Open University and ESA

Lanzarote1938

Indie_Kid wrote: »

You have no idea do you? I had to constantly pester doctors last year to get the answer I needed. Or rather, to change the medication that did sod all for me apart from give me a blocked nose. Which as someone with asthma, isn't ideal. I was told by one GP it was just hayfever.

Not everyone who self diagnoses is actually wrong.

You remind me of the GP who sat there and told me I was imagining the pain I was in because "the MRI scan said so". lol, you can't see pain.

Pain is personal. What to you might be agony to me could be a niggling nuisance. Some people are more stoical than others.

Nobody_knows

missbiggles1 wrote: »

The OU don't offer Access courses as such, just a module. Plus you spoke of setting fire to the place when you were "at college".

Yes, they do depending on which area you want to go in - it is for people who don't know if they are ready for university level work and to build confidence and learn some time management skills:

]www . open.ac.uk/courses/do-it /access (This is the link but it won't let me post unless I put spaces)

The fire setting happens when I am extremely stressed, anxious and when I feel threatened by people and the last time I did that was in college.

Andypandyboy

Nobody_knows wrote: »

Actually that is where you are wrong - When I was going to college, the being around people part was getting harder and harder and I set a bunch things on fire in the college canteen and they suspended me and told me to do my college work from home as I was a danger to them. I could never figure out why they did that - It wasn't my fault I was struggling to be around people and I didn't choose to had a messed up childhood so Why do I have to suffer by kicked out. I have always wanted to make the teacher that did that pay for that.

I think is a very worrying post. Particularly the part I have bolded. If you really can't see that the college and specifically the tutor involved, have a duty of care to the rest of the college community to keep them safe from someone with an illness which manifests in that way, then you really should not be in that environment. Or, harsh as this may sound, unaccompanied or unsupervised, as much for your own health and well being as well as for the safety of others. Your post is a clear threat towards that tutor.

Can you really not see that you were a danger to others? Whilst I agree your actions stem from illness so are not your "fault" you do need to bear some responsibility for how you view how others have to react to your actions from a safety aspect. Your background is not the fault of those in the college whose safety you quite clearly threatenend.

All colleges do a risk assessment of students who have issues such as yours and they do not suspend/remove them lightly.

missbiggles1

Nobody_knows wrote: »

Yes, they do depending on which area you want to go in - it is for people who don't know if they are ready for university level work and to build confidence and learn some time management skills:

]www . open.ac.uk/courses/do-it /access (This is the link but it won't let me post unless I put spaces)

The fire setting happens when I am extremely stressed, anxious and when I feel threatened by people and the last time I did that was in college.

That's what I said, a module not an Access Course which is something rather different.

_CC_

Nobody_knows wrote: »

Hi,
I can't support myself as of yet as I struggle to get out of the house due to anxiety and mental health issues but I was hoping to work on my mental health and due a degree so by the end of the course, I would hopefully be able to get a job and keep it.

What do I do? Is there any other solution ?

The OP asks "what do I do?", "is there any other solution?".

Given what the OP says, i.e. they hope to work on their mental health whilst also studying at the OU, and then gain employment at the end, my advice would be not to go through with an OU course.

If your end goal is to become employed then the primary goal should be to get into a position where you can do basic things like leave the house and socialise on some level with other people. These are fundamental nto only to becoming employed in the future, but also for a better living standard.

How would an OU degree help at all with these? It would likely add to your stress levels and by doing all the work at home it will only reinforce your current issues.

I would advise:

With the help of a professional, focus on getting into a position where you can leave the house.

Once this is achieved you could build upon this, developing better social skills etc and look to volunteer somewhere so you build up skills required for a paid job.

And then go from there...

It sounds like it would be challenging given where you're starting, but surely the above is better suited for putting you in a position where you'd be able to hold down a job and build a better life for yourself? It's not at all clear how an OU degree course would - unless I have misunderstood your post and there is another reason why you'd like to do an OU degree at present?

Regardless, good luck with it :T

FBaby

However, I still think it is correct to report people who we think are committing benefit fraud. All it takes is a simple phone call.

My experience is that it isn't so easy at all. One person I was borderline reporting was the girlfriend using the motability car to see her boyfriend without her daughter being with her, however, the reality is that if I had, she most likely would have suspected it was me. That would have seriously annoyed her boyfriend who would have believed her sob story for an excuse. He doesn't know, let understand the rules, so he probably wouldn't have believed me if I told him she was abusing the system, and that would then have impacted on his friendship with my OH. Considering they broke up only a few months later, it would have been a waste of a long standing friendship. More importantly, I don't believe for a second that she would have been investigated, let alone that the car would have been removed. At worse she would have got a slap on the hand and told not to do again, but most likely, they would have said there was no proof.

