Accomodations in college- experience

[Anonymous]

My son is 2e (ADHD) , very technical and is in technical magnet.. We are long way from college (still in MS), but looking at different universities web sites I know what I would be looking for:

- preferential registration for classes (so best schedule can be created with no math classes at 3 p.m. or 7 a.m.) (seen this accommodation on UMD website)
- Copy of notes (typing and listening is not working for DC) (common practice in most colleges )
- Less number of classes to be full time (I think 4 is max, otherwise some courses has to be taken P/F and some singing/band should be done) (seen it on site on UMD)
- Extended time on exams (time and a half) (common practice)
- No more than one final per day (seen it on site of GaTech)

I would make sure that my child utilize all services available (organizational coaches, writing centers, computer labs, TAs, asking teacher after classes etc.)

Another thing that I may to consider, is not to allow for first two years to live on campus.
This is our particular issue, since my son does not feel both danger, and time...

[Anonymous]

^^^
If college is out of town, I would work with a college to consider local community college courses for non-major general work during summer.
For example, in case of my child who struggles with all humanities I would consider taking them during summer at Montgomery College and then transfer credits for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a fascinating thread to me, as parent of a 10th grader with an IEP for language and executive function issues.

Re 8:43, I'm just really not sure that I think a professor SHOULD be on top of students to complete work. That feels beyond the scope of the accommodations / ADA and ultimately not helpful to students.

Happy to be convinced otherwise.

+1 Professors are not teachers: they are academics whose primary focus is/should be their own writing/research (there is a big difference between "teaching" and "professing"). It is insulting to a a professor to expect him/her to be "be on top of" students who can't complete work on their own accord. University is not Romper Room or high school, and not everyone belongs at a university. Professors should not be expected to devote time to "staying on top of" Special Education students. The very idea is absurd. Do you also expect your child's employer to "stay on top of" your kid to ensure that he/she "keeps up with" tasks at work after college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is 2e (ADHD) , very technical and is in technical magnet.. We are long way from college (still in MS), but looking at different universities web sites I know what I would be looking for:

- preferential registration for classes (so best schedule can be created with no math classes at 3 p.m. or 7 a.m.) (seen this accommodation on UMD website)
- Copy of notes (typing and listening is not working for DC) (common practice in most colleges )
- Less number of classes to be full time (I think 4 is max, otherwise some courses has to be taken P/F and some singing/band should be done) (seen it on site on UMD)
- Extended time on exams (time and a half) (common practice)
- No more than one final per day (seen it on site of GaTech)

I would make sure that my child utilize all services available (organizational coaches, writing centers, computer labs, TAs, asking teacher after classes etc.)

Another thing that I may to consider, is not to allow for first two years to live on campus.
This is our particular issue, since my son does not feel both danger, and time...

Former UMD admin---stay away from UMD! The admin is highly disfunctional and there are too many horror stories to tell. I know it says certain things on their website, but I never saw those things actually happen. Ever! Let's just say they are enough of a mess that a colleague of mine who got his undergrad and PhD there got an email from admissions a few years post PhD graduation congratulating him on his acceptance to the undergrad program.

[Anonymous]

I am a professor at a smaller school, and Disability Support Services does not arrange those accommodations at my school, except for testing space if you get extra time. DSS is 3 or 4 people (including the work/study students who answer phones and help with paperwork. So at my school, it is up to me to provide the accommodations. Some are essy, like extra time on tests, but some are more difficult, like finding reliable note takers. I am also given little guidance about what to do when someone misses class frequently. I can't reteach it in a short period of time in my office, and you can only receive an incomplete after you have completed most of the course with a passing grade (this is a university rule). Notes from another student miss all of the demonstrations in class.

Anyway, I actually graduated from Cal (Berkeley), and I know the folks who run DSS there. It is sn extraordinary, well-supported service that makes these accommodations happen for the student without a lot of impact on faculty.Most other schools leave it up to the faculty to make it happen, and a lot of us don't really know how to do it in a lot of cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a fascinating thread to me, as parent of a 10th grader with an IEP for language and executive function issues.

Re 8:43, I'm just really not sure that I think a professor SHOULD be on top of students to complete work. That feels beyond the scope of the accommodations / ADA and ultimately not helpful to students.

Happy to be convinced otherwise.

+1 Professors are not teachers: they are academics whose primary focus is/should be their own writing/research (there is a big difference between "teaching" and "professing"). It is insulting to a a professor to expect him/her to be "be on top of" students who can't complete work on their own accord. University is not Romper Room or high school, and not everyone belongs at a university. Professors should not be expected to devote time to "staying on top of" Special Education students. The very idea is absurd. Do you also expect your child's employer to "stay on top of" your kid to ensure that he/she "keeps up with" tasks at work after college?

