Have been trying to establish learning community or private room with suite mates housing arrangement for S25 who has deficits with social conversation. He needs a space to decompress (he talks to himself to process thoughts) and will connect better to peers in a smaller environment that is structured. Have submitted IEP and MET reports to college SSD offices, but being told that is not sufficient documentation.
What do I need to submit to demonstrate this need? Specific neuropsychiatric testing (and what tests)? SLP letter? Since housing is not an issue for IEPs, what else is missing?
I think you’re better off getting a checklist from the schools themselves (since every college is likely to have different requirements) than relying on the Internet! I suspect that things like air conditioned room (at a college where most freshman dorms are not air conditioned) are going to require some sort of explanation from a PCP, endocrinologist, etc. whereas things like hand-matched roommate might be on a case by case/space available basis. I know kids who have gotten singles for various conditions- severe allergies, sleep disorder, celiac… and their documentation is likely to be different than what your colleges require.
I am not sure this is the correct answer, but in my role as a family physician I get asked to write housing accommodation letters for my college patients. Patients tell me that their college requires it for accommodations.
I won’t do this if it’s bogus (e.g. little Avery wants a single because Avery isn’t used to sharing a room.) But for my patients with any type of actual medical condition or disability, I try to be helpful because I want my patients to have what they need to succeed at college.
Please schedule a visit! Please do not ask me to do this over the phone or in a portal message because I promise you I do not have the time and I will not know the specifics for this to work. And do not forget to bring the student to the appointment, because it becomes difficult for me to submit billing for the visit if the patient isn’t there. Then we all sit down and draft a letter.
I write in request of each thing on a separate line, giving the reason for it, and the diagnosis and diagnostic code (if patient is willing to share the diagnosis, otherwise I just say “due to medical necessity.”) So something along the lines of “Due to medically documented heat intolerance (ICD-10 R68.89) please provide Jane Doe with an air conditioned dorm room.” (Occasionally this is the first time that a family has brought up heat intolerance etc. but that is ok because I understand that families do a lot for their kids in their own homes without making it into a medical diagnosis, but for the college to do it, they need a medical reason. Again, don’t be bogus, but if this is something you really think the kid needs in order to succeed, ask for it.) “Due to medically documented autism spectrum disorder (ICD-10 F84.0) please provide John Doe with a dorm room single.” or “Due to medically documented disorders of the gastrointestinal system (ICD-10 K92.9) please provide Jane Doe with an en suite bathroom with no more than 4 total shared students rather than a communal (hall) bathroom arrangement.”
I have never had trouble getting medical letters written in this way to be honored. That said, I practice in a region of the country where there is no housing crunch and my patients with medical requests tend to stay close to home. Maybe colleges in NYC and Boston are more picky? I don’t know so I can’t say, but maybe someone else on here knows.
Each college may have different requirements…did they tell you what they needed when they said the IEP and MET reports aren’t enough? The disability office staff at each school are the only ones who can answer your question.
I would be very clear with the universities about what you are asking. At some of the schools you mentioned in your other thread, learning communities are not competitive entry and your son wouldn’t need an accommodation to be accepted. BUT, at least at some of the schools you mentioned, an LLC would be LESS flexible for a private room or suite because everyone in the LLC lives together in the same dorm and cohabitating is one of the points of a living learning community.
I’d also put on your radar what happens after freshman year. Some of the big state schools on your list have a lottery system for sophomores and then possibly no housing junior/senior year. Good to mentally plan ahead for how your family will handle those challenges.
I have a student at BU, from the parents page I’ve learned that housing accommodations aren’t always granted, because there aren’t available rooms. Singles, a/c, kitchen available, lower floor… maybe, maybe not.
For housing accommodations we got a letter from our son’s pediatrician describing his health/neuro challenges and why a suite style room (fewer roommates and access to semi private bathroom) would help him.
Yep, this is the way to do it. My son had already been diagnosed with hyperhidrosis by his pediatrician, so he came to an appointment prepared with a hard copy of the housing accommodation form for A/C. He asked her nicely if she’d be willing to fill it out and she was more than happy to do it.
He doesn’t need accommodations for his autism, but if he had, he would have reached out either to the psychologist who does his testing, or to his pediatrician for help with that. His psychologist had previously offered a list of very specific accommodations. I think the more specific, the better.
Often, submitting a previous report isn’t enough for college accommodations. IEPs don’t translate directly to the college environment and are no longer legally binding once a kid is out of high school.
Since your other thread was closed, I’m sharing your post that was seeking feedback on these particular schools:
I used this aggregator to pull the percentage of students living on campus and any requirements for living on campus. Note that there can be errors in aggregators and that getting the information directly from schools is best, but this at least gives us a good initial idea.
School
Students living on campus
Living on campus requirement
Case Western
73%
Through sophomore year
Colorado School of Mines
17%
Through freshman year
Embry Riddle
47%
Through sophomore year
Kettering
Not reported
Through freshman year
Lawrence Technological U.
Not in aggregator
Not in aggregator
Michigan State
43%
Through sophomore year
Michigan Tech
45%
Through freshman year
Purdue
41%
None
Rochester Institute of Technology
49%
Through freshman year
Rose-Hulman
57%
Through freshman year
U. of Michigan
27%
None
I suspect that the schools with the biggest housing crunch are Purdue, U. of Michigan, and Colorado School of Mines. Thus, I suspect that they may have more difficulty in meeting any housing accommodations, but that is conjecture on my part and not based on any factual knowledge. Reaching out to the particular schools, as you are doing, is your best bet to see what they will specifically offer your son.
Mines is currently building another sophomore only apartment style building. Currently all freshman students get housing and most sophomores can get housing. The new building opens in fall and will make sophomore housing more widely available. Some choose to live off campus for less $ and greater freedom. The meal plan is only required freshman year. There is apartment style housing for upperclassmen (newly built and renovated near campus) and was guaranteed this year to any student currently living in university housing who applied before the deadline. They’ve been very helpful with accommodations as well.