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Karen Golembeski: You mentioned needing valid documentation upon entering college. What type of documentation should a student come to college prepared to provide if the IEP is no longer used?
Vincent Varassi: It’s important for the student to have documentation of his disability which also shows where the disability impacts the student in some substantial way. The new legislation is going to state that a student has to be “otherwise qualified” but the college is going to want to see how that disability substantially limits a life activity. And, in this case, the life activity is learning.
Colleges vary in the type of documentation they expect, and the type of documentation could also change depending on the disability that one is claiming. So a psychiatric disability might involve different documentations than the learning disability.
Typically colleges are looking for at least a psycho-educational evaluation with testing done with adult norms. What that means specifically is that if the IQ test is requested (which probably will be), they’re looking for an adult intelligence scale, not a scale that was done for children. And they’re looking for achievement testing that can point out where, in fact, the student is being affected by his disability.
Some colleges will request more than the psycho-ed evaluation. Some colleges may request that a student also provide neuropsychological testing, which is much more expensive. So it’s really important for the parent working with the school counselor to find out in advance from the colleges what documentation they will be looking for when your son or daughter arrives on that doorstep the following September.
Karen Golembeski: Some students and parents are surprised to learn that college applications do not provide a place to disclose their learning disability. Should students with learning disabilities disclose their disabilities in college? What are the pros and cons of disclosing upon arrival on campus or during the interview process?
Vincent Varassi: There’s a good reason that colleges do not have questions on their application with regard to student disabilities. The first reason is that it would be illegal. We can’t ask people whether or not they have a disability. And people are under no obligation to disclose a disability during the application process. Students should be judged based on whether or not they meet the admission criteria as would anyone else.
Where it gets kind of tricky is the fact that students with disabilities often will have significant highs and significant lows in their ability profile. And sometimes knowledge of the learning disabilities could help explain that.
I’m not a big fan of disclosing during the interview process unless the disability is going to require significant modifications for the student. And that might be a student who has a combination of physical, emotional, and cognitive disabilities where there’s going to be a more extensive plan for accommodations.
If it was my student I would want the school to know that in advance, and I would want to know from the school in advance whether or not they can deliver. Short of that, though, I cannot speak for what goes on in the hearts and minds of every admission counselor in the United States. Some places may be more user-friendly or less user-friendly to a student with a disability. Therefore, I’m a little cautious about telling people during the interview process about the student’s learning disability.
If the student wants to disclose, I’ve seen that done very successfully by students through their essay or sometimes in a letter. But I caution students: If you want to disclose because you feel it’s necessary to explain something about your transcripts or about your SATs, please remember the power of the word “despite.”
A letter to the college that says, “I have a learning disability and I really don’t do well on tests and that’s why my scores are really so crummy but I hope you’ll take me anyway.” is going to get [an unfavorable] reaction.
On the other hand, a letter that speaks to the fact that despite a student’s learning disabilities, despite the fact that he had difficulty with reading, even despite the fact that he’s had difficulty with mathematics for his whole [school] career, despite those issues, he has been successful in other subjects and activities which he adds in the letter. Having the student frame it that way is a much more powerful way to disclose [a learning disability] if the student wants to disclose.
Karen Golembeski: Do students with disabilities have the choice to disclose or not disclose in college? If the student decides not to disclose his learning disability in the beginning of the school year but realizes later on that he needs accommodations and support, can he disclose at a later date?
Vincent Varassi: Yes. Students can disclose it any time. The thing that has to be kept in mind though is the term “reasonable accommodations.” Reasonable accommodations also can be provided in what would be considered a reasonable amount of time.
Now some colleges would require that the student disclose within 30 days at the beginning of a semester, or 30 days prior to the beginning of the semester. Some are more flexible. But, yes, if the student chooses not to disclose when he first attends college, goes through his first semester and realizes, “Wow. I could have really benefited from extended time on tests, or I should have requested that calculator or whatever the
accommodation is,” he can request that those be put in place at another time.
I’d like to suggest that all students, whether or not they’re planning to use accommodations, seriously consider disclosing when they are first admitted to the university and before the first semester begins. And I’ll tell you why. If a student wants to try to “do it on his own” and many kids who want to do [so] after they get out of the house and out of high school where they feel that they have been forced to take special education services. If they want to do that, that’s something they can do. But it would be great if they had their documentation in place, their written request for specific accommodations, so that whole process can then be acted on when they decide they need it.
So let’s say a kid comes to college in September, puts his request [for accommodations] in and is endorsed for extended time [on tests] and a quiet test environment. He chooses not to use it. It’s now October 15 and he just blew the midterm and realized, “Wow, I really should have had these accommodations in place.” If he now goes to the Office of Student Disability Services, it will be much easier to activate those accommodations even though he hasn’t used them to that point. It takes a lot longer to do it if you have nothing in place.
