College Sophomore Accommodations

Applying to College Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD
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My D23 struggled academically a bit in her first year of college and ended the year with a 2.6 GPA. She’s managed not to fail anything but did get a D+ and three Cs. Her Art and Writing classes are A’s and B’s. More importantly than her grades, she says she feels lost a lot of the time.

We had her tested in 9th grade and she was diagnosed with dsycalculia, inattentive ADHD and executive functioning problems. Recommended accommodations were extra time on tests, a lower math class (she only went through basic Pre-Calc), and clarity from her teachers on instructions.

She had extra time from the College Board and attended a small private school where her accommodations were never official in the classroom but her teachers gave her extra time and checked in with her. She has an average IQ, but is very artistically and verbally talented, she got 4s and 5s on her AP English exams for example, she’s won art and writing awards, and her testing doesn’t seem to really reflect her abilities in these areas. She’s super lopsided, really struggles in math and science.

When she went to college she insisted that she was fine and didn’t need help. Now, she’s realized she does and I’m trying to help her figure out first steps. She’s a camp counselor this summer so she’s electronically unplugged for the most part. Her biggest hurdle seems to be the executive functioning, she seems to be confused a lot of the time about what’s happening in her classes, expectations, etc.

So the process is pretty clear online.

Upload the documentation (does her testing from 9th grade count?)

Have a meeting with a specialist to come up with a plan - what can she ask for here other than time? Clearer instructions seems impossible to wrangle out of Professors.

Give letter of accommodations and meet individually with Professors

I’m also going to recommend that she meet with Academic Support to come up with a plan for attending office hours, study tips, etc.

She attends a small LAC and they’ve been great with tutors etc so far, but I’m looking for tips from experienced parents and students, does this sound like the right approach? Advice is greatly appreciated!

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I expect your D will need updated testing before any accommodations would be considered by the college. IMO her first step should be to contact the college’s Office of Disability Services to find out exactly what will be needed.

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That’s what I was afraid of, thanks.

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Hope she can get the appropriate accommodations.

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Have you/your daughter contact the Office of Accommodations at her school? In our experience, they are very helpful in letting student/family know what they need in terms of documentation.

I’m not exactly sure your level of knowledge about accommodations at the college level, but what we learned when going through the process was:

  1. Colleges aren’t required (by law) to provide specific accommodations

  2. College accommodations aren’t put into place to get student to highest level of personal potential/achievement. An sport analogy used in one of the meetings we attended was, "We want every student to get to the playing field - accommodations aren’t there to make the student a “top scorer”

  3. The ‘easiest’ accommodation (in our experience) is extra time on tests/quizzes and/or separate testing sites. Other accommodations really depended on what the school offers and what professors are willing to entertain in their courses.

A possible small silver lining - we’ve been shocked to find it quite easy to schedule dr. appts this summer. You may be able to complete the paperwork before school restarts this fall.

Good luck with everything. It can feel so overwhelming to coordinate all the pieces in this process but you’ll get it done. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Thank you! I’m actually not sure if she really needs accommodations so much as more of an academic support plan to help her with her executive function issues. She’s struggling more with understanding what’s expected, all the different platforms used, how to check her progress etc. than finishing on time.

I’m going to suggest to her (I really try to have her manage everything herself) that she starts conversations with both departments. Not looking for straight As, just a level playing field.

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That will completely depend on the college. We heard everything from “within 3 years” to " if they ever received accommodations".

Besides extra time on tests and a quiet testing room, she will most likely be able to get copies of powerpoints and notes.

Some Student Success Centers offer executive function coaches. Often it is at an extra cost. If her school does not offer that service, you can find an online executive function coach and set up weekly meetings. If you have any coaches in your area, some offer summer “bootcamps” to get kids set up for the school year.

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Updated testing could help to identify what accommodations would be appropriate.

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We found this completely depended on professors and availability of note takers. Some professors were happy to share a copy of their notes/powerpoints (some weren’t and did not have to), some schools will have other students as designated note takers, but we were told upfront note takers and notes could not be guaranteed. If they didn’t have a ‘note taker’ in the class, that accommodation was not available.

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This is where being in a big school has an advantage. While students assume they will get more attention at a smaller school, S23 goes to a school where they will pay someone to do notes and it’s a popular student job that they have no problem filling. Because of the school culture, we have also found most professors offer universal accommodations.

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Was thinking this exact thing - sounds like the help she needs is around getting/staying organized - and an EF coach will be able to assist in that regard.

