Disability Services Advice

Thank you @GloriaVaughn. Yes, my D lucked out and is going to a very good school that is so accommodating. I do know that not all schools have accomodations as easy to come by. The school my D goes to is a private university. The other one that dug in their heels was a State college. Don’t know if that is the difference as far as receiving accomodations goes, like you get what you pay for type thing, but that was just our experience. And @compmom, you are completely correct that people who have visible dissabilty have a much easier time getting accomodations. We know families that have kids on the spectrum or other non-visible dissabilities and I see the different treatments. However, the dissabilty department that my daughter worked with also had plenty of accomodations accademically. Like extra time for tests, a quiet room to take tests, a “note taker”, permission to use digital books or keyboards where necessary. They also have “life coaches” which can be assigned to meet with the students. Also they have staff to meet with the students once a week to help the student with organization skills and time management. I thought this was a great one and something my daughter could definitely benefit from. She never utilized it, but “checklists” were a big help for her. Her morning routine and nighttime routine can sometimes get difficult to remember when things like schedule changes (weekends when there’s no classes) and tiredness happens. She may forget to take meds or something like that. So she would look at her “checklist” on her phone to make sure she does everything.

I also just want to reiterate that even if your child receives every accomodation under the sun, there will be as I said before “blips”. There will be instances that are totally out of control of the college. I think a previous poster listed some previously. A classroom change for whatever reason, weather issues, a cancelled class, etc. These are all things that need to be considered when medically challenged kids go away to college. A suddenly cancelled class for someone who relies on routine, schedule and regime, can be quite daunting and throw a wrench in their whole day.

And here’s a biggie I almost forgot to mention and one I never thought of. Smoke alarms…at midnight…when its pouring rain out ? It has happened maybe twice since my daughter started college. Now they do fire “drills” about once a season and my daughter is supposed to be notified when this happens so if she is in her room she can be in a position to leave when the alarm goes off. Now my D wasn’t happy when these things occurred, I mean would be right? But she was ok and able to navigate through all of it.

So just some other things to consider when going to college which we found after she started school. It’s a whole other world for these kids. Parents really need to be able to be in touch with their kids/school during these times to help smooth out the wrinkles. And the schools need to be willing participants.

Just to clarify, I didn’t write that it i easier to get accommodations with a visible disability, but that that seems to be the area of focus for the disabilities office that we have dealt with ( schools) and that other personnel tended to help more than the OD with the not so visible challenges.

Thank you all. ASD is so difficult to explain on papear as it is different for each individual. As parents we are still learning what his challenges are. He sometimes struggles with sarcasm, but not all the time. Just the other day I mentioned something a friend had texted that was sarcastic and he chuckled…then I asked if he understood that she was joking and he said no. That surprised me since it appeared that he was laughing along with the sarcasm, but I think over the years he has learned ways to try to fit in. Another example is when he agrees with someone that he understands something (especially teachers trying to explain an assignment/asking him if he understands a concept or what he needs to do next), but he really doesn’t he has just subconsciously learned that if he agrees, he will be done with the conversation sooner. Son has done much better academically in online school from home (not homeschool), but it is at a price of socialization. He was able to get along with others in hs…most kids would either ignored him or were understanding that son was who he was and didn’t bother him-this was even before he was diagnosed. Along the way, there would always seem to be a peer or two who “got him” and would look out for him. He seems to get along better with adults. Most of his social interaction is at church/Dr. office/family. We know college will be a challenge and want to give him the best possible start with accommodations. He has chosen an area of interest and seems to know a lot about it through self-study. If he can survive the social challenges and general ed requirements, he could really thrive in his chosen field. CC-parent forum will be a great resource for us.