Finding the right school for sports/learning challenges for S

S is beginning his Junior Year of High School next month. He is a great kid who has been diagnosed with ADHD and Executive Function disorder. Grades have not been good, last year was a huge struggle but he passed. We fought with the school extensively last year and worked with an Advocate and his Doctor and were finally approved for an IEP plan. I am hopeful grades will improve as he will have support at the start of the school year. Hope is that he will end his junior year with a 3.0 GPA. He is happy and has no behavioral issues. He has good EC’s and plays sports and is good at sports. I am looking to find a good fit for him where he can play baseball but also get the academic support he needs. I know he has to do this and want this on his own but he will need support from a school that hopefully cares and he is not just another number. Any advice from parents who have gone through a similar situation? Any insight as to how sports in a D2 or D1 affect studies in addition to the rigorous schedule?

How “good” is good at sports? D1 material?

Possibly.

The University of Arizona has the sports and the SALT program. I don’t know how the sports participation works, but SALT has provided good academic support for DD her first year, and the U of A Disability Resource Center is terrific with accommodations support. Everything is done via computer, so a student requests accommodations electronically through DRC for specific courses each semester, and DRC notifies professors of approved accomodations electronically. DD meets with her educational specialist, and also tutors, through SALT, which is a paid program. U of A has a good website.

Have a family friend playing baseball at Cal State Long Beach, a good team scouted by the pros. He is traveling constantly for games, both in and out of state, missing classes, but the team has tutoring support and required study hours. Because of that support and enforced discipline, he is getting better grades than in HS. No learning disabilities in this example though, and he was recruited by scout watching his HS team.

Same was true of Cousin’s kid on crewing team at Washington State. And this was a girl with LD’s, but tutoring support and mandatory study hours for the team were really helpful for her academically. However, the practice and competition time, and the travel schedule that caused her to miss classes, were really hard on her; everything takes her more time from reading to writing to critical thinking. So she didn’t keep the sport up all 4 years, but the study habits stayed with her. Unfortunately, she did lose her athletic scholarship for her last 2 years of schooling.

Mandatory study tables do help the freshman athlete get off to a good start. My daughter’s best semester so far was her first, then she didn’t have to go anymore because her grades were high, so…

Many schools have good support, so I’d find the team first and then set up the support. No school is going to be like high school. He’ll have to request accommodation for tests, note taking, extra tutoring. He’ll have to be responsible for medication and his own needs for sleep, food, stress release (sports help).

Thanks. Good advice and things to consider. This process will be so different than it was for our D.

I have recently found this good read and hope it is useful to you too
http://www.specialeducationguide.com/blog/mission-possible-guide-college-programs-students-disabilities/