Ratings for colleges' ADHD support services?

<p>Does anyone know of a respectable source for ratings of colleges' ADHD support services? Failing that, I would love to get people's impressions/understandings of how good the support services are at Bard, Bennington, Connecticut College, Sarah Lawrence, and Skidmore. Thanks!</p>

<p>I checked a few of these colleges for my student. They all have the services you need. You may need to pay extra above and beyond the super hi tuition to get real support, depending on what your child needs. There is a book by one of the college publishers (maybe Barrons) that covers sending your child with disabilities to college.</p>

<p>I don’t think there is any substitute for actually talking with the disability office at each school about the student’s needs and specific services offered. We found that most helpful.</p>

<p>I agree that talking to the college support services is critical, but I’d still like some sort of list/rankings as a confirmation. I’m really surprised that in our modern culture of ranking EVERYTHING, there doesn’t seem to be one for colleges’ ADHD support services.</p>

<p>How would you recommend rating them? I am just curious – but I doubt at many of the 3000 colleges and universities in the US, there is a critical mass of students using these services who would be interested in evaluating them. I wonder how many students with LD or ADHD use services in college.</p>

<p>I think there is a list. I believe that I had to email someone to get it. From what i remember, there is a link on the Landmark College website from the parent portal. My child was not enrolled there, but you can play around with the website. I emailed the admissions director, and he provided me with some information. I also emailed the director of disability services @UNC Chapel Hill. One of the top ranked institutions was Univ of Arizona. Others were UNC Chapel Hill and American University. The K+W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities put out by the Princeton Review is a good start if you don’t have it. Peterson’s also has a guide.</p>

<p>I have the K + W guide, and I have found some rankings simply by using Google … BUT, I would be very cautious because of all of these, including K + W, are based on information supplied by the colleges themselves. I would therefore agree with the earlier post: If you are seriously considering a school, I would ask them for specific details about their disability services. You need to really drill down to find out exactly what services they provide, what staff/resources are available, and how many students are actually receiving accommodations, etc.</p>

<p>I totally agree. Plus, keep in mind, that the student must self-advocate at 90% of mainstream colleges, which is not easy for anyone. Also look at programs like Curry College, Mitchell College, OASIS at Pace, SALT at U of Ariz and Marshall in W Va. These programs are more structured which is often what these kids need.</p>

<p>I have heard that some colleges charge extra for disability services. Does anyone know how to find out which ones do and don’t?</p>

<p>Here’s all I could find. This is from a few years back.</p>

<p>I’ve posted these lists in the past, but it’s been a while and I don’t want them getting lost. Many of the schools have already been mentioned here.</p>

<p>From the Fiske Guide:</p>

<p>Major Us-American, U of Arizona, U of Colorado-Bolder, Clark, UConn, U of Denver, DePaul, Fairleigh Dickinson, U of Georgia, Hofstra, Northeastern, Purdue, RIT, Syracuse, and U of Vermont</p>

<p>Small schools-Bard, Curry, Landmark, Loras, Lesley, Manhattanville, Mercyhurst, Mitchell, Muskingum, New England College, Univ. of New England, St. Thomas Aquinas (NY), Westminster (MO), and West Virginia Wesleyan</p>

<p>From Princeton Review’s Guide (AKA K&W Guide):</p>

<p>Adelphi University (NY)
American International University (MA)
American University (DC)
Augsburg College (MN)
Barry University (FL)
Beacon College (FL)
Brenau University (GA)
College Misericordia ¶
College of Mount St. Joseph (OH)
Curry College (MA)
Davis and Elkins College (WV)
Dean College (MA)
Dowling College (NY)
Fairleigh Dickinson University (Florham and Metropolitan Campuses, NJ)
Finlandia University (MI)
Florida A&M University (FL)
Gannon University ¶
Georgian Court College (NJ)
Hofstra University (NY)
Iona College (NY)
Landmark College (VT)
Long Island University-C.W. Post (NY)
Loras College (IA)
Louisiana College (LA)
Lynn University (FL)
Manhattanville College (NY)
Marist College (NY)
Marshall University (WV)
Marymount Manhattan College (NY)
Mercyhurst College ¶
Missouri State University (MO)
Mitchell College (CT)
Mount Ida College (MA)
Muskingum College (OH)
National-Louis University (IL)
New Jersey City University (NJ)
Notre Dame College (OH)
Northeastern University (MA)
Reinhardt College (GA)
Rochester Institute of Technology (NY)
St. Thomas Aquinas College (NY)
Schreiner College (TX)
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (IL)
University of Arizona (AZ)
University of Denver (CO)
University of Indianapolis (IN)
University of the Ozarks (AR)
Ursuline College (OH)
Vincennes University (IN)
Waldorf College (IA)
West Virginia Wesleyan College (WV)
Westminster College (MO)</p>

<p>I have not found a rating system. </p>

<p>I think the best thing is to interact with Disability Services via visiting or even phone or email. Call them up and ask about their programs. </p>

<p>I think every school will have something. The schools that charge extra will be very upfront and will also offer a program that is no additional charge for students. The ones that charge will generally offer much more personal service such as weekly check-ins. For example, University of Denver has both disability services and the Learning Effectiveness Program.</p>

<p>My D has dyslexia and we have visited 4 schools so far (CU, Mines, DU, and Clemson) and I have noticed a couple of things that I am choosing to use as indicators of a decent disability services office for my daughter. It remains to be seen if they will be good indicators.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Location- Is it in the basement of a building (Mines) or is it in the brand new student center (DU, Clemson and CU)? This also lets you know if they have realized that many, many students need their support and that they realized it long enough ago to get a nice spot in a nice building. </p></li>
<li><p>Testing Facilities- Do they have a dedicated place for testing (CU-Boulder did not)</p></li>
<li><p>Presence of students in the office. (Clemson has students coming in and out on a 106 degree day in the middle of summer)</p></li>
<li><p>Attitude- Does the staff seem happy to see you or just overwhelmed? Do they seem to want to make access hard because they are so overloaded that they can’t deal with more students? Have they realized that the percentage of students at their school that need their services is larger than they serve? Do they feel the faculty is on board with the idea that smart kids have hidden disabilities?</p></li>
<li><p>Number of students served as a percentage of student body. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Our visit recap:</p>

<p>She loved DU, but her prospective major is in a period of rebuilding and she will not be applying. LEP is amazing and the facility is crazy nice. </p>

<p>I thought the folks at Clemson went out of their way to help us. They explained what they needed from my daughter and their services. However, they don’t have a pay program and it will not include any monitoring of her progress. She is applying to Clemson.</p>

<p>Mines may be a good program in a couple of years. They are working at it. Would be okay with sending my kid there but she is not applying.</p>

<p>CU-Boulder- Would not send my LD child there.</p>

<p>All my opinion of course.</p>

<p>Let me know if you have any questions about Clemson!</p>