Building a list- so much reading for dyslexic kid

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, most of the college guides are only in paperback form. You are going to have to help with the search simply to narrow down options for her based on her interests. Once she is on the college website she can watch the videos and use her normal text to speech program for the website content.

——

For some ideas based on interests and resources available:

Spring Hill College (Mobile, AL)
College of Charleston
St Marys College of Maryland
Stony Brook
University of New Hampshire
High Point

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

It’s your job to make a list for her and then she can evaluate and narrow it down. There are hundreds of colleges in the US and every single college will have a writing center. Whether intro classes will be small depends on what she studies. Most will have “seasonal variations.” So these are not useful criteria.

It sounds like she would like a SLAC in the northeast or Midwest. Can you afford that?

With my child we started with cost and distance. We drew a circle essentially and only looked at colleges in that area. I gave him a list of about a dozen and we narrowed it down together. We visited about half.

[Anonymous]

Do you want her to be near an airport? Near a family member?

[Anonymous]

Will you be living outside the country while she’s in college? Keeping her geographically close to a source of support (relative, family friend, grandparents) would be my #1 concern when sending a kid with some SN abroad to college. I would prioritize that above all else. It is going to be a big adjustment and TBH from your post you guys don’t know much about the landscape and she’s likely to have challenges.

[Anonymous]

I would start with a list of schools that give good support for dyslexic kids. Probably there is a Facebook group for parents of dyslexic high schoolers looking at college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will you be living outside the country while she’s in college? Keeping her geographically close to a source of support (relative, family friend, grandparents) would be my #1 concern when sending a kid with some SN abroad to college. I would prioritize that above all else. It is going to be a big adjustment and TBH from your post you guys don’t know much about the landscape and she’s likely to have challenges.

This is one of my biggest concerns. We should be back in US, likely either in DC or possibly OH. We do have supportive family in NY, SC, MN, and FL. My parents have offered to move back to west coast if she really decides she likes Oregon (early marketing mail) if we can’t get back to US.

We would like her near an airport, but she is a traveling pro, so complicated connections don’t phase her. And it sounds like I should be researching Yellow Ribbon program details for the NE and Midwest SLACs.

I really appreciate the advice. Navigating the gradual release of control is much different for the college application process than for her other academic activities.

[Anonymous]

I just want to say it sounds like you have a great kid. You should be proud and feel confident that the right college is out there for her!

[Anonymous]

I have a dyslexic 11th grader and there is no way he’ll do all the research. If we didn’t do it and give him a short list he’d be going to whatever school first let him in, and he would have selected that school because one one his friends was applying there. That isn’t quite enough of a process for me (ha) so I’m doing the research and we talk about schools and then he goes and looks at YouTube and other media about the school. We then go visit (you could have her do virtual tours since you are overseas. That narrows the list.

My son has lower stats than your daughter, but Eckerd and U Scranton are also on his list, in part because of they have the supports but they aren’t super small. If your daughter doesn’t mind small there is a wide, wide array of schools that might fit. Good luck! We’ll get through it!

[Anonymous]

We had a dyslexic kid who just went through this. First of all, you are correct its too much reading BUT so much is available online and in video form.

Our kid knew that he didn't want big cities or certain geographical areas. He knew he wanted medium to small schools. He knew he wanted STEM majors. From there we worked with him on building a Google sheet list - in his free time he spent time researching online - who knows what he looked at or what grabbed his interest - but he would rank the list and add notes about the schools. From there we started to see patterns and locations. We organized a few trips that combined schools - visited and he had an instant like or dislike. Schools dropped off the list and were added on.

I don't think he spent any time reading college-related brochures or books. It's pretty easy to find lists of schools online to consider - google is your friend as are visits to schools of interest. Junior year we traveled in earnest to schools he ranked highly. The majority dropped off but he came up with a solid list of 12 schools - he ended up applying to 10 of them. For him it helped to give himself the time to review, research and think about things - what he was interested in 10th grade changed in 11th. But dyslexia didn't hold him back in terms of finding the schools.

