deficit Disorder.
There are 131 graduate and undergraduate students at UCLA who
have registered for various services for ADD through the Office for
Students with Disabilities, including note takers for lectures,
extended time on tests, time management assistance, and a support
group that meets weekly.
These students are most prominently handicapped in the
classroom, where anything from class size or duration to
hyperactive energy can sidetrack them.
“The teachers think I’m their stupidest student
because I never follow along in lectures. It’s not that I
don’t understand what they say ““ I just don’t
hear what they say,” said Anna Dahlin, a fourth-year transfer
student.
Their transcripts predictably reflect this perpetual
distraction. But even more so than for other students, an ADD
student’s transcript is often not representative of their
intellectual capabilities.
“I’ve always had very bad grades ““ in college,
high school, and especially in elementary school…. But I know my
abilities. I’ve had straight A’s every semester since
I’ve been here,” explained Yulin Sun, a second-year
student in the Graduate School of Education and Information
Studies.
And the problems go beyond the classroom. People with ADD are
prone to suffer from sleep irregularity, substance abuse, and an
addiction-like draw to highly stimulating activities when not
properly treated according to Sharon Teruya, a counselor at the
OSD.
It is the smaller things that interfere with the day to day
operations, though.
Time management, prioritization, and organization skills are
chronic problems for students with ADD.
“It’s like living in trauma all the time. Every
little thing gets as much attention as the really important things,
so you can’t prioritize. It’s just chaos and disorder
and very overwhelming,” said Dahlin.
Which helps explain why there are so few students on campus
afflicted by ADD.
The 131 students registered with the OSD represent a mere 0.4
percent of the total student population, excluding those who have
not been diagnosed.
Because of the small number of students diagnosed, the OSD can
offer comprehensive services to students with ADD.
Both Sun and Dahlin described note takers as very useful and
said the help they receive is invaluable.
“There is always someone there to help so I don’t
become overwhelmed,” said Dahlin. “I don’t know
how much time is appropriate to spend on a paper or assignment, and
they tell me.”
“I can do the work if I go into the offices. I just need
someone there to monitor me,” added Sun.
Teruya facilitates a support group for exactly these kinds of
problems.
“They are pretty informal,” Teruya says.
“Sometimes we will have guest speakers come in, but usually
the kids just talk about their problems with other members. We like
to call them problem-solving groups.”
Unfortunately, the groups are widely underused, with only about
three students who attend on a regular basis. Maybe this is because
some students with ADD don’t want “treatment” for
a condition they don’t necessarily see as a problem.
“If I could chose whether or not to have ADD, I would have
it. It provides strong intuition, creativity, and passion…. For
many people with ADD, the good outweighs the bad,” Dahlin
said.