<p>I'm wondering if there is an easy way to find out if an IEP will follow a student to college? Are colleges required to follow the accomidations set up while the student is in high school such as more test taking time and having teacher provided notes? Or does each college handle this differently? </p>
<p>If each college handles it differently, would a student approach the office of admissions with the question or would they contact a disability office at the college? Or would there be something on the school's website that would provide information?</p>
<p>Generally the best you can do prior to applying is to set up an appointment with the Disabilities Coordinator at the prospective college(s). Ask them what their process is for receiving accommodations. This is also a time for your student to meet the staff and see what their support environment will be like.</p>
<p>The college’s answer typically is that the student will be required to provide test results and/or documentation which is no more than 3 years old. The college Disability Services office will review the test results and determine what accommodations the student qualifies for. This occurs after the student has enrolled in the college. You may find some colleges willing to do this review after acceptance and prior to enrollment if you request it. </p>
<p>The answer also typically is that if the student was on a plan in high school, the same accommodations will be offered by the college. The colleges do not typically offer to do the testing.</p>
<p>The above applies for most private colleges. For schools which are more specialized in their accommodations (such as Landmark or Curry), they may have more guarantees and evaluations available to you prior to enrolling.</p>
<p>I would say colleges are not required by law to provide LD services, and that all colleges could be different. But most colleges do allow extended test taking time and teacher provided notes to students who present a documented LD. Ask the disabilities office.</p>
<p>As nyquist said, unlike high schools, colleges are not required by law to provide LD services. Most colleges do offer extended time w/ documentation of LD, but beyond that the services or accommodations vary greatly. Some schools will alow students to waive required courses (usualy math and foreign lang), others will permit course substitution, some permit waiver or substitution only after the student has attempted (and failed) a course and and some will not modify gen-ed requirements - - so read the course catalogs VERY carefully.</p>
<p>IEPs do not carry over but there will be a disability services office at every school. go straight to them and talk about it. things that my school offers that help me are:</p>
<p>-extra time on tests
-quiet location for test taking
-note taking(the professor is responsible for picking up a special note book from the ds office and finding a student who comes to every class and takes good notes. that student takes notes and then rips off a carbon copy and gives it to the teacher who then gives it to me, also the teacher may provide power point slides if they don’t already give them to the whole class)
-materials in alternate format(text books in a program called kurzweil. they scan my books and give me a cd then i take it to the library computer and the text book pages come up on the computer and the program highlights words as it reads them through head phones)
-free tutor(up to 4 hours per week for each class)
-prefered seating(if in a big lecture class i can discuss being able to sit in the front row if they have assigned seats or something)
-ability to take breaks(this is nice for long classes. usually profs won’t stop you from leaving but at least they will know that i am not just being disrespectful)
-flexibility with deadlines(this does not mean that i just turn things in whenever i want and it is always a last resort because professors do not like you doing it much, but sometimes when you get in a bind and have so much work that maybe you know you just can’t get a paper in by the deadline. i may then talk to the professor in advance and ask if i can turn it in in the following class and explain why)</p>
<p>in addition to these, there is an academic advancement center on my campus available to any student. they offer classes in strategic reading and learning strategies. they also have advisors who can help you with time management and about any academic problem you are having. they also have a math lab certain nights of the week and a writing center. </p>
<p>colleges usually have a lot of support services but you really have to be proactive in finding them and taking advantage of them. at my school you go to disability services and request a letter for each professor at the being of each quarter and then you give this letter to your professor yourself. this is a good time for you to explain to the professor any problems you forsee having in the class and which accommodations you will need in the class(ex. will you need a note taker for that class or are the online power points enough, will you need to take the test in another room or will they take it in the class, will you need to get up and take breaks and have a different seat in the classroom etc.) it is also helpful to go and ask the professor for assistance during their office hours if necessary. this also help build a better relationship with the professor and lets them know that you really are trying even if maybe your grades are not showing it. this will make them more likely to make an exception if you do badly(like if you go and get help from them when study for a test and they see that you are obviously studying hard, going to class and doing the work but then you fail, they may give you a chance to get some extra credit or something)</p>
<p>IEPs do not carry over but there will be a disability services office at every school. go straight to them and talk about it. things that my school offers that help me are:</p>
<p>-extra time on tests
-quiet location for test taking
-note taking(the professor is responsible for picking up a special note book from the ds office and finding a student who comes to every class and takes good notes. that student takes notes and then rips off a carbon copy and gives it to the teacher who then gives it to the student, also the teacher may provide power point slides if they don’t already give them to the whole class)
-materials in alternate format(text books in a program called kurzweil. they scan my books and give me a cd then i take it to the library computer and the text book pages come up on the computer and the program highlights words as it reads them through head phones)
-free tutor(up to 4 hours per week for each class)
-prefered seating(if in a big lecture class i can discuss being able to sit in the front row if they have assigned seats or something)
-ability to take breaks(this is nice for long classes. usually profs won’t stop you from leaving but at least they will know that i am not just being disrespectful)
-flexibility with deadlines(this does not mean that i just turn things in whenever i want and it is always a last resort because professors do not like you doing it much, but sometimes when you get in a bind and have so much work that maybe you know you just can’t get a paper in by the deadline. i may then talk to the professor and ask if i can turn it in in the following class and explain why)</p>
<p>in addition to these, there is an academic advancement center on my campus available to any student. they offer classes in strategic reading and learning strategies. they also have advisors who can help you with time management and about any academic problem you are having. they also have a math lab certain nights of the week and a writing center. </p>
<p>colleges usually have a lot of support services but you really have to be proactive in finding them and taking advantage of them. at my school you go to disability services and request a letter for each professor at the being of each quarter and then you give this to you professor yourself. this is a good time for the student to explain to the professor any problems they forsee having in the class and which accommodations they would need in the class(ex. will they need a note taker for that class or are the online power points enough, will they need to take the test in another room or will they take it there, will they need to get up and take breaks and have a different seat in the classroom etc.) they can also go and ask the professor for assistance during their office hours.</p>
<p>I’ve seen on several LAC/U web-sites a “disability office” section, explaining services and parameters for establishing need. It seems that many colleges require paperwork to establish LD/disability, consisting of current/recent testing and/or evaluation reports. If a student has an IEP, then likely there is a paperwork trail and consultants/specialists already familiar with student who can update reports for submittal to college to establish need for services and/or accomodations. Services are not req’d by law, as I recall, just as services are not req’d at private high schools. But many schools nonetheless provide services, because do so also helps their graduation and retention rates.</p>
<p>They have to identify themselves to the services department at the college. I have been told by one college service person that for every accommodation I need, I have to have justification in data for that accommodation. IEPs do not count in college. So if you want extended time, you need evaluation scores to back it up, you can’t just say “Joe has ADD so he needs extended time.” That won’t cut it.</p>
<p>Ask the school for a complete evaluation so that the numbers are available to you *before college starts.</p>