At least for our D23 who is at a LAC, the DSS office made it clear that they wanted to deal only with the student, so the onus is on her to make these appropriate appointments, etc. The DSS office will handle dissemination information to her professors, but she can also schedule individual meetings with them prior to the beginning of the new semester.

Finally, also agree 100% with @vwlizard in that our experience testing requirements varied wildly by college - so check first before you arrange for new testing, although as @happy1 mentions, further testing may provide additional information as to her specific needs.

Good luck to your daughter - you are totally on the right track, and hopefully with some coaching she’ll have a much better academic year!

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S23’s school didn’t need any new testing, his IEP was sufficient to register with the Disability Resource Center (testing used in that was actually from 7th grade). His ADHD (and EF in particular) has always been the issue.

One thing he was given was some software that automatically records all lectures and supports annotations. He uses it sometimes though not for every course. And he could access additional tutoring if desired (he hasn’t used it). They said there was a plan for “peer success mentors” but it didn’t happen last year, we’ll see if that gets up and running next year.

But the biggest factor has been that he’s at a UC which is on the quarter system and you only take three classes per quarter. He also chose the school with the fewest GEs, so he just does classes he’s interested in (those in his major) and is filling in a couple of GEs online this summer (which we picked carefully to match his interests in AI and video games and are done one at a time over 5 weeks each). That’s just hugely better for him than the seven classes he had in HS, his challenges have always been with essays, not the math and physics classes.

He’s got much better at keeping on top of things with Canvas and in fact decided he no longer needed his ADHD meds this year, except for exams. I don’t think he’s living up to his academic potential, as he’s content to get Bs. But he’s enjoyed the year and is happy with what he’s doing. I’m still very involved in helping him with class selection and that’s been useful for him this year. But we don’t have access to his grades or Canvas etc. (for comparison, in HS we would review Canvas with him a couple of times a week, but things still often got missed, especially if they weren’t in there).

So my question would be whether she can structure her class choices to focus on what she finds easiest to keep on top of? How many classes does she need to take each term? Can she minimize the math and science requirements (or postpone them until later when she’s gained more confidence and experience)? Isn’t there a unified system like Canvas that most professors use? If some professors don’t use that, then can she avoid their classes and take others instead?

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In my experience, colleges want more current assessments.

This.

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Have you considered hiring an executive function coach?

It doesn’t sound like your student had an IEP…that accommodations were informally provided by her private HS. Is this correct? If so, I think the college will want something more current, and concrete.

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She did not have an IEP, she had what her school called a Student Learning Plan, much more like a 504. She did well in high school overall and we really didn’t provide much oversight. But I think she was more comfortable self advocating for herself in that environment. She also was very organized, color coded calendars and reminders on her phone. This has been more of a struggle in college to get a handle on.

She loves her school and most of her classes are very small which is good for her. Note taking isn’t the issue as far as I can tell, it’s more knowing what to study, how the paper should be structured, how to use the various platforms and keeping up with it all.

She has delayed the required math and science classes so far. Spanish was hard for her and she did poorly in a Communications class that she should have aced, because she was confused about expectations.

Thanks everyone! I’m going to discuss with her when she’s home from her much needed summer working at camp.

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Most colleges will require testing from within the last three years. Most likely, you will have to pay privately for this.

I would have her check in with the disabilities office, who will talk her through what is needed. Bear in mind, she is now an adult and probably many colleges are not going to be receptive to a parent intervening like this. By all means, help her understand what she needs to do, but ssh iss the one who needs to do it.

Letters of accommodation won’t be given until all the documentation is received and then approved by the office. You can’t put the cart before he horse.

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I’m absolutely not interfering, just helping her come up with a plan while she’s without cell service this summer.

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Intervene. Not interfere. Just to be clear.

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Same thing. I won’t and haven’t had contact with anyone at the school, which is 1200 miles away. I don’t have access to her grades other than her final grades which she shows me, I don’t know her advisor’s name.

She came to me in May and said I need help with all of this and I told her I would figure out the process for her. Because she is in a cabin in the woods for 10 weeks.

I know that it’s lots of fun on CC to try to blame the parent but that is not what’s happening here.

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One thought is to see if the school accepts credit from local community college. If she has a summer where she can take a class before camp begins or is no longer a counselor, taking classes locally while at home might help. My daughter took 3 classes one summer and found her teachers to be excellent, the classes were under 11 kids, and she knocked off some hard subject requirements.

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