Knowledge Is Key to Successful College Transition

By Elizabeth Hamblet

The transition from high school to college can be an exciting time, not just for students, but for parents, too. Unfortunately, it can also be a time of worry for parents of students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities (LDs) who are accustomed to providing their children with a great amount of support through the K-12 years of their education—both at home and at school, working with school staff and outside providers to make sure their child receives the appropriate interventions and accommodations. Knowing their role will shift from primary advocate to coach when their student starts college can cause parents some concern. Professionals, too, want to make sure their work contributes to student readiness for college by gaining the knowledge they need to make appropriate recommendations.

One of the most significant changes that occurs during this transition to college is that students will be managing themselves with different types of support and much less structure. The good news is, with the right preparation and knowledge, this aspect of the transition can be smooth. With an understanding of the changes they can anticipate during this transition, parents and professionals can make sure that students have the skills and self-understanding they’ll need to be successful. It can seem overwhelming to start talking about college as early as the 8^th grade IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting, but if students hope to attend college, a plan must lay out the steps to gaining the skills and knowledge needed so everyone has the time they need to successfully navigate the transition.

Knowledge of Shifting Laws

While students don’t need to know the intricacies of the shifts in prevailing laws as they transition to college, they do need to know that if they had an IEP, the accommodations they received through that plan were provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which does not cover college. If they had a 504 plan, Subpart E rather than Subpart D would apply, which is quite different.

However, no matter what kind of plan students have, it is not valid after they graduate from high school. This does not mean students will not get accommodations in college; however, they should not assume they’ll get the same ones they had in high school.

Knowledge of the Disability Services Registration Process

One important change from high school to college is that the college is not obligated to seek out students with disabilities to offer accommodations. If students are seeking accommodations, they are required to register with the college’s disability services office (DS) or appointed contact person. This process typically requires

• completing a form (online or on paper),
• submitting disability documentation (for students with dyslexia it is typically a copy of the most recent psycho-educational testing report), and
• requesting an intake appointment (required by some colleges) for DS staff to ask follow-up questions after reading the documentation.

Colleges cannot require students to register with DS. The choice is theirs. If they do not initially register and later change their minds and do so, it is important to know that accommodations are not retroactive. In other words, colleges will not adjust any grades already earned or allow students a do-over.

Knowledge of Potential Limits on Accommodations

Although students do not need to know the intricacies of the disability laws that apply at college, they do need to know how those laws may affect the accommodations available to them. On the positive side, colleges provide a variety of different accommodations across their programs (academic, housing, etc.) for eligible students. Some common accommodations include extended time for tests, testing in a room where distractions are reduced, and access to a spellchecker on exams. Accommodations such as these are provided for free.

Unfortunately, certain other accommodations, which are likely to be relevant to students with dyslexia and other LDs, do not have to be provided by colleges.

Colleges don’t have to provide accommodations that

• create a fundamental alteration to their programs, starting with admissions requirements (that is, colleges do not have to be flexible with these for students with disabilities who have not taken a required course or whose scores are lower than that required for admission). This is true for graduation requirements, too (that is, colleges do not have to approve requests for course substitutions). Within classes, students are unlikely to get approved for modifications to assignments (for example, shorter papers or doing a presentation instead of a paper) or to tests (for example, having the number of choices reduced on a multiple choice test). Students may not be allowed to use a memory aid on tests, as professors are assessing their mastery of the material.
• provide a personal service. In a practical sense, this means colleges do not have to provide any kind of specialized support to students with disabilities. Students should not expect to meet with a learning disabilities specialist, executive functioning coach, or similar support person unless the college they choose has these supports. Some colleges have coaches and mentors available to all students. Some offer access to a LD specialist through DS for free, but it is possible that students will have to attend a college with a fee-based program to access any or all of these kinds of services.
• provide a personal device. For instance, if a student is approved for texts in an alternative format, the college must provide the format (for example, scanning a student’s entire textbook) but it does not have to provide them with the text-to-speech software that would read it aloud to the student. That said, some colleges do offer software access for free.

More broadly, Section 504 states that accommodations need only provide “equal opportunity to obtain the same result “as their neurotypical peers but accommodations are “not required to produce the identical result or level of achievement for handicapped and nonhandicapped persons” (§ 104.42). In other words, students accustomed to having the option to retake a test for a better grade are unlikely to get this opportunity in college, unless professors offer the same opportunity to all students.

Other accommodations are not typically available, because colleges do not see them as necessary or appropriate. For instance, professors do not typically provide directions in oral and written form or email assignments to students. Of course, it never hurts to ask! It is possible such requests will be approved. (For instance, course substitutions do get approved at many colleges, though perhaps not for all students requesting them.)