This is why my son chose a SLAC, where the professors' focus is on teaching undergraduates.

I don't pay tuition to fund the faculty's own writing/research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a professor at a smaller school, and Disability Support Services does not arrange those accommodations at my school, except for testing space if you get extra time. DSS is 3 or 4 people (including the work/study students who answer phones and help with paperwork. So at my school, it is up to me to provide the accommodations. Some are essy, like extra time on tests, but some are more difficult, like finding reliable note takers. I am also given little guidance about what to do when someone misses class frequently. I can't reteach it in a short period of time in my office, and you can only receive an incomplete after you have completed most of the course with a passing grade (this is a university rule). Notes from another student miss all of the demonstrations in class.

Anyway, I actually graduated from Cal (Berkeley), and I know the folks who run DSS there. It is sn extraordinary, well-supported service that makes these accommodations happen for the student without a lot of impact on faculty.Most other schools leave it up to the faculty to make it happen, and a lot of us don't really know how to do it in a lot of cases.

Do you have notes you could give a student? In HS, my DC does not get notes from a student, but directly from the teacher. Frequently it is the Powerpoint presentation, or the word document/outline that the teacher uses for each class.

[Anonymous]

OP - The college professor at a major research university was correct that their focus is not on teaching undergrads because the tenure system is on research to fund overhead to keep the wheels turning in science and engineering, write papers etc. Also be suspect of any university trying to make it to the top 10, 20 or 30, because undergrad education is not a high priority to get there as it is too easy to say a few things and do little.

It is best to look for smaller - instruction focused colleges in a teen's interest and apply there. There is still research done, but they will have a high reputation for teaching and interaction with students. Then see what their disability support services are. For some students accommodations just might depend on one setting it up as "to pay" someone to take notes etc.

One probably also has to judge the level of accommodations needed and the future work world that one desires to operate in to see if a job possibility is realistic. If not, modify goals a bit Also once a disability support system is in place make sure the student goes to every professor ahead of time if possible to share the information with him/her every semester. The onus for information sharing needs to be on the student.

I would also agree that if one can do the weaker areas of study at a community college in the summer or even as dual enrollment in late high school it can make a big difference. Or to just take a reduced load of 12 credits and go longer or do summer school.

Also, if one finds oneself in trouble more with a mental health condition which often crops up in late teens and in the college setting, go to the Dean of Students in your school and explain your situation as the dean's office can then get the word out to your professors. In other words, just do not disappear and fail. Some can then work with you or take an incomplete. Our daughter pulled out of a top college twice and was able to graduate on time.

College is not high school, it means doing the research to find the right setting and doing some research on line if there are such groups for other families views of a proposed university. Still each case is individual depending on the disability, maturity of the student and the services offered.

[Anonymous]

A thought for anyone with kids with a medical issue like my daughter has (an autoimmune disease). She's in college and doing well but is pretty regularly in and out of the hospital.
The disability office had her write a letter that said if she was ill, her dad and I had permission to talk to her professors.
This is the only way she's made it through 3 semesters of college.
Right now she's getting chemo and some days are just too tough--and her professors are great at being nice about her mom and dad still communicating on her behalf during those times.
I'm very thankful that we've only had 1 professor who was a total ass, making a comment about "mommy" emailing him. I wanted to punch the guy in the throat-really buddy? My kid who is juggling chemo and college is immature? Asshole.

But generally professors have been great and very, very supportive.

[pandemonium]

I saw the other college thread and was thinking about it when I saw this on campus today! School just started last week, so they put these posters up.
You will know which UC I'm at now, but I guess that's okay. =)

I completely understand when people choose a smaller, more intimate school, but I really think our school does a great job with disabilities services, so I wanted to give them a shout out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a fascinating thread to me, as parent of a 10th grader with an IEP for language and executive function issues.

Re 8:43, I'm just really not sure that I think a professor SHOULD be on top of students to complete work. That feels beyond the scope of the accommodations / ADA and ultimately not helpful to students.

Happy to be convinced otherwise.

+1 Professors are not teachers: they are academics whose primary focus is/should be their own writing/research (there is a big difference between "teaching" and "professing"). It is insulting to a a professor to expect him/her to be "be on top of" students who can't complete work on their own accord. University is not Romper Room or high school, and not everyone belongs at a university. Professors should not be expected to devote time to "staying on top of" Special Education students. The very idea is absurd. Do you also expect your child's employer to "stay on top of" your kid to ensure that he/she "keeps up with" tasks at work after college?

