Question!

Hi, I am new to this board. My son is applying to colleges next year and receives minor accommodations at his private school for dyslexia. I want to make sure whatever school we choose for him will be able to follow suit. Do all colleges have a learning center or support staff? Does anyone have a list of the top schools? Just want to make sure he has all the support he needs for continued success! Thanks in advance!

I believe every accredited college/university has either an Office of Disability Services or its equivalent, but I could be wrong. Certainly do your research on schools of interest before applying.

We found that college is different in that they don’t have to take the previous 504/IEP as gospel, but they will do their best to replicate the most common accommodations (extra time, for example, is a no-brained testing accommodation when you have a documented LD which would merit it). They may also offer supports we never heard of at the high school – both colleges we’ve experienced so far (my younger kid is currently dual-enrolled) have offered my kids the use of SmartPens, which record audio and track your writing. So, if my dysgraphic kid is taking notes and can’t keep up, later he can touch the pen to the paper where he got behind and listen to the lecture bit that was happening right then. (I still can’t get over that technology.)

Dyslexia is a fairly common LD with (for lack of a better term) “standard” accommodations. I don’t think you’ll have trouble finding the support you need. Good luck!

If you do a search, you should easily find the Office of Disability services for each of the universities your child is interested in. We visited with each to be sure we were on the same page. We disqualified one school because they wanted her to have a complete reevaluation. At the cost of $1800, we decided that she just didn’t need to go to the college as every other university was willing to accommodate her with no additional testing. My DD had a diagnosis of dyslexia and dysgraphia since earlier elementary with re-evals every 3 years. The most current was less that 3 years old. Please do contact them to see what they need. DD is now a freshman in college. I hope this helps.