Knowledge of Other Forms of Support

DS may not provide all of the supports students seek, but many colleges do offer the following services:

• general tutoring center
• writing center
• counseling center
• math or other specialized “help rooms”

Professors also hold what are commonly called “office hours” where they are available to answer questions. And, some classes have teaching assistants (TAs) who are more available to students and may be more helpful than regular tutors because they are familiar with the course content. TAs may hold extra review sessions before tests, and they may have helped to create the exams, which makes them a valuable resource.

Students should know that colleges expect all students to need help; this is why these supports are available. And, students who seek help are likely to be successful.

Knowledge of the Academic Environment and Expectations at College

For all students, the college environment requires adjustment. Classes meet less frequently than is typical in high school, and students are expected to learn more independently. They may have as much as a few hundred pages of reading to do each week, which means they will need to manage their time effectively, especially since deadline extensions are not commonly approved. Students will likely have to write long papers on their own, as professors may only want to see the final draft. (Tip: Students can bring earlier drafts to the writing center for feedback, and they can ask the professor or TA if they would be willing to review them, too.) Students are typically expected to spell and grammar check any work done outside of the classroom, too, or they can expect to have these errors counted against them.

Knowledge of Disability and Learning Strengths

Experts in transitioning from high school to college point to self-knowledge as one of the most important qualities students with disabilities can possess. In college, students will need to be aware of situations when they will need additional supports, so they can complete their registration with their college’s disability services office (DS) and receive accommodations.

Some advocates prefer to use the term learning difference rather than learning disability. This preference is well-intentioned, but students should be aware that some colleges view differences as the norm in the population and only accommodate students who have a disability, as required by law. It may be helpful to get students comfortable with the idea that they have a disability (and that disability is not a negative term), so they will not be surprised or feel ashamed when they get to college. Another benefit to knowing how their disability affects their academic performance is that this knowledge helps students  identify strengths and strategies that will assist them in completing academic tasks.

Let Knowledge Drive Academic Planning

While students are still in high school, planning should be informed by knowledge of the college environment. Even with helpful accommodations, students must be ready to do many things on their own. School-based teams, parents, and other outside professionals should consider who can provide the following supports to prepare these students:

• provide explicit instruction in study skills, such as time management, effective reading, test preparation, etc. Over time, reduce adult assistance so that by senior year, students are functioning as independently as possible.
• talk to students about their learning profile, asking them to provide their understanding of its impact on their performance and provide clarification where needed.
• check in with students over time to see if they find the strategies they learn and accommodations they use are helpful.
• help students become fluent in using technology for reading, notetaking, essay composition, and other skills necessary to succeed in college. Again, the goal is to make them independent.
• if anyone suggests waiving the high school’s graduation requirements, discuss how it might affect the student’s future college choices. The team should make sure everyone involved knows the potential impact of that decision.

Let Knowledge Drive College Search Considerations

Knowing that some accommodations may not be available and that some schools provide more supports than others, students may use this information to inform their college search. Depending upon what they seek in a school, they may want to add some items to their research.

They can look at disability services and other supports that are described on the websites of colleges they are considering, taking notes so that when they receive their acceptances, they can use this information to help them decide which schools offer the kind of support they seek.

They may want to check their graduation requirements to make sure that they feel comfortable that they can complete them without a substitution. Or they may want to apply to colleges that do not have such requirements.

If they think they’ll need supports that go beyond the minimum, they may want to look at fee-based programs. If they schools that interest them don’t offer one, students seek support through an off-campus or online tutor.

Final thoughts

Reading about all the changes to come may make the adults who care about students with dyslexia and other LDs feel anxious, but many students thrive at college. The information in this article is intended to empower parents as they support the students they care about to ensure that they to get the appropriate preparation for college.

The Office for Civil Rights offers several helpful posts on this topic:

Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities

Transition of Students With Disabilities To Postsecondary Education: A Guide for High School Educators

Auxiliary Aids and Services for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities

Dear Parent Letter from the (then) Office of the Assistant Secretary

Reference

Newman, L. A., & Madaus, J. W. (2015) Reported accommodations and supports provided to secondary and postsecondary students with disabilities: National perspective. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 38(3), 173–181. Available from https://doi:10.1177/2165143413518235

Elizabeth C. Hamblet has worked as a learning disabilities specialist in college disability services offices for two decades. In addition to working at a university, she is a nationally requested speaker on preparing students with disabilities for successful college transition. Hamblet is the author of Seven Steps to College Success: A Pathway for Students with Disabilities and a concise guide on transition, and her work has appeared in numerous journals and online platforms. She offers advice and information on her website at www.LDadvisory.com and shares resources on numerous social media platforms.