My son has ADHD and plans to start at UCSB as a freshman this fall. He is coming from a small HS and is not proactive and I am concerned about his executive functioning challenges affecting his ability to manage his time as well as his non-academic life and that he will fall through the cracks with the large impersonal lectures and lack of a single advisor. Do you have suggestions or do you know how we can know that he is not falling through the cracks? He will get accommodations approved from DSP but they are only for extra time. Thanks.
Sending you a P.M.
@ MomoKZ, my son is just like yours and will be going to Iowa State in August. I too have the same concerns/ worries about how he will survive at college.
ASD son got in there and we went down and met with their autism clinic, not the disabilities office and I got the feeling that their program was not yet robust enough to meet my son’s needs. That said, if he had chosen there, he would have been better off there than other UCs.
My son got into UCSC as proposed CS major student last year. He has ADHD and some dirt phobia. He is a stubborn young man who wants his independence. The school is great. But in my opinion, a wrong school for him. The lower division classes, mostly math foundation, are huge from 200 to 400. There is only one big screen and some lecturers hand write. Some 8 am or 7:10 pm start time. The TA sessions have 40-50 students. For tougher classes like Calculus 3, you hardly follow the discussion and you need to be extra aggressive to get your problems helped by TA. He has extended time and reduced distraction room as exam accommodation. But many times there will be a mess up e.g. he went there and the room was locked. He told me he had rsvp but things still happen. May be the problem lies more with the major or the school of engineering or simply a public university - demanding, selective and underfunded. And, enrollment is tricky because classes are impacted, a student has to be vigilant with the exact date/time to press buttons to avoid being put on waitlist. Literally, the popular classes fill up in 40 minutes. If you (IF) are aware that you are behind, you must make an effort to sign up to additional tutorials before too late. Your very own initiative. Isn’t that part of growing up and life skill? Bottomline, kid with time management issues struggle! So, in order to stay on course, he sacrifices his idle time, sleep, social life and summer to play catch up. Another point, we have to transfer his insurance and prescription over but getting an appointment with the campus doctor is crazy challenging for a kid who has developing executive functions (such as regular email or phone msgs check, follow up or follow through). BUT, he loves the school despite all odds… and he doesn’t want to be transferred to a private college. He roommate smoke weed 6 times a day by the open window but my son still likes him (this kid hoovers the room once a week for the 3 of them). Note: if you don’t smoke they don’t bother you. What can a mom do, we save money for a 6 year gradation! Love and high five.
@tintinhope sorry your kid son is having issues, but it makes you feel any better, your post me feel better that we encouraged our son to go out of state to a college (across the country) that has more specific support and understands the cohort that my son belongs to. Very hard to turn down a UC because of their reputation and because he would know people on campus (and he knows no one at UCONN, though he is starting to “meet” people via FB) and it’s jumping in a car vs. a cost flight across country, but it’s a jump into the deep end. OTOH, I think he’s had floaties on for long enough. There is a reason for my screen name and the temptation too great to fight his battles if he was local.
Some things to consider include practice using an alarm clock, learn to use a calendar for taking medication, writing down assignments and tests, when readings are due, etc. (Time management stuff), teach basic skills like doing laundry, buying school and hygiene supplies, simple coming skills, reading local maps, etc. Discuss with your son his personal clock and work around it. When is he alert enough for school? If a late starter, schedule classes later. Avoid classes that drain attention such as 3 hours once a week, evening classes. When is he troubled by hunger? Schedule classes after meals. Practice reading for extended periods. It doesn’t batter so much what as learning to stick with a long assignment. What does he enjoy? Incorporate time for fun stuff. If I complete a class assignment, then play computer games for half an hour.what you and he are trying to build are life skills.