<p>Hey, </p>
<p>I was wondering that how often do people with disabilities often go on to "top" schools, such as HYPSM, MIT, and Caltech, espeically people who are deaf, blind, LD, etc?</p>
<p>Just curious here.</p>
<p>At Caltech, we have a frosh in our house who is deaf, and he interacts normally with everyone else (lip-reads and talks normally). He just has a bit of extra "equipment" in his room.</p>
<p>John Ratey says ( a prof @ Harvard medical school- when he speaks at most colleges- he does a scan of audience which often includes profs, and guesstimates how many are aspie-( have aspergers) except when he is at Caltech or MIT then he guesstimates how many are * not*.</p>
<p>When I was in grad school at the U of Delaware, there was a deaf-blind student who usually made Dean's List. She had an aide who helped her get to class and signed into her hand during lectures. AFAIK, the only other accommodation she received was to take tests on her computer in the Disability Services office. UD may not be a "top" school, but it's a good state flagship and this student demonstrates the possibilities.</p>
<p>University of Texas had a housing program for physically disabled students; their roommates received free room and board in exchange for providing physical support. (I wiped a lot of disabled butts to pay my way through UT). The disabled group had a nurse who provided counseling and physical therapy. </p>
<p>Few disabled students competed a degree; so much of their early education was disrupted by their disability that they did not have the academic chops to compete. They were smart, but basically were handed admission based on their sob story. </p>
<p>In the long run they felt defeated as they left. I think that they would have been better off at a lower tier school, where they had a reasonable chance of competing academically.</p>