+2 it's counterproductive to hope for a professor to be on top of a student about their work. I would hope you would want your child to be a responsible employee and having their hand held in college is not going to do that. I have a friend from school that had a crap load of accomadations in place. He did fine but after graduation he could not keep a job. He graduated grad school in 2009 and has had 15 jobs. Been fired from every single one.

[Anonymous]

+1 Professors are not teachers: they are academics whose primary focus is/should be their own writing/research (there is a big difference between "teaching" and "professing"). It is insulting to a a professor to expect him/her to be "be on top of" students who can't complete work on their own accord. University is not Romper Room or high school, and not everyone belongs at a university. Professors should not be expected to devote time to "staying on top of" Special Education students. The very idea is absurd. Do you also expect your child's employer to "stay on top of" your kid to ensure that he/she "keeps up with" tasks at work after college?


+2 it's counterproductive to hope for a professor to be on top of a student about their work. I would hope you would want your child to be a responsible employee and having their hand held in college is not going to do that. I have a friend from school that had a crap load of accomadations in place. He did fine but after graduation he could not keep a job. He graduated grad school in 2009 and has had 15 jobs. Been fired from every single one.

+3. It's time to take off the training wheels when you're in college.

If for no other reason than that I, as an employer, want to see an accurate reflection of your abilities when I look at your application profile. If I'm intrigued by your 3.5, I also need to know if you were able to achieve that because you were given 150% more time to complete assignments and your instructors were required to limit the number of assignments they gave you and your teachers were forced to have mandatory explanatory meetings after class, for as long as you needed.

Because you know what? I'm not going to give you 150% more time to get stuff done than I give to your coworkers. I'm not going to minimize the number of projects you're assigned, and I'm sure as hell not going to stay late at the office or be available by phone to teach you our division's objectives in a way that is most digestible to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:18:40 nails it. DO NOT go to GMU. They will try to charge you an additional $4,700 per term for their program - which was worthless. If you don't sign up for the program, they don't have time for your child.

UVA is very professional, easy to deal with and very good.

UVA's reputation is the opposite. Can you expand about your experiences?

UVA's office is within health services. All we had to do was send in recent testing, etc., and it was all done by the time we got their for accepted students' day. They made it very easy. Accommodations for DD include seating up front, notes, time and a half, free tutoring in some areas.

[Anonymous]

Professor PP--thanks for posting the picture. I was glad to see the poster with references to medical illnesses. These appear to be the area where less forward thinking disability offices like UMD, mentioned here several times, are really behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

+1 Professors are not teachers: they are academics whose primary focus is/should be their own writing/research (there is a big difference between "teaching" and "professing"). It is insulting to a a professor to expect him/her to be "be on top of" students who can't complete work on their own accord. University is not Romper Room or high school, and not everyone belongs at a university. Professors should not be expected to devote time to "staying on top of" Special Education students. The very idea is absurd. Do you also expect your child's employer to "stay on top of" your kid to ensure that he/she "keeps up with" tasks at work after college?


+2 it's counterproductive to hope for a professor to be on top of a student about their work. I would hope you would want your child to be a responsible employee and having their hand held in college is not going to do that. I have a friend from school that had a crap load of accomadations in place. He did fine but after graduation he could not keep a job. He graduated grad school in 2009 and has had 15 jobs. Been fired from every single one.

+3. It's time to take off the training wheels when you're in college.

If for no other reason than that I, as an employer, want to see an accurate reflection of your abilities when I look at your application profile. If I'm intrigued by your 3.5, I also need to know if you were able to achieve that because you were given 150% more time to complete assignments and your instructors were required to limit the number of assignments they gave you and your teachers were forced to have mandatory explanatory meetings after class, for as long as you needed.

Because you know what? I'm not going to give you 150% more time to get stuff done than I give to your coworkers. I'm not going to minimize the number of projects you're assigned, and I'm sure as hell not going to stay late at the office or be available by phone to teach you our division's objectives in a way that is most digestible to you.

Do you allow your employees the use of a calculator? Do you have at least one other person review work before it is sent to a client? Do you allow your employees to use a PC/laptop with Word or other similar program? Do you allow your employees to bring in a desk chair (at their own expense) that is better for them? Those are the types of accomodations my DC needs in school.

If your require your employees to analyze the hidden meaning in various fictional works, then my DC will not be working for you. Otherwise, who knows.