My senior son has recently been diagnosed as being a wicked smart kid with ADD. We saw his school work start to unravel at the end of his junior year as assignments became longer and more open ended and so pursued testing. He has managed by charm and the skin of his teeth to keep his grades up and has been accepted to Skidmore. We provide a lot of structure here that he won’t get at college. He has a good attitude and is engaged with a coach and therapist and we are working on a 504 to document all that his teachers have been doing for him (where the charm comes in) but still he procrastinates to the point of freezing, never knows what his homework is, has no sense of time, constantly loosing and forgetting things etc. He’s going to need support and accommodations.
Does anyone have any experience with Skidmore’s supports for students with a LD or ADD? (or advise in general)
Thank you!
I don’t have any knowledge, but as the parent of a kid with dyslexia who’s interested in Skidmore, I’ll be following this thread!
Please look at Skidmore’s website and the following link: https://www.skidmore.edu/accessibility/faq/faq.php
They will help you navigate the accommodations your son might need. More information available on the college website in general.
Yes, thank you. I have read all that is on the website but am interested in what others have experienced.
I have not had direct experience but I understand that Skidmore is not as friendly to LD kids as say other schools like Muhlenberg, Ursinus, and McDanial. Our son also accepted to Skidmore with ADHD and Executive functioning issues and lots of scaffolding the last several years. We are researching now which is the most LD friendly from his list of accepted schools. The three I mentioned are others that my son was accepted to and we are trying to decide between those three having abandoned the others he was accepted to because I did not feel based on their websites that they were LD friendly re schools’ attitudes towards kids who need a little extra support.
What other schools are you considering?
He has been accepted to several places and is considering Northeastern, Colby and Skidmore. Just had a great visit to Northeastern accepted student’s day so will apply to their learning disabilities program. I have talked with Colby (Kate) and liked what she had to say very much. He will be attending their accepted student’s event next week and we will meet in person then. He is planning to attend Skidmore’s accepted student’s day in 2 weeks and we are scheduled with the Skidmore’s the next day. It’s a lot to fit in!
Could you tell me more about how you came to that understanding about Skidmore?
@momofs, if you have a few minutes to share, I’d be interested to hear what else you learned about Skidmore and LD support. (I agree with you that school websites don’t always reflect the experience on the ground.) Has your son chosen a school?
@momofs , we’re in the same boat. D3 is a sophomore at Skidmore and an athlete.
Bright, but deals with ADD.
I can’t speak to Muhlenberg or the other schools listed by @Leao114 . But our experience with this issue has been very positive.
Here’s my take of Skidmore: with two other Ds who attend / attended strong LACs in the NESCAC, Skidmore punches above its weight. We have found it to be a rigorous school. They don’t give grades away. She’s written papers that I thought were A work that get her Bs. So we’ve found that it has a reputation for rigor and that its earned.
That said, the school and the professors thus far have been fantastic. They’ve collapsed a lot of structure around her and are deliberately, thoughtfully and gently letting go little by little. They treat her like an adult and they make sure that, above all, SHE is in charge. Not them, not us, not anybody but the student.
I thank my luck stars that she was able to get in, that it’s small and focused on the undergraduate and that I have the means to pay for it. She would have been lost at a big school.
Good luck and feel free to PM me.
I can’t speak to the particulars of the OP’s situation, but I do want to draw your attention to extraordinary insight and experience about “Support for ADD and Executive Function” that was shared in another thread. If you search the words within quotes above, you’ll find it.
I was awed by the wisdom and generosity shared by many parents there. I hope their collective intelligence will help you as well.