My student has ADHD and I am curious if they offer 504 plans to college students and who do I contact?
Thank you
My son is in the spectrum (and has a physical disability) and we contact the disability services at his university. They requested doctor documentation and were able to provide info from his pediatrician, specialist, and I think Hs iep plan as well-anything to support why he could benefit by having college accommodations. We contacted disability serves and housing early in the process after being accepted. I came up with a list of accommodations and reasoning and provided that to the drs/therapist so when they had to fill out forms for the disabilities office, they would have an idea of what issues to expand on. My son has been able to receive extended time in tests, private room near a bathroom and priority registration. It was nice to establish a relationship with the disabilities and housing departments before school started. See if there are forms you can complete to give you permission from your student to exchange information/speak to these departments directly. Request that your child include you on emails to these departments as well to keep you in the loop.
Colleges typically have a separate disability office. Contact them and inquire. The colleges don’t have to follow an IEP per se, but they will often make concessions depending on the nature of the disability. Each has their own set of policies.
But the most commonly granted accomodations are: 1.5x time for tests, distraction free test environment, scribe, e-notes, etc.
Yeah most colleges have a disability office or accommodations office where you can submit your latest 504 plan, but have your student contact the office. My case manager at my school said if I want accommodations I should contact the office my self, obviously the parent can but at a college level they really expect the student to advocate for themself and are more likely to be accommodating if the student is the one who contacts the office.
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Colleges do not have 504 plans. Just to be clear.
And the standard for accommodations is different from public high schools. Colleges do have to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act but accommodations cannot present an undue burden administratively or financially and cannot substantially alter the academic standards of the school, basically. You can google this.
That said, there are many accommodations available. Again, you can google possibilities like single room, extensions on assignments, extra time on assignments, testing separately, whatever helps. A professional needs to document the disability (and submit any testing done within 3 years). You can provide the professional with a prewritten letter to sign or a list of accommodations you think would help.
Yes your son has to register with the disabilities office for accommodations (though some teachers give them anyway, but registration makes it formal). The disabilities office provides a letter for the student to give each professor and the student then has to negotiate with the professor. The letter will not reveal the disability, but will certify that the student has registered. Often the teacher can look it up in the file but that is rare.
It is important to note that expectations from the disabilities office in terms of their function need to be low. The dean, college MD’s and professors will make things happen in reality, and each college is a little different in how things work. the first year can involve a learning curve of sorts but things smooth out after that.
If a college offers extra advising for time management, that’s great, but there are also peer tutors or you can hire a coach.
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My S went to a Catholic hs so no 504. He submitted his neuropsych evaluation with the ADHD diagnosis to the Office of Student Accessibility and was offered a wide variety of options to choose from to help him succeed.
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That does not happen at some schools. The student negotiates with the professor, using the letter from the Office of Disabilities, which often does not list accommodations. Obviously professors are aware of the need to accommodate, legally.
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It sounds like the most accurate information you will get for your student will be directly from the school they are admitted to. For example on the website of Northeastern U this is what I found on 504’s:
“Northeastern University and the Disability Resource Center (DRC) are committed to providing disability services that enable students who qualify under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) to participate fully in the activities of the university. To receive accommodations through the DRC, students must provide appropriate documentation that demonstrates a current substantially limiting disability. Accommodations are provided based on an evaluation of the information provided by students and their clinicians, on a case-by-case basis.”
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Keep in mind also…in college, the student will need to be a good self advocate in terms of any accommodations or services the school offers.
There is not a case manager in college who will contact all the professors or make sure your student is getting the accommodations. But the disability office will help a student if the student asks.
There are some colleges with special programs for students with specific disabilities, but I don’t think that is what you are inquiring about.
Lots and lots of kids with ADHD are successful college students. Some benefit from a coach or tutor. Sometimes parents choose to hire someone.
In terms of tutorial services, at my kids’ colleges, tutors were college students. That might or might not meet your student’s needs.
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There’s an article somewhere about like many top execs in Fortune 500 have ADHD.
All the advice is excellent. But make sure the schools will follow through. It might be a determining factor in choosing a school. You want to give your child the best chance at being successful.
