Reply to GT/LD college-aged son struggling academically

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[quote=Anonymous]I am a former college professor in the humanities and this is an incredibly common issue. On some level, most students face the struggle and some take longer, or need more explicit instructions, to adapt.

My advice to you depends on what kind of school he attends. Is he at a liberal arts college? At a large state school? I taught at a pretty selective liberal arts college and loved teaching the intro to the major class. When I had this kind of issue I would sit down with the students and really break down what they should be doing into steps. So, to give an oversimplified example, let's say we were doing a "close reading of the text," I'd say there are three steps here: 1) notice an interesting literary technique 2) explain and analyze it and 3) interpret. And then I could point out that the student was actually very perceptive with step 1) and gave a good shot at step 3) but without step 2), 3) couldn't substantiate the interpretation (for example). And then we'd talk through what step 2) would entail.

I would always invite students to give me a rough draft beforehand, as long as it was submitted by a certain date. (ANYONE could do this, totally level playing field, but usually only a very hard-working struggling student or the brilliant over-achiever ever would. Usually no one would.) And I would give this kind of feedback on a rough draft.

So my advice is: if you are at a SLAC go to the professors office hours! Ask earnestly for help and step-by-step instructions on how to improve. Ask if an essay can be re-written, not for credit, but just to learn the methods of the discipline. Ask if the professor is willing to read a rough draft before a deadline, and if he/she is not, go to the office hours before the deadline and use those office hours to get specific feedback. At the college where I taught, pretty much every professor provided this kind of support.

If you are at a large state school, I would recommend going to the professors and asking the same questions (with the expectation that you will not get the same amount of time) and then asking if he/she can recommend a grad student to tutor and support. It is very likely that the school has services, and they might be great, but a grad student in the field could be very helpful.[/quote]

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