Once again, my son and I were at the college. He had an 11:00 appointment with the TRIO office on Monday, but we went early since he had other things to do on campus.
To start with, S was exhausted. We were at a pool party the night before, and he spent 3 hours in the water. Wore him out! We headed out in the morning, and it was a balmy 96 degrees with a heat index of 106/107 degrees. There was a heat advisory. This is a child who sweats clicking the mouse on the computer in an air conditioned house.
Every time we are on campus, we discuss where we are at and where he needs to go. We talk about what buildings he needs to be in for his classes. We look for the doors that have the handicap accessible buttons.
Just what he wants to do on a day when it is hot. Since we were there, we were going to be productive.
Stop #1 ID Card
We arrived at the ID card office and read the sign listing the required documents. S had all of them, but he needed to write his name and student number on his schedule. No pen. We decided to use the pen in the office. "What is your student number?" He needed to look it up on his phone. We have been telling him for the past 2 months that he MUST memorize this number. We went into the office, and I quickly wrote his name and number on his schedule.
The woman inputting the information started asking me questions about S. This is a problem. If he is attending school, he surely should be able to answer basic questions about himself (his address). Then, she told me that S's student number is wrong. Tell him, not me! He's missing a number. Of course, he is! I said we would go out and look it up. Another worker in the office had someone else pull it up. S is missing the middle number in his student number. (I found out when we left the college 2 1/2 hours later that S knew this earlier.)
They moved a chair so S could back his wheelchair into place for his photo. They took it numerous times because the lighting wasn't good, but they finally called it good. He now has his student ID.
Stop #2 Parking Permit
S doesn't drive, but the fee for a parking permit is automatically included in his student fees. He is going to get one. We saw online that there is a link to fill out the paperwork ahead of time except for the fact that it doesn't get us to the right spot. On the signs throughout the hallway, it states very clearly that the paperwork must be filled out online. We found another link to try. We were going to stop and ask about it, but there was a line. No time for that.
Stop #3 Quick tour of the building
These offices are in the building that S will be in for Statistics. We did a quick recon of the building identifying how to find his classroom and peeked in a room to see what kind of seating they had for students using wheelchairs. In each room, there is a table in addition to the desks. S knows that he needs to be near the front of the room because of his Low Vision. We talked strategy to make sure the table gets moved for him.
Stop #4 Disabled Student Services Office
S had to drop off his schedule to get his accommodation letters printed. The secretary offered to print them while we waited. We did. She explained to S what he needed to do with them. She said if he lost them to come back and she would reprint them. I informed him if he had to go back in for a reprint he better bring her chocolate! She did not disagree.
Stop #5 Quick tour of the building
S has 2 classes in this building. One is on the second floor, so we found the location of the elevator and went upstairs to find the classroom. We identified locations upstairs to help him find his classroom. "If you pass this, you have gone too far."
Back downstairs to find the classroom downstairs. It is well marked. He shouldn't have any trouble finding that. He was impressed with the bathrooms on the first floor since they have buttons to open the doors.
Stop #6 Library/Tutoring Center
On our way to his 11:00 appointment, we swung by the library to see where he will need to go for tutoring. We told him the tutoring center needs to be well known by him. Use the help they have there for you.
Stop #7 TRIO office
Finally, the reason we were there. His appointment. He was there to create his Academic Success Plan. It was supposed to take 30-40 minutes. It took 75 minutes, and I ended up in there for the last half.
S was a hot, sweaty mess when we were finished. There was a trip to Starbucks on our way home.
He still isn't done. We will be back. I just hope it's cooler. Until then, I will be in the air conditioned house on the couch with chocolate.
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