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@purplemama that language from Northeastern isn’t clear about “504 plans.” Students in college do not have “504 plans” (or IEP’s) and the high school 504 plan does not travel from high school to college. However, section 504 of the 1973 Americans with Disabilities Act does entitle college students to accommodations - but the standard of accommodation is different from high school.
“* While a high school is required to identify your requirements and provide free appropriate public education to meet them, a post-secondary institution is not required to waive or change academic requirements. However, colleges cannot discriminate on the basis of disability, and must provide the necessary adjustments for you to function academically. This includes housing for students with disabilities that is comparable, accessible and affordable.”
And the student has to self-advocate.
In some schools disability offices are “guard dogs of the curriculum” and serve as a kind of filter. Others in the college system are sometimes more helpful. Also, it can be hard to ascertain the quality of a school’s system for accommodations before enrolled. Once admitted you can get a lot more information.
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Again, why they must contact the college to determine the process. The sooner, the better.
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As others have suggested here, each school is different both in how they support students and what evaluations and reports are needed to determine the student’s needs. As an example, several of the colleges my student was accepted to did not require an evaluation within the past 3 years. This was helpful to us as the cost of an evaluation is pricey. Instead, the colleges used an older evaluation, in addition to 9 years worth of 504 Plans.
Also, as others have stated, your student needs to be their own advocate. Have your student send the email to the disability services/learning resources office. In our case, the learning resources office director coordinated the intake appointment with my student, which was done over the phone. I was not involved at all.
Good luck to you and your student!
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@purplemama it makes sense to try to explore school policies, especially the kinds of requirements mentioned by @orangeFish. But I would caution that you don’t get the full scoop until admitted, and even then, it can take the whole first year to figure out the system. For ADHD it is certainly a simpler matter than for, say, complex medical needs. I have dealt with both.
As much as college disability services and housing want the student to advocate for self ( and I would think parents as well) sometimes the student needs parental help because advocating for self is part of the disability…as is organizational or time management. My S19 is not always on top of things and we work as a team with disability issues. He is maturing and learning to do more and more for himself, but some of the issues are important enough to have put in place in order for him to succeed and I don’t like to leave it all on him. Living arrangements were a major factor in my S19s case.
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Colleges discourage parental involvement. Disability office meetings don’t want parents there, in my experience, but others may have something different to say.
If you have a release from your kid, sometimes deans and others will talk with parents. But they like us to be sparing in our communicating.
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Colleges do want to interact with the student, and have the student advocate.
But some parents do choose to hire private coaches and tutors to help with organization and keeping up with the work for students who need this help.
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IMO it doesn’t hurt to get involved as a parent if your student needs your help. Yes, the disability office prefers to hear directly from the student, but I have found my S19s university disability and housing offices have also been understanding when I have helped out—with my S19s consent or providing general information. The ultimate goal for both the university and parent is to help the student advocate for self, but that doesn’t magically happen for some students at 18. Some students will have no problems navigating the disability or housing needs, but others do-especially at first as they mature. I have seen progress with my s, but if left to own, he may not have gotten the resources he needed while trying to navigate all the other demands of college. To OP-as a parent, I would either call disability services at the college my child is enrolled to see how willing they are to speak to you and student as a team while finding out about disability services available or if comfortable that your student can do it on own, encourage the student to contact disability services.
Agree with @thumper1 . The bottom line is that even with accommodations the student has to be able to manage the work load and timing of classes. While he or she may get extra time, nobody is there to make them study or turn in the problem sets. Being willing to take medication or comply with other means of managing ADD is key to college success, regardless of the accommodations. Once in the work world, very few employers will be willing to give extra time or other services. IMHO, students should be work on figuring out how they can manage life and work with ADD and without services during college.
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I have a son with ADHD. I think, if you haven’t already, that it’s important to take a step back, and focus on the end goal: a kid who can navigate the world, and emploment, on his own. So I echo what @mom2and wrote.
Of course, see what accommodations are available and make sense for your student. But also be thinking of ways they can learn to navigate things independently. For us, that was finding a school with a tiny campus for the 1st 2 years. And now, it is clear that my son will do best with jobs that have a lot of structure. I guess I am trying to say start trying to figure out how he can live in the world without accommodations (understanding he needs help, or can’t do some things that other kids can).