Helping Your Learning Disabled Child Find the Right College
Updated June 29, 2015.
As if selecting the perfect college wasn't hard enough for the average student, it can be an even harder experience for those with learning and physical disabilities. Your child needs to find a compatible school- one that is going to accommodate all of your child's wants and needs in order to help him or her succeed. After all, this decision will set the foundation for the rest of his or her life.
While all colleges are legally bound to provide some sort of accommodation, such as extended testing time and assistance with note-taking, some colleges are better suited than others. That said, to help your child find his or her college match, follow these tips below.
Formulate a List of School Choices. Your child may have a learning disability for example, but initially the two of you should conduct a school search just like any other person would. Ask your child to create a list of the features he or she is really interested in having in a school: does he or she want a large or small campus? Does he or she want to enroll in a public or private university or college? Does he or she want to live on campus? Does it need to have winning sport team(s)? Does it need to have many organizations? Does it need to be close or far away from home? Then you need to investigate the more practical issues: is the school known for having an excellent program in the field of study your child is considering pursuing?
Are there any notable professors? Is the school affordable? What's the graduation rate look like? Do some thorough research on the internet to help you answer some of these questions. Narrow your choices down to 4 or 5 schools for consideration.
Investigate Special Accommodations. From the pool of choices, you want to narrow your list even further by checking which schools have additional accommodations. Like mentioned before, by law admission officers are not supposed to discriminate applicants that have learning or physical disabilities; and schools are supposed to provide some kind of accommodation if requested. But there are some schools that go beyond the standard and offer additional services such as adaptive technology and counseling/tutoring. This can really be really beneficial since it helps your child adjust to college coursework. Some colleges, like Fairleigh Dickson University in New Jersey offer these services for free, while other colleges like Notre Dame in Indiana charge as much as $2,000 a semester.
Visit Campus. No matter what the school's website or brochure says, you need to go in person to make sure everything it says is true. Plus, this will give your child a better idea if whether he or she can see him or herself actually going to school there. Accompany your child on a campus tour and stay the night to get a feel for the school. Encourage your child to talk to real students (preferably those with similar disabilities) so that he or she can skip all the cookie-cutter, rehearsed answers and can make a thorough decision about whether that particular school is the right choice. While taking a campus tour, it should also be in your best interest to book an appointment with the Office of Disability Services and request to speak to the director. Explain your child's disability and request a little bit more information of what kind of services and programs are provided to accommodate your child, as well as request more information on how you can ensure that your child maximizes those services offered (does a form need to be filled out etc).
It'll take some time and effort to find the ideal school, so don't wait to the last minute to start searching for the "right college."
As if selecting the perfect college wasn't hard enough for the average student, it can be an even harder experience for those with learning and physical disabilities. Your child needs to find a compatible school- one that is going to accommodate all of your child's wants and needs in order to help him or her succeed. After all, this decision will set the foundation for the rest of his or her life.
While all colleges are legally bound to provide some sort of accommodation, such as extended testing time and assistance with note-taking, some colleges are better suited than others. That said, to help your child find his or her college match, follow these tips below.
Formulate a List of School Choices. Your child may have a learning disability for example, but initially the two of you should conduct a school search just like any other person would. Ask your child to create a list of the features he or she is really interested in having in a school: does he or she want a large or small campus? Does he or she want to enroll in a public or private university or college? Does he or she want to live on campus? Does it need to have winning sport team(s)? Does it need to have many organizations? Does it need to be close or far away from home? Then you need to investigate the more practical issues: is the school known for having an excellent program in the field of study your child is considering pursuing?
Are there any notable professors? Is the school affordable? What's the graduation rate look like? Do some thorough research on the internet to help you answer some of these questions. Narrow your choices down to 4 or 5 schools for consideration.
Investigate Special Accommodations. From the pool of choices, you want to narrow your list even further by checking which schools have additional accommodations. Like mentioned before, by law admission officers are not supposed to discriminate applicants that have learning or physical disabilities; and schools are supposed to provide some kind of accommodation if requested. But there are some schools that go beyond the standard and offer additional services such as adaptive technology and counseling/tutoring. This can really be really beneficial since it helps your child adjust to college coursework. Some colleges, like Fairleigh Dickson University in New Jersey offer these services for free, while other colleges like Notre Dame in Indiana charge as much as $2,000 a semester.
Visit Campus. No matter what the school's website or brochure says, you need to go in person to make sure everything it says is true. Plus, this will give your child a better idea if whether he or she can see him or herself actually going to school there. Accompany your child on a campus tour and stay the night to get a feel for the school. Encourage your child to talk to real students (preferably those with similar disabilities) so that he or she can skip all the cookie-cutter, rehearsed answers and can make a thorough decision about whether that particular school is the right choice. While taking a campus tour, it should also be in your best interest to book an appointment with the Office of Disability Services and request to speak to the director. Explain your child's disability and request a little bit more information of what kind of services and programs are provided to accommodate your child, as well as request more information on how you can ensure that your child maximizes those services offered (does a form need to be filled out etc).
It'll take some time and effort to find the ideal school, so don't wait to the last minute to start searching for the "right college."
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