For a kid with special needs, such as ASD, LD or ADHD or mental illness, is a small school always going to be more supportive? As a parent of such a kid, would you steer your kid strongly in that direction, or is it more nuanced than that?
I don’t think there is an answer. Some kids don’t like to stand out so are happier at a big school with lots of choices, maybe lots of kids like them, who they can identify with. Some of the big universities have very good services while some of the smaller schools have none.
I think it depends on the nature of the issue. In some situations, I’d be more concerned about the availability of health care practitioners (physicians, therapists) in the community. So, for example, UW-Madison (because Madison is filled with mental health providers) might be better for a student with a mental illness than a small LAC in a small town.
It is a lot harder for a student to “hide” at a small school. Profs will notice and interact with them at smaller schools. A student who doesn’t want to be know at a large school probably can avoid it pretty well – but could pay for that when they want recommendations for jobs or grad school. I went to a big school and skated unnoticed – and got a lot less out of the experience than I should have. Minimal advising, no mentoring, very little direct faculty interaction. So might the kid feel “happier” at the bigger school? Maybe in the short term, but I’d recommend smaller schools for kids who need academic support and aren’t good at advocating for themselves.
Not always. I go to a small school, but while it’s a generally supportive environment, the disability services can be quite frustrating. It’s especially hard for students with physical disabilities who need accommodations (a close friend of mine is deaf and needs quite a few accommodations to get by, but the school will usually only allow her one or two for any given class).
When it comes to mental disabilities, it’s more of a toss-up. I have a couple of friends with anxiety who are allowed to find an empty classroom to take exams (our school is very big on the Honor Code), and so far I’ve had no trouble getting extra time on tests for my ADD.
However, sometimes it does depend on the teacher. I have heard stories of teachers vetoing accommodation requests because they think students are being lazy. It really sucks, and unfortunately it’s something that not even a supportive environment will eliminate completely.
It also depends on the school. Mount Saint Mary’s is a rather small school, but was in the news about a (now gone) president whose policies would probably not be seen as very supportive.
This is helpful. Let me ask a follow up question.
As you all point out, there are small schools that do a bad job of supporting students with extra needs. Are there large schools that are the opposite? That is, if a student needs support, should schools with 30,000 students be crossed off the list?
Well they really can’t veto accommodation requests if you file the appropriate paperwork (dr’s note, psychological evaluation etc). I’m going to a tiny college and I have hearing loss. So far they have been really good about getting the assistive technology I need. But my audiologist has had patients go to other schools (both big & small) who have really had to fight for their rights. Personally I quickly narrowed my search to tiny schools because I discovered I couldn’t handle lecture halls.
@readingclaygirl That’s interesting. I’m glad to hear your school is so helpful. Unfortunately my disability coordinator is really unhelpful, so if a professor thinks you need to ‘tough it out’ then there’s no one higher up who can help you.
We still have some lecture classes though. My friend who’s deaf usually manages to sit in the front, but she needs people to repeat themselves often and professors aren’t always tolerant of that.
My S who had some learning disabilities just didn’t like the small schools – he felt they were too confining, there was no way to step back a bit etc. He found his comfort level at a mid-size university that had small classes (generally 35 or less). We all agreed that a large school would not be right for him. (Ironically my D who has no learning issues loved LACs and happily attended a small school). So in short, I’d say it is important to find a setting/school size that is comfortable for your child.
When we were down to a few final choices we made appointments to visit the Office of Disabilities at the schools to get a real sense of what services were offered and if it would meet our S’s needs (of course, it is important that you have a strong understanding of what accommodations your child will need). Other than one school, we were generally pleased with what we saw and found the schools to be pretty similar in terms of what was available
I can say that some things are easier in a smaller setting. For example for extra time on exams it is the students responsibility to let the professor know about their needs (usually by meeting and giving them a letter from the Office of Disability Services) and to set up the accommodation (ex. take test in Disability Center, finish exam in professor’s office etc.) and in a smaller class where the professor knows the students and may be more accessible in general this may be more comfortable to do than in a huge lecture class (also consider if your child can thrive in large lecture classes or would do better in smaller classes).
No, you really can’t assume that. That could be the case, but a small school can also have fewer resources and les flexibility. I made the assumption that a very small LAC would be a better place for my son --expecting that he would get more support with small classes and a more closely knit environment – and he damn near flunked out. He ended up taking several years off from school and then transferring to a regional state u. where he did a lot better, mostly due to greater maturity. I can’t say whether things would have been better if he had been at a mid-size to larger university from the start – just that I was naive to expect the that anyone at the smaller college would see it as their responsibility to reach out to a student who was having a hard time staying on track.
The bottom line is that at the college level, the burden is on the student to be proactive and seek out resources and help as needed.
You need to discuss support at college with the disabilities office of the specific college. YMMV.
But important to remember…the supports you see will NOT be like the ones in HS. There will not be a case manager to chase your student down to attend class, and do homework and other assignments…and turn them in. The student will need to self advocate for accommodations. They will also need to seek assistance when needed.
