Hi. I’m new to the group. I hope you can help my DS, who is a high school junior, and me.
DS is adopted. Birthmom’s behavior during pregnancy left him with some physical and learning difficulties. The former he’s overcome, the latter he’ll have for life. Multiple testing events seem to waffle on the nature and extent of the problems, but they’re there and difficult for him to work around. He has non-specific LD affecting processing speed; tasks seem to take forever. Also, he has ADD. He is of moderate IQ, with fluency (speed) dragging down his scores. His achievement is pretty solid…higher, sometimes much higher that you would expect for some one with his IQ. His doctor believes his ADD makes it difficult to measure his IQ accurately.
We were told to apply for maximum extended time accommodations on the SAT. College Board, however, turned him down flat…only giving him extra breaks and extended breaks, and a small room setting. Their reasoning in a nutshell…since his achievement scores in standardized testing roughly parallet his IQ, no functional impairment exists. I disagree, because his achievement over the years has far outstripped his cognitive abilities and we had planned for him to take a reduced courseload in college to compensate for his slowness. In a practice test given by a specialist, with only 25-50% accommodations, he scored an 1150; however, in the formal setting, he dropped to a 1050. His school achievement has always been good, though he is pretty discouraged all the time. In a formal school setting, he nearly always made A/B Honor Roll. Now homeschooled, he maintains about a 3.6, taking regular classes in all but math, where he excels. We school year-round to accommodate his processing speed and spread things out a bit.
DS was a competitive swimmer, at the junior national level during his sophomore year, and anticipating being recruited, but he has now dropped ouit at least for the time being. It was becoming too difficult to juggle 24+ hours of workout per week and a normal class load. Also, our family has faced some difficulties that were taking away his emotional space.
So…(sorry for the lengthy explanation)…here we are facing the problem of finding a college for DS. He wants nurturing school that will see the spirit within that will respect him for who he is, recognize how hard he’s tried over the years, and grow him…he loves criminology (he has a great heart and desire to help humanity). We’ve looked (on paper) at Guilford, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, Marymount Univ (VA), Emory & Henry, St. Leo Univ. (FL), Lynn Univ (FL), Western KY Univ, Roanoke College (VA).
Do any of you know anything about these schools or any others that might be a good fit for my son. I’m so afraid for him…because if the fit is bad, he may fall off the chart entirely. He is so worthwhile, but the system really isn’t set up for kids like him…and the system has let him down so many times before. Help, please. Thanks!