Transitioning to college with learning disability -advice?

My DS is a junior. He will have a school re-evaluation & IEP meeting next month. He has an iep for written expression. Mostly this is accommodations like typing, not grading art projects, submitting electronic files, etc. He has had very little SDI at school. His school would like to go to a 504 at this point. I know iep will end after senior year anyway. He has accommodations for SAT & IB exams. What should I be thinking about for this final school evaluation, transition plan & iep as he plans the move to college? Any advice?

Go on the websites for the colleges he would like to attend and find their “Disabled Students Services” information. Contact them via email or phone and find out what their requirements are, as far as paperwork, for your son.

You should have already had your Department of Rehab meeting when he turned 16. They should be present at your last IEP meeting/504 and will be discussing his transition to the college/community college.

Yes, have your student contact the students with disabilities office. Parents of swd are surprised to find that their son or daughter is an adult at college who makes their own decisions about accommodations, holds responsibility for choices such as class attendance and failure to register with or even meet with a staff member of the disability office, and whether parents may speak to the personnel of the disability office. In fact, parents are allowed to speak with disability service providers only if they have signed permission to do so. The student determines of parents are allowed to sign consent forms. The disability service office does not track attendance and due dates of assignments, send reminders of upcoming tests or provide wake up calls. Legally, when a son or daughter is accepted at college, s/he has met admissions criteria and is capable of progressing at that school with or without accommodations.

Lots of kids, like there parents did in the past, go off the rails as freshman. SWDs are often glad to be out from under the thumbs of parents and special educators so do not register with the disability office in the fall. While many do register, a great number wait until midterms, often the first exams of the semester, and find them very challenging.

When students come to disability services, the process of documentation begins. A history of special education often does not meet disability guidelines even with presentation of recent IEPs and psychoed reports. Special education services, and the educational goals of special education end with high school graduation. Please review to documentation standards for disability (ADA and a different section of 504) to find out what needs to be submitted and start gathering information. Also, between contact with the disability office and registration, any poor grades earned are factored into the final grade. Registration results in accommodations that compensate for the functional limitations posed by a disability, but existing grades and requirements earned before registration count toward the final grade.

There is no FAPE or LRE on an IEP/service plan in college In high school, leveling the playing field be assisting kids earn equivalent grades to other students not receiving special education. Leveling the playing field at college, accommodations are directly tied to functional limitations of a student’s disability. For example, blindness would most likely prevent a student with a severe visual impairment from accessing information through print text. The appropriate accommodation could include a reader, or Brailled text, or books on tape when the student has textbook, tests, required readings and so on. The student and disability services provider would decide together which accommodations are selected.

Accommodations compensate for very specific aspects of the disability and do no assure that students will pass; just like there is no assurances about grades given to classmates. Accommodations are provided in real time, but not provided to help with homework, personal study, writing papers and so. There are no modifications of tests such as question clarification or do-overs, due dates, requirements, grading standards.

Yipes!!!

It does work out for most kids attending college, truly. My suggestions include: signing up for RFBD now so the student becomes comfortable with books on tape or electronic test before school starts, finding computer programs and AT that improve the learning experience, looking over textbooks for a comfortable reading level and going to the college library to find a book with a similar publication date that reads better for the individual, exploring resources on college such as tutors, reading labs, learning centers and so on that are available to to all students. Similar functions are not provided through disability services. If classes have shared enrollment or the college provides an opportunity to have a contingent of classmates to study with and share pizza, join up. When selecting text books, choose the the cleanest text available. Lots of used books are so highlighted and marked up to be unusable. I recently attempted tutoring a student in statistics on her third attempt to pass. The book cracked when open and, lo, there were fabulous resources and a CD she hadn’t seen. She was keeping the book pristine to enhance its sell-back price which would not have varied much by the books condition. If there is an informational meeting of parents of swd during orientation, go and ask questions and listen closely to other parents. Disability services will provide the legality and formality, but parents are experienced in reality.

For your student who has depression, before school starts, find a psychiatrist or doctor in college town to provide therapy, monitor and prescribe medication, and whatever else your student needs. If a student would be expected to find assistance at health services, counseling services, and disability services, sign whatever permissions asap so that service providers at these various offices can speak with each other about your student. Confidentiality means that these professionals can’t speak to each other or you about your student for legal reasons.

Thank you Aunt Bea & Zannah, That gives me a lot to think about.