[Jim091866]

I get ssdi and I want to take a few classes at a college just to be busy. Am I endangeing the benefits by doing this?

english, math, computer class like office 2007.

[paula_w]

that's a good question jim; i can see why you would be concerned. could you settle for online courses? my daughter is getting her accounting degree at UCF and quite a few of her courses are online.

paula

[jcitron]

Hi Paula and Jim,

Here's a couple of thoughts on the online classes because I took them over the course of 6 years while working on my BS IT degree. I found you need the absolute motivation to keep at them. Sitting in front of a computer every day doing "work" instead of poking in forums or playing games is a lot different than taking classes. This probably has a lot to do with the learning environment (virtual classroom) and the attendance and goal requirements for each class. For me I had to log in at least 4/7 days just to meet the attendance requirements for the class fascilitator. This was over and above the school requirements of logging in twice a week on two different days.

The course work was quite varied depending upon the instructor (fascilitator). For some reason retired or current college professors thought that working people had as much time as day students at the college where they worked, and piled on as much work as they could. For these teachers we had to read 120-200 pages of online material, plus magazine articles, plus write papers with 2000-3000 words plus sources, and answer online discussion questions. This was in addition to the class participation that was counted through discussing the individual posts by the other students. These were substantiative answers, meaning more than just "an I agree" for an answer with a minimum of 300 words.

While all this was happening, the classroom was divided up into project teams, and in addition to a personal paper, usually of some length, there was the substantial team project, which was usually on the order of 30 pages plus a PowerPoint presentation.

Of all the classes I took, the worst was the math class. We had a regular math textbook, nothing wrong with that, but had to post the answers online using word documents. This meant doing the problems on paper then translating handwriting into text, which never worked for me. I spent more time redoing problems because I misread my handwriting. I passed the course, but vowed I'd never do it again.

In my opinion, the online classes are great if you're working, are young and still have a brain that's not clouded with medication. Before I was diagnosed and had been through my life and health crisis, I had no problems keeping up with the work. I would log in for a minimum of 4 hours per evening, keep up with the posts, and still have time to complete the projects. At the end, I was too tired, exhausted from my workday, to do what I needed to do. It was too much mentally as well as physically, and the courses I was taking at the end were quite complicated. Programming classes are not easy to begin with and trying to do them online made it worse. I ended up not completing my online degree and have since gone back to school full time at a real university. I'm entering into a real university with 108 out of 120 credits.

Jim, I understand your concern for your SSI benefits, but why would they be impacted if you should decide to go back to school for classes? You're not working, or making any income from doing this. This is money out of your pocket, or from the state to cover tuition. If this was the case, then I would lose my unemployment benefits when I received my student loan. You might want to consult with your doctor, or an advocate at the SS office regarding this. They would have the correct (hopefully) information.

The other thought too is how about auditing the classes? Instead of receiving college credits and GPA points, you are only taking the the classes and attending the lectures. You are not always responsible for the homework, and you can enjoy the ride so to speak. The tuition rates for audited classes is a lot less per class/credit than it is for the regular matriculated student.

Anyway, good luck on this. I'm sure you going back to school will be the best thing for you mentally. Afterall isn't this what some of the "experts" are now saying? Mental exercise is as good for us as the physical exercise.

John

[Sasha]

College classes have gotten almost prohibitively expensive, in my opinion, but our local university allows those 65 to audit at no charge. Well, not 65 yet. but the public library has a very nice selection of computer classes FREE! As well as book lectures and various film series, etc. The classes tend to be one day workshops or evening events, but still helpful. There could be no question about attending these things, I wouldn't think. Of course, I don't know if all libraries do this...

[olsen]

I am able to obtain DVDs of college lecture courses presented by "the teaching company" from our main library branch. their web site:

http://www.teach12.com/teach12.aspx?ai=16281

The lectures cover a wide range of topics: arts and music, literature, mathmatics, philosophy, science, etc. many of the lectures are either audio or DVD.
these are popular and one must be placed on a request list. because i request several topics, i have never had to wait for a long time to obtain one. best of luck. madelyn