LD Accommodations - Disclose in Application?

Parents Forum
1

<p>I have been lurking and learning on College Confidential for some time. Up until now, every question I've had has been asked or could be found by digging around in the archives. However, with applications deadlines for the UC/CSU system now looming, there is an issue I haven't seent addressed before, and so, I am emboldened to make my maiden post. Please be gentle.</p>

<p>My S will be applying to several UC and CSU schools. He is the quintessential "gifted, not motivated" student being discussed today in this forum. While he was in grade school, we (and the school district) pursued the appropriate testing for him, and measurable learning disabilities, attention/concentration problems, and neurological glitches were identified. Medication has been very helpful, as well as certain classroom accommodations; i.e., extended time on assignments or tests that require expository writing and notetakers for classes where student notes comprise part of the final grade. S has done well with these assists and uses them when needed, but does not request them for every class, nor did he need them for the SAT's.</p>

<p>Here's the question:</p>

<p>H and I feel that these learning disabilities and accommodations need not be mentioned in the college applications. S has a GPA over 4.1 (due to multiple college courses, where he excels), did fine on the SAT's, has some original research, etc. We feel he is a reasonable candidate for the schools to which he is applying, and the disclosure of his learning disabilities and accommodations are not required to put his qualifications in context. His GC says he should disclose, as the schools like to see that a student is aware of issues of this type going into college and knows how they can be remediated. What to do?</p>

<p>The UC application states that disclosure of learning disabilities is strictly voluntary. A website for the Office of Students with Disabilities to which he is applying states, "Applicants may, if they desire, concisely describe disability-related challenges or concerns in their Personal Statement. All such disclosures are purely voluntary; however, such disclosures will not be a negative or limiting factor in the process of admission consideration. Prospective students and applicants are invited to call or visit OSD to learn more about our services. We request that applicants do not submit their documentation to OSD until after they have been admitted to the university and have decided to attend." This seems to indicate to H and I that no accommodations need to be identified upfront.</p>

<p>Your comments and suggestions will be much appreciated, particularly any insight parents and/or student facing a similar decision may provide. </p>

<p>Thank you in advance. What a wonderful resource this forum is.</p>

2

<p>I agree with you. Since your S has a strong profile that does not need to be "explained," I would not suggest disclosing his LD at this point. Once he is admitted, he can and should mention it so as to be able to access services.</p>

3

<p>I am the parent of a dyslexic kid who was a NM Finalist (no testing accommodations ever). I would say that with 4.1 GPA + good test scores, I can see no value whatsoever in disclosing LD's in the application. Your son doesn't need an "excuse" or explanation to put poor performance in context, so he gets no benefit from disclosure. The only possible benefit I could see would be if part of the personal statement was a positive, "how I overcame my learning disabilities" essay -- but I know my own son would never have written anything like that. </p>

<p>I think the GC's advice comes from working with kids with glitches in their record, where disclosure is a good idea - so the GC may be working with a general rule in mind that is applicable for most contexts, but simply makes no sense in your son's. The problem I see with disclosure is that it would tend to make your son's accomplishments without accommodations suspect -- for example, I think they would tend to assume that the kid who discloses LD's did get testing accommodations. </p>

<p>So I say - don't disclose a disability of any kind unless it is necessary and appropriate to explain some sort of problem in the applicant's record, such as a drop in grades one semester or a weakness in a particular subject area.</p>

4

<p>I agree with the other posters that your son should not disclose. There is no reason to in his case.</p>

<p>Susan</p>

5

<p>The only reason for disclosure is to explain something. Our son was sick and we needed to explain why he did not take AP courses but college courses instead --it was because he wasn't allowed into AP in his high school with the modified schedule. So we disclosed. In your circumstance, there is no reason whatsoever to disclose this, and it is not up to the GC to make the decision. It is illegal for the GC to disclose without your permission. In our case, I requested that the GC and all the teachers disclose because the explanation was critical. In fact, some of the staff suggested not disclosing, thinking this was a protection for him. I disagreed and insisted on disclosure, feeling it strengthened the application --but I would not disclose in your situation.</p>

6

<p>I agree with the above posters. There seems to be no benefit in disclosing this information up front for a child that has a strong academic profile. It can be disclosed later on to the Office of Disability Accommodations in order to plan for your child's needs when attending.</p>

7

<p>Thank you, everyone, for your input and insight on this. H and I were sure it was preferable to leave the LD info off the applications, but when the GC <em>strongly</em> recommended including it, it gave us pause. We are now reassured. ;o)</p>

<p>Incidentally, S did write a personal statement similar to what Calmom suggested for prompt #3 ("Is there anything you would like to let us know about your academic record . . .") -- his mixed frosh/soph grades made it imperative. And yes, true to form, it did take him many hours to compose and polish this 200-word gem.</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

8

<p>Thank you NurEins for raising this question. S is HS jr and we just got ADD diagnosis this past summer. His UW GPA for first 2 years was around 3.6, with lower grades in math and science bringing down his average--he would totally lose focus on the major exams and bomb the finals. He ended up receiving a B- in honors chemistry, although his teacher agreed that he understood the material. He has received no accommodations from school in testing or other areas, but started medication before the beginning of the school year, and his UW GPA for 1st quarter this year (AP Calc and Art History and honors in other classes) was 3.96. His school is a small private with stringent grading system that does not rank, so we do not really know how his GPA compares with others in the school. I am thinking that when he applies for college, he may want to explain his ADD issue to explain the poor chem grade and account for the upward trend (which we hope will continue), perhaps in the personal statement. Would appreciate hearing from others on this. Thanks.</p>