Make the Cut – Fall 2021
Paul Menton Centre, Carleton University
TRANSCRIPT: "Plan Your Transition" Q&A - Sonia Tanguay and Amanda Blais

[SONIA] We're going to move on to the Q&A.

[AMANDA] Holy smokes, Sonia⁠—you were right on time for that one.

[SONIA] I know! I was trying to be mindful of my time and I'm glad so thank you, Amanda.

[AMANDA] No problem. Hi everyone out there, my name's Amanda. I'll be asking your questions to Sonia, sorry, in the background. So, Sonia, I'm going to get us started off with the first question which is, "Can my documentation be from a long time ago? Um, I got an evaluation when I was much younger, let's say around 10 years old?"

[SONIA] So, yes. I mean, I'm not sure what your disability is but um the best way to approach this is schedule an information meeting with your with an advisor and you could even do it now, actually. I mean, it doesn't hurt to connect with the disabilities office because I know it can take time to get documentation. I know there's a backlog since uh the pandemic. Schedule an information meeting um and then um provide a copy, or if you don't have a copy with you then you can explain um and they will tell you what happens. If documentation is old, you will receive interim supports um it may not be extensive but you will we will still provide uh some accommodations and support services, so you're not going to be turned away.

[AMANDA] And as always, during this session we have tons of questions about documentation so the next one also is going to be talking about, "How long is documentation considered official?"

[SONIA] Okay, so how long is it considered official? So, what we're looking for is we're looking for relevant information to adults. So, anything that would be that would would refer to your functioning um as an adult, right? Um so, adult norms, adult measures um then that would technically be considered official. So, let's say you would have an assessment done in high school with adult measures, so a psycho-educational assessment done at that age then at that point it will continue to be official and apply to the workforce. So, you never need to do another assessment.

[AMANDA] Excellent and I feel like you've answered this question a little bit but, "When should I register with PMC or disability services office?" You can never answer this question too many times.

[SONIA] Yeah, so ideally as soon as you're given your your offer of admission uh schedule an appointment. Um so uh you can schedule a phone appointment, an in-person appointment or virtual appointment. Um even if you're going to be out of town, let's use technology to register you, right? Um so, but if you can't do it right away, you can do it in July uh in august um, ideally before September.

[AMANDA] So, both you and Bruce have said now, as soon as you get your acceptance or have submitted your acceptance, connect with us. But even before, like you said, do an information session. So, that's really awesome. Um so, "What kinds of transition programs can I join over the summer to prepare for university?"

[SONIA] So, there are various transition programs. A great place to look at is the Student Experience Office. So, any institution will have a link to a student experience office and you can learn lots about different events such as summer orientation. On our webpage and disability offices' webpage there will be information about transition programs. We have one in late August which is called PMC 101 or PMC Intro but there will be other ones as well such as Math Matters, Chemistry Matters. But in your acceptance package you will definitely receive information about transition programs.

[AMANDA] Excellent. Still some more questions rolling in here so um, "What skills and strategies should I focus on as I prepare to transition to post-secondary and university?" I might be talking about this coming up but feel free to get us⁠— give us a little spoiler.

[SONIA] So, I think the one skill or the two skills uh to to focus on um, and Amanda we'll talk about this in a second, and I would say time management, time management and organization um are are really good ones um because for university it's if you can manage your time well um I think you can do quite well and succeed.

[AMANDA] Awesome. I will be talking about that so thank you for opening that up. Um the next question is, "Once I register with PMC or disability service offices, can I reach out to my disability coordinator or counselor if I have questions over the summer?"

[SONIA] Yeah, absolutely. So, once you're registered it doesn't mean that you have to wait until the fall or September to reconnect. So, your coordinator will be available uh throughout the summer, or your advisor, and if you have questions about housing, if you have questions about OSAP which is financial aid um and sometimes you just don't know who to speak to, like, "I'm trying to figure out how which courses I need to select." Um and sometimes you can search to a university website um and we will send you links in terms of contact this person um and that will really facilitate uh your your your ability to to be well prepared.

[AMANDA] Awesome. We're just going to keep them rolling in. The next question is, "How does accommodations work if you're doing a program online?"

[SONIA] Okay, that's an excellent question. Um so accommodations can be very much similar to um to in-person but usually there are fewer accommodations so because why? Because your accommodations sometimes when we we consider is both the learning environment and functional limitations. So, if you're on campus and there are no- if you're online and there are fewer barriers then you may require very much less accommodations and the most common one right now that's being used is more time for timed examinations. Um note-taking support as well but you also have to keep in mind that not every institution offers online learning> At Carleton we're not an online university so we are returning uh especially for fall 2022, uh to on-campus programs. So, make sure you do your your research well to see if your program is going to be an online program only or if it's going to be a hybrid model um and, like I said, accommodations are really assessed based on course outlines, your needs as a disability um and the environment.

[AMANDA] So, Sonia, you've talked a lot about academic accommodations as well as disability services for academics. What happens if I want to live in residence? Do I connect with the disability service offices for my accommodations in residence or is that somewhere else?

[SONIA] So, for residence, what you want to do is um typically they have someone in residence that makes arrange- that connects you with accommodations. Um so it's not at Carleton anyhow so I'm not sure about other institutions but at Carleton um we don't uh coordinate uh accommodations for for residence and it's done through someone specifically and you would need to provide separate documentation in order to receive supports over there. Uh your coordinator may be able to write a letter of support but typically they would have their own requirements.

[AMANDA] And you had mentioned the Student Experience Office. Um I know we talk a lot about connecting with coordinators at PMC but is it helpful or is there are we able to connect with upper-year students as well like as mentors or anything like that? Is that useful?

[SONIA] To connect with mentors? Yeah, I would think so, yes. I think it's great to connect with professionals but you- learning from another student, you can really get their perspective, feel sometimes maybe a greater sense of connection um so I highly recommend not just relying on um, you know, the help of of staff but also what you can learn from from peers and colleagues and we have a panel later on um upper-year students that will share their experience so there's no better way than to learn uh from a colleague, a classmate or a peer. or a student, whether it's a grad student or third or fourth year.

[AMANDA] Our student success panelists are always a highlight of this event for sure. Um so I think we're moving on to the last question. So, how does the transition parent role of advocate change in post-secondary?

[SONIA] That's a great question. So, I think as a parent what you want to think about is um you want to think about how you can be a parent coach. Um as a as your child grows up um you there are some limitations in terms of uh universities speaking to parents. Of course, with certain consent- signed consents, um we can uh release information um but as a parent, I think you want to allow your son or daughter to actually develop those skills to become good a self-advocate and coach them on how to to practice that skill. So, think of your role more as a parent coach.

[AMANDA] That's excellent, Sonia. Thank you so much. I'm going to turn it back over to Paddy.

[SONIA] Thank you, Amanda.

[PADDY] Wonderful. Thank you, Sonia and Amanda. Thank you, Sonia, so much⁠—that's very, very important information and it's important to note that you can review this information later because of accessible versions PowerPoint presentations can be found on the Make the Cut webpage after the event.