College and Learning Disabled Adults - Easing College Transition

Does your learning disabled child have college aspirations? Is college in his future? As a parent, you may be concerned that college will be a too lofty a goal if your young adult happens to have a learning disability. You may be worried that your child cannot be successful in an institution of higher education. However, rest assured that institutions of higher education have enrolled and successfully graduated record numbers of LD students in the past few decades. People with learning disabilities are attending college, and they are being successful. The transition from high school to college is a particularly tough one for anyone. Even non-disabled students have difficulty making the adjustment. So planning everything out with your child is especially important. Having a plan will make your child more likely to be successful. As long as you figure out the details and plan accordingly, you can minimize a difficult transition for your kid. Here are a few tips to help your young adult along the way to college and beyond.

• Practice self-awareness. This is probably the first time your kid will be entirely on her own, so it's very important that she is aware of her learning strengths and weaknesses. Have a frank discussion about the things she does well and the things she will need help with. Talk with your child about how she plans to study and schedule her time. Make sure she can discuss her difficulties openly with you and others, as talking to professors about learning hurdles and managing copious amounts of free time that's available as a college student is something your child will have to do on her own.
• Learn about the school's specific policies regarding learning disabilities. While special education policies are standard in high schools, universities aren't required by law to provide the same services individual education plans and have disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Institutions of higher learning, however, are only required to provide reasonable accommodations and not specially designed instruction. Universities cannot discriminate based on learning disabilities, so they do provide accommodations when necessary, but much of these accommodations hinge on a student talking to the learning disabilities office herself. Be sure that you are aware about what kind of documentation is necessary in order to receive accommodations like being granted extended time on tests or being given access to learning assistive technology.
• Be sure to have substantive, supportive communication with your child often. College students in general are especially prone to depression and anxiety, and students with learning disabilities are at an even higher risk. Thus, it is important to keep the communications lines open between you and your child, as stress is often the biggest cause of failure in college, and most of the time, parents aren't even aware of stress problems until it is too late. So, talk to your child often and ask her about her general mood levels. Be encouraging, so your child will want to tell you if anything is wrong.
• Encourage your child to participate in social activities. Having a vibrant and supportive social life is important for your child's well being now that you and other family members won't be there to provide the same support network. Extra-curricular activities are a great way to make friends and build the self-esteem that is so critical in having LD students successfully navigate college.

These are just a few ways to help prepare your child for the transition from high school to college.

This guest post is contributed by Tim Handorf, who writes on the topics of online colleges. He welcomes your comments at his email Id: tim.handorf.20@googlemail.com.