APPLYING FOR OSAP

Im trying to apply for osap, it asks me "Do you want to self identify as being a student with a permanent disability?

Permanent Disability
A permanent disability is a functional limitation that is:

caused by a physical or mental impairment that restricts your ability to perform the daily activities necessary to participate in studies at a postsecondary level or in the labour force, and
expected to remain with you for your expected life."

would ulcerative colitis be considered a permanent disability ??

For those of you who don't know, OSAP is a government issued student loan program in Ontario Canada.

Anyone with crohns or colitis should be able to get disability. Apply for it and see what happens. I never applied for it since I was happy enough with TDP giving me full coverage for all my meds.

Sibby that is not true at all. I don't know where you got this impression from but it is false.
To the OP, no one likes to think of themselves as "disabled" but that's not the point. I would tick this box as if you do flare in the future you might need to have your OSAP extended or stopped and restarted. You protect yourself by making it clear that you have a medical condition which may cause disruption to your studies. Hopefully you will never need it.
Also, I would suggest you register with your University's disabilities office. It becomes the job of this office to advocate on your behalf with professors and admin should you need it. My husband is a professor in an Ontario University and he has many students every year who have registered with this office. He knows they have a medical condition usually only because the office contacts him and lets him know what accommodations the student needs (more time in tests, to record lectures, extensions etc). The majority of these students have invisible disabilities and some have shared that they do in fact have IBD. The professor is never told by the office what the student's medical condition is as it's all very confidential. The office takes the burden off of the student - can you imagine flaring badly and trying to negotiate deadlines and accommodations with all of your profs? If you register you won't have to. And, it also protects you from being penalized for a medical condition (really very unlikely in my experience but you never know).
Good luck at uni, I hope you never need this stuff. It is not a "disability benefit" - you don't get any money because you can not do something, but you your rights protected should you fall ill.

Just the information I got when I applied after my dx. I had several friends go through the same issue. And they were classed as disabled.

The school (in my case) can impose on you to apply as a disabled student, thus decreasing your workload and can take longer for you to graduate. If you apply as a disabled student on OSAP, then the logical assumption would mean you'd have to apply that way to the school.

Yes, OSAP is a separate entity, but it will show you applied as a disabled student on your file. The school can question why you did this.

I graduated last year, perhaps it changed, but that's the information I received when I attended college. Perhaps it's different at different colleges, but that's what I got.

Yes!

You go register at your school's disability office.

The most you will need is a doctor's letter saying you have the condition and how it is being treated and your symptoms.

Been there and done that for another health issue.

Emma