Like you, I am pretty certain that my neighbour is claiming as a single mum when she very much isn't. It's a combination of a number of things, to name just a few, the fact that we know the owner of the place well and he asked us just before she moved in to look out for her as she was a single mum with two young children, yet, we quickly noticed that a man was coming late every night and leaving early in the morning. We noticed that he parked his car at the top of the road. We also heard the eldest child calling him daddy. Then there is the fact that to start with, it was obvious he was avoiding us, waiting for us to get into our car to come out etc, and then there is the tax credit form that was posted wrongly in our mailbox addressed to her only. There are more, but the issue is.... I can't be 100% certain. Now they are nice people, we have no personal issues with them at all, so the idea that this could lead to an investigation, benefits potentially withdrawn, stops me from doing it. A good friend of mine was reported by another friend of hers because of supposed savings and it really affected her life. She was investigated and all came back totally fine, but it was a stressful and demeaning time for her as she was already embarrassed enough to be claiming in the first place.

So no, it isn't as easy as saying 'just report them' when you don't even had any trust that this would lead to withdrawal of benefits, especially when you hear on TV that most cases are not taken further because of the resources that it requires to investigate to the level that they have any chance for a court to take seriously. They are left with only investigating cases where the evidence is blatant and that's very few as people become more cunning. All it would take for my neighbour not to considered cheating benefit was for her boyfriend to have registered everything at his parents, no joint accounts, he pays her money every month that he can say is child maintenance (but used for joint bills), and even if they were to interview me, which I doubt they would do, they could say that he stays in the evenings to help put the kids to bed and that they have remained good friends, and there is nothing they could do to say that they are lying.

FBaby

The second reason I want to do it from home is my pyromaniac fantasies which I have managed to keep under control over the past months and if I get to stressed, I may set fire to something which may injure people. Do you know how terrifying that is ? Knowing that you are capable of that.

Surely if that is the case, for your own protection and well-being, shouldn't your priority be to learn to deal with stress and anxiety in a way that doesn't trigger your desire to set things on fire before you consider to do something known to be stressful, even if at home?

If what you say is accurate, I very much doubt any mental health practitioner would encourage you to do something stressful. They would probably encourage you to do things that are less frightening, such as maybe starting to walk every day to the end of the road, then learning to cope with buying something at the corner shop, then to go to a larger shop etc... From what you are saying, it doesn't sound like you are ready to tackle higher education. Maybe an alternative you could consider whilst working on coping with stressful events would be to buy module books and start studying them at your own pace. That would take away the stress that comes with the delivery of pieces of work and deadline, whilst still educating yourself until you are well enough to face higher levels of stress.

teddysmum

OP, An idea:


Contact the OU and ask if there is anyone near you who has recently done the degree you fancy and would be willing to donate their study materials.


In this way, you can see if the work is at a suitable level for you and also learn; all without stress. Then , should you decide to go ahead, you would find the actual modules easier, second time round.


This would probably cost nothing as, like me, people would have no use for materials, which live in the garage for a couple of years, before being binned and would be glad to find them a good home. You'd need to source locally as postage costs, due to weight, would be very high.

Indie_Kid

teddysmum wrote: »

OP, An idea:


Contact the OU and ask if there is anyone near you who has recently done the degree you fancy and would be willing to donate their study materials.


In this way, you can see if the work is at a suitable level for you and also learn; all without stress. Then , should you decide to go ahead, you would find the actual modules easier, second time round.


This would probably cost nothing as, like me, people would have no use for materials, which live in the garage for a couple of years, before being binned and would be glad to find them a good home. You'd need to source locally as postage costs, due to weight, would be very high.

Or ask on the Facebook groups. I think there is an OU swap book group on there somewhere.

missbiggles1

teddysmum wrote: »

OP, An idea:


Contact the OU and ask if there is anyone near you who has recently done the degree you fancy and would be willing to donate their study materials.


In this way, you can see if the work is at a suitable level for you and also learn; all without stress. Then , should you decide to go ahead, you would find the actual modules easier, second time round.


This would probably cost nothing as, like me, people would have no use for materials, which live in the garage for a couple of years, before being binned and would be glad to find them a good home. You'd need to source locally as postage costs, due to weight, would be very high.

I'm not sure if it's still the case but our college used to have most OU study materials available in its library.