Abstract
Simply attending and graduating from high school is no longer a guarantee of employment. Students with disabilities need to attend college like their nondisabled peers in order to secure a good-paying job, but in order to do this, they must have special support systems in place. Fifteen colleges in the United States offer such assistance to these students. Most programs go beyond simply tutoring and include a learning specialist to assist the students with their learning, which can be anything from working on executive functioning skills to note-taking, to test-taking strategies, to being able to regulate one's emotions. An explanation of each program is included in this chapter.
TopMcdaniel College, Maryland
McDaniel College’s Academic Skills Program is similar to the Muskingum program in that the student with an exceptionality works weekly with an academic counselor on time management, organization, self-advocacy, and academic support. What is unique about this program is that the college has also developed interactive workshops for students with disabilities who struggle with social skills and assistive technology. Through the course of the semester, students learn skills to assist them in these two areas, which will not only help them in their college courses but also in their personal lives once they graduate. See https://www.mcdaniel.edu/undergraduate/the-mcdaniel-plan/build-your-education/academic-support#sass-program-descriptions for more details.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Federal law that permits reasonable accommodations for adults with disabilities.
Self-Advocacy: Stating one’s own learning needs and verbalizing what can be done so one is successful in class and on the job.
Specific Learning Disability: One of the IDEA categories wherein a student has difficulty with reading (decoding and comprehension), writing, and sometimes math.
Dyslexia: Type of learning disability where the person sees alphabet letters backwards.
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD): A learning disorder, but not one of the IDEA categories, wherein the student has difficulty paying attention to detail for any length of time.
Learning Specialist: Person on the college level who works with students with exceptionalities to provide them with the skills they need to be successful in college and beyond.
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A learning disorder, but not one of the IDEA categories, wherein the student has difficulty paying attention to detail and cannot sit still for any length of time.
Sensory Processing: Understanding information through all the senses. Students with an SLD typically learn best either by visual or auditory means, but not by both.
Executive Functioning: Self-monitoring to ignore distractions in the classroom, regulate emotions, pay attention in class, stay focused to complete tasks, stay organized, think about an issue or situation several different ways, and accept other’s opinions on a topic.
Transitioning: Under IDEA, students with disabilities must, starting at age 16, have a plan about what they will do after high school, including how they will acclimate into college life.