A lot of parents assume smaller private high schools are more supportive of students with disabilities. I have often told people that large, public high schools have more funding and resource for those students. Smaller, private schools often have their main focus of the kind of students they want to work with. It is the case with large Uni vs small college. A small college may not have as much resource to accommodate students with disabilities and large Uni would because of sheer number of students or they are required to do so. If my child has certain needs, I wouldn’t limit the search by size, but instead by what they offer, and I wouldn’t just assume by what they post on their website.
It depends on the school and on the kid. My friend’s daughter had a very strong support system in HS. She attended a well regarded small college about 5 hours from home and left before the year was finished. I have a family member at a small LAC and she is doing very well despite issues that she had in HS. My daughter attends a large university. Although she does not need academic support, she did need some other supports initially and her school was fabulous. Her professors personally reached out to her regularly to make sure she was ok, and the services she needed were available immediately with no wait time.
Both of my kids went to the same large U. Whenever they were sick or had other circumstances that required extension of deadlines, their professors were very supportive. The professors in general were also available for additional help during after hours.
The size of the college might favor larger universities with a greater variety of services. I say “might” in part because there’s always a need to verify that they of have adequate numbers and well trained staff. As a professor at a large university I’ve been impressed by the services at my university and the students who use them – sending me electronic messages as well as notes via the students when particular accommodations were requested.
I became sensitized to these issues back at my first university teaching position a few decades ago at Florida State, where they had a special program that accommodated sight-impaired students. It gave me great satisfaction to work with the students, allowing them to record lectures, to get additional copies of my notes, and to have meetings and review sessions. We sometimes were able to have a bit of fun, such as when I told them that they might make some money if they shared my lectures with some of the students who never showed up for class.
It’s going to be very individual to the school. A larger U can have more resources set up but a longer wait to actually get that appointment or attention. A small school could also have that delay issue.
I have friends whose kids have gotten amazing support at Mercyhurst and Allegheny, both small, and have also had good social experiences. It really depends on what you need and want. You will have to be very intentional, though, at seeing whether the school can then meet you on those needs and wants. It’s much easier to go to a school that generously offers what you need than to have to fight for it.
It is true that it is harder to “hide” in a small school but do you want the student hiding? Hiding can include not completing readings until the test (allowing things to pile up), zoning out in class, skipping classes, failing to participate in any discussions, and essentially not engaging in one of the most important aspects of college-that is the academic course work. If you have a student who tends to let things slide and then panic, small classes in small schools can be very helpful because it is so hard to hide. You need to keep up and it is immediately clear if you have not.
There are large schools and small schools that are more nurturing and less competitive. It seems to me that the competitive (and, yes that is related to “prestige” in some cases )nature of the school is the more important variable.
Keep in mind that just because a student can get accepted by a highly competitive school does not mean that is the best fit for the student. It can be a disaster. The saddest situations I’ve seen involve students with learning disabilities or mental health issues who earned stellar grades through high school thanks to accommodations and parents who micro-managed nearly every aspect of the child’s academics-reminding him/her to hand in home work, directing the student in terms of the order to complete assignments, helping the student study for each test, getting tutors for many topics and prior to high stakes tests and college admissions tests. Often students can end up with a transcript that puts him/her near the top of the class. Then the parents encourage the student to apply to schools like Penn, CMU, etc because they have the grades and scores. Sometimes they inquire about accommodations and , once hearing that the school naturally adheres to the laws, feels that these schools will support the student. So the parents encourage the student to attend the most prestigious school (best bumper sticker?) the student gets into.
Parents should realistically appraise how much help they provided to the student and the extent to which the student has already shown he/she will thrive among highly competitive peers. Most students in the most competitive colleges earned top grades in high school with little effort. And they usually had enough time left over to involve themselves in extensive ECs that were impressive enough to be accepted into top schools. Most did not rely on parents or tutors. The course work, expectations and time pressures are ratcheted up in these colleges compared to high school and even those who sailed through high school often find that their time is taxed. A student who requires time and a half or double time for tasks is at a huge disadvantage because the clock does not accommodate. Time used for one task is unavailable for another. So if your student needs time and a half, the extra time is robbing time from another task. This often starts a domino effect whereby students then ask for incompletes for assignments with the hope of catching up during vacations. But even that is a poor solution because by the end of a semester such students are often behind in all their classes.
Often parents complain that the school is not sufficiently sensitive to the learning and mental health needs of their son or daughter. The school has no way of knowing how your child made it though high school when they admit. They not told your child’s disability status. The onus is on the parents and the student to select a school that is compatible with the learning needs of the student. Priding yourself in the fact your offspring can get into a competitive school but then expecting it not to be competitive once your student matriculates there is unrealistic. The school will adhere to the law but it won’t ensure that your child’s path is a nurturing one. This seems very harsh but I’ve seen so many sad situations with students who were urged by parents to go to the most competitive school possible. Disaster.
I’d encourage a student with learning issues to choose a nurturing school where he/she can thrive.
I will add that what I wrote seems inconsistent with the advice of others-which suggests checking on the extent of support available at each school. I agree with that advice but caution parents to be realistic. All the support possible will not add extra hours to the day or week.