Disclosing Accommodations When Applying

[Anonymous]

My DD attends a private, is in 10th grade and has an accommodation for dyscalculia. She's had the accommodation since 5th grade and her dyscalculia was reconfirmed in 9th grade. Practically, this means my DD will finish high school through pre calculus. She's a B+/B student in math most years due to the extra time, her self advocacy and tutoring. She struggled in physics in 9th and ended up with a similar grade. Not surprisingly, she's a humanities and foreign language kid and earns better grades in those classes.

My aspirations for her are not top 20 schools but probably T50-T100. I'll know more after DD takes PSAT and at the end of 10th. Most importantly, I want the right fit and someplace where she'll thrive.

For those with similar situations, did you disclose the learning disability? We're not at the stage of discussing application strategies with her school's college counselor but wanted perspective of other parents.

[Anonymous]

No, we didn't disclose disability or needed accommodations when applying (although a knowledgeable person could certainly see autism between the lines, based on her one dimensional activity list and tiny private school). Learning about disability services was part of our process when deciding where to apply and we discussed specific accommodations with disability services after acceptance.

[Anonymous]

There is no need to get into it, sounds like they have solid grades and are chasing an appropriate level of school. Once admitted you can get accommodations if needed.

[Anonymous]

Two Facebook groups that are helpful:

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/17Y4KmifVU/?mibextid=wwXIfr (Parent discussion about various schools and the admissions process)

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1Bf7faXLxV/?mibextid=wwXIfr (Expert answering questions about the accommodation process)

[Anonymous]

No no no

[Anonymous]

Trying to claim a disability to explain why you got a B+ in math just puts a bad taste in my mouth, and likely others as well.

[Anonymous]

Disclose after you’re accepted but before you decide where to go. You’ll went to get a good sense of disability services if your kid needs support in college.

[Anonymous]

There’s not really a natural place to disclose it. They don’t specifically ask in the Common Application. My DS mentioned it in his personal statement, but the essay wasn’t about his disability. We went back and forth about mentioning it and while many say not to, it’s a defining thing in his life (not that he has a learning disability but that he’s overcome so many problems it caused).
He got in to all his t50-100 schools and even his reach in the 40s.
I think that was the way to do it. Gives some cover for why he was heavier in math/science and why he didn’t max out Spanish (he has dyslexia) but he was still standing behind his gpa and sat, which weren’t top of class but very solid.

[Anonymous]

DD has SLD and ADHD and did not disclose prior to admission. She is a hard worker with a strong GPA and an okay test taker so went test optional. She only considered schools with good supports and spoke to the disability offices prior to committing. She’s happy with her choice and is doing well.

[Anonymous]

As a parent of a kid with an assortment of learning/other disabilities we thought about this a lot.

What I have consistently heard is if it is going to be self-evident in your materials (eg you had a resource class) there is no reason not to disclose if it might explain something further.

Our DD did not write about her main disabilities in her essay, but she did write about something that is quirky about her that is probably related to one of her other disabilities (she has a limited ability to feel hot and cold) and how it has influenced her approach to the world. It allowed her to write something unique, compelling, and personal that showed growth and self-reflection, without veering too far into territory she didn’t want to overly dwell on.

She used the additional information section to tackle academic “stuff” that was weird. Like she had concluded her study of foreign language after sophomore year due to a hearing disability because the school did not offer a non-auditory language option. She was applying to some schools where they would have expected her to take foreign language each year of HS.

I think our opinion has consistently been that if the school doesn’t want a kid like our DD (eg a kid with a hearing disability that prohibits her study of spoken foreign language) that is clearly not the right school for her. At that point there is nothing to lose on being transparent within reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to claim a disability to explain why you got a B+ in math just puts a bad taste in my mouth, and likely others as well.

Excuse me?!

I suppose you’d think the same thing about citing my daughter’s dyslexia to explain why she does badly on spelling tests and needs more time to finish reading assignments.

[Anonymous]

Private counselor here. The Common App's challenge (previously COVID) question in the Additional Information section is where you would want to put this information, or ask the school college counselor to discuss it. Your high school context is also important (for example, the math placement for your daughter's peers applying to the same colleges) so this is a decision to finalize with school staff, not here. With that said, I worked with a student this year with dyscalculia and we decided they should write about it based on a number of factors in their profile. So far, their decisions have been favorable so I think it was the right decision to disclose. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

My son chose to disclose autism and ADHD in the additional information section. We discussed it, and it came down to if the school wasn’t going to be happy with and support my son because of those things, we didn’t want him there. He applied to four schools that were a good fit and got into all four.

[Anonymous]

My son has speech apraxia in addition to AuDHD and did not take any foreign language. He is a NMF and used the additional info part of the common app to explain his lack of FL, his focus on cultural learning classes such as film study, and lived experience as a multiracial person in an ethnically diverse area.

He also wrote several short essays for school specific questions that disclosed his experiences as a neuro-divergent person and how that shaped and influenced his perspectives on empathy, diversity, and justice.

He was accepted to several great schools including Case Western, Purdue Honors, Penn State Honors, VT, GMU, JMU, South Carolina, Tulsa, TCU, etc. Many of the private/OOS offered substantial merit awards.

[Anonymous]

My DS with dyslexia is not interested in disclosing it in his application. He may contact the disabilities office at whatever university he attends if he thinks he needs their support, whatever their support is. I’m leaving it up to him. He was officially diagnosed when he was 6 with dyslexia but unofficially identified as dyslexic before that so he’s going to taking the reins now.