Suggested 504 accommodations for college classes

[YosemiteFan]

For those parents of college kids, (or those parents who also have ADHD and struggled in college):

My 18 year old daughter wasn’t diagnosed until last summer: after high school graduation, and while she was struggling to enroll in her upcoming college classes last fall. She continues to struggle in college, mostly with long range larger assignments which can be overwhelming; but also she’ll just not notice or forget about smaller assignments that are now due the next day or 2 so panics and doesn’t do them. We’ll be meeting with the disability counselor soon and would some ideas of what 504 accommodations worked for you or your kids for college. Having extra time for assignments? Doing an oral presentation by recorded video vs in person? Having an alternative version of an assignment?

thanks

[Onthemove1971]

Since she qualifies for services and accommodations you could write in things like "testing And assignments arranged with instructor and student" so that she can have a different type of test. Books on Alterative format helps a lot. Of course extended time on any written assignment and tests. Lecture notes given to student. etc..Any concern she and you have bring it up so something can be placed in the plan. If they feel it can't me done they will tell you.

[YosemiteFan in reply to Onthemove1971]

Thanks for all that. What do you mean by “books on alternative format?”

[Onthemove1971 in reply to YosemiteFan]

Books in Alterative format means- Audio books and or other formats. So your daughter qualifies to use Bookshare. This is a on line library of books that can be downloaded for free. This service can help people with 504 plans that struggle with reading and people with vision loss. Just go to Bookshare.org and you can search for titles of books and then once she is a member she can download them for free. There is an app if she wants to use an Ipad or phone. It is unclear if she had a 504 going into college or if she has not used services and accommodations before. Most colleges don't write a 504 plan, that is used in the school system. They will just give her accommodations and modifications for her college work.

One last thing to think about, you could have her reduce the number of classes she is taking so she is not overwhelmed in the beginning. Just start with one harder class and one "fun" class to see how she does and it may take her longer to finish but that should not matter much.

I worked at a college before helping students with accommodations and modifications.

We are always here for you if you have more questions.

Good luck.

[ADHD_DAD in reply to Onthemove1971]

Given our very favorable experience with a small private high school vs, the public school (about which I have written previously), we are looking into and encouraging my son to apply to only small private universities. In your experience, do most/ all have an individual (or individuals) who monitor/ advise children with ADHD and if so, what it is called so that we know what to look for. Thank you.

[Redpanda5]

In our personal experience, college accommodations have been rather weak unfortunately. The only thing offered has been extra time on