[Anonymous]

In the special needs threads there was a post last year for kids with dyslexia. I will see if I can find it for you.
East Carolina University has a specific program for students with dyslexia. You apply Junior year - so look into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are starting the process of building a tentative college application list. We have visited campus types, we have a decent idea of where her GPA and test scores will land and her course of study is increasing in difficulty. She has been reflecting on her best fit characteristics for schools.

But the actual research process looks like a stack of phonebooks dropped on her desk. She is trying her best, but I've noticed the colleges she reads about first each night are more likely to land on her "possible" list. Is there any more tech-enabled way to do this? I am dreaming of a searchable database with things like "undergrad teaching focused", "small class sizes for entry level classes" as searchable fields.

Even an ebook version of the college guides that support screen readers would be helpful. I feel like I am missing some simple solution. The college counselors said the reading is part of the effort and to ask the special education team. The special education team hasn't had a student like her so they suggested community college she only gets extra time accommodations at school).

Her stats/ interests are as follows:
-3.8 GPA will have 1 AP senior year
~1200 SAT
-2 years foreign language
-will complete precalculus in HS but also considering statistics class if available (due to dyscalculia)
-Undecided major, interests include media/ communications, history, theater, forensics, marine biology, intends to go to grad school
-wants undergrad teaching focused school
-smallish class sizes for entry level classes (20-30)
-reasonably sized university (at least 5k students)
-opportunity to participate in/ do research
-writing center available on campus
-would prefer city, but access to city ok
-seasonal variation
-opportunity to do theater as non-theater major

Has she had remediation for her dyslexia? Is she bright and/or intellectual?

[Anonymous]

A few to look into:
Arizona's SALT program:
https://salt.arizona.edu/about

Your College Bound Kid podcast did a profile on Guilford College and emphasized their good supports for students.
https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/?s=Guilford+College

Schools I see mentioned a lot (I have an ADHD 12th grader and a dyslexia 9th grader)
Hofstra, McDaniel, Adelphi University, Allegheny College, College of Charleston, Davis and Elkins College, DePaul University, Drexel University, Duquesne University, Emerson College, George Mason University, Gettysburg College, Goucher College, Ithaca College, Loyola Marymount University, Lynn University, Marist College, Marquette University, Marymount University, Muhlenberg College, Oberlin College, Syracuse University, University of Denver, University of San Francisco

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the special needs threads there was a post last year for kids with dyslexia. I will see if I can find it for you.
East Carolina University has a specific program for students with dyslexia. You apply Junior year - so look into it.

Great suggestion! It’s the STEPP program, for kids with dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia.

https://stepp.ecu.edu/about/faqs/

ECU also has a strong coastal studies and marine science program and good theater arts too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s your job to make a list for her and then she can evaluate and narrow it down. There are hundreds of colleges in the US and every single college will have a writing center. Whether intro classes will be small depends on what she studies. Most will have “seasonal variations.” So these are not useful criteria.

It sounds like she would like a SLAC in the northeast or Midwest. Can you afford that?

With my child we started with cost and distance. We drew a circle essentially and only looked at colleges in that area. I gave him a list of about a dozen and we narrowed it down together. We visited about half.

Wut?

[Anonymous]

OP, your kid sounds great. And I feel you: my neurodivergent kid struggled to read all those college profiles, and in the end seemed to get very little out of it -- all the schools just sort of blended together in her mind until we actually visited.

In terms of schools, I'm having a bit of trouble squaring the desire for small classes and undergraduate focus with 5k+ enrollment, and your daughter's stats and interests. For larger schools, Western Washington might be a good option? PNW folks really love that school, they have a marine bio major, and Bellingham is great. UNC-Wilmington also comes to mind.

I also suggest considering smaller LACs that are in the same community as larger universities. Kalamazoo, Hendrix, Agnes Scott would all offer that, and any of those might make good fits for your daughter. No marine bio majors, though Hendrix does have some related programming.

I've been to Eckerd if you have any questions. There's a lot to like, especially for a kid interested in marine bio/liberal arts, and St. Pete's is great, although the campus is a bit isolated.