Hi Susie,
Beth the OT here with a few suggestions.  I like the suggestions a lot that
were already made. Others that may be helpful:
1.  Learn how professors test.  What information are they looking for.  Some
are very nitpicking wanting you to know what color the characters eyes were.
Others may want you to understand global concepts.  Some take all their
information out of the texts provided and use lecture time as a time of
discussion and clarification.  Some use almost all lecture material.
2. Don't be bashful.  Ask your profs where they get test material from and
what they are looking for.  Also, ask if you can have copies of their
lecture notes (which may or may not be helpful) and any visuals they are
using for the class.  This can be you making the copies, or perhaps a copy
being made available in the library for your to  copy from.
3.Learn what you need from your notes.  I used to keep notes to help my
attention span in class.  Otherwise, if I'm not activily(sp?) engaged in
activity, I tend to fall asleep. (Ok, bad habit picked up from high school)
Do you need notes for specific details?  clarification of points made in
class?  Are you a write everything the prof says kind of person?
4.  I like the shorthand idea.  I used it myself in school.  People could
never read my notes one because my handwriting is so poor, and two I used my
own combination of basic programming language, mathmatical symbols, medical
abbreviations and my own abbreviations with pg. no. ref (page number
references) thrown in.
5.  Look into using a combination of methods.  Enkidu products has some
interesting Windows CE compatable software.  Windows CE is like the Palm
software only more capable of working some of the more powerful windows
programs such as word prediction software, etc.  Also, the nice thing about
the handhelds is that you can get an on screen keyboard to is alphabetical
(I'm having a hard time spelling today) instead of the usual QWERTY layout.
The web address is www.enkidu.net

Hope that gives you a few things to think about, and even more so hope it
gives you something you can use.

Beth the OT




> -----Original Message-----
> From: St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Susie Levitt
> Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2000 11:16 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Notetaking
>
>
> Hi, all!
>   Some of you may remember me.  My name is Susie and I was on this list a
> while back when I was in high school. Once I went away to Beloit
> College in
> Wisconsin, I had to leave the list because the volume of mail was
> too great
> for me to handle.
>    I'm back again because I'm on summer vacation (this means I
> have time to
> answer email) and I need help  (yeah, yeah, I know. They always come back
> when they need ya).
>     Since I have gone to college, my ability to take notes has
> deteriorated.
> I can grip a pen/pencil just fine, and I can write reasonably
> legibly... for
> about fifteen minutes.  Once fatigue sets in, my handwriting
> becomes less and
> less legible until it resembles some sort of strange EKG.  If I
> have to write
> quickly (at the speed of normal conversation), my handwriting is even less
> readable.  I can write slowly, but then I miss notes.
>     There are notetakers at Beloit, but they have been unreliable and they
> don't write down the things that I need.  I cannot use a laptop because my
> typing speed is even slower than my writing speed and I can't carry the
> thing, even with my trusty Bruno because it is awkward. (A Bruno is a
> kick-ass scooter by a company in WI... goes through construction
> zones, snow,
> over railroad tracks... you name it)  I don't want to tape
> lectures because
> Beloit professors tend to digress a lot, and I don't want to waste my time
> listening to the non-important stuff.  I also find computer files or
> notebooks are easier to use when studying for finals because you can find
> what it is you want quickly and easily. Plus, I learn better by
> reading than
> by listening.
>    In short, I need a notetaking device that is easy to learn how to use,
> portable, and will enable me to make my notes legible.
>     Any ideas would be welcome!
>      Thanks!
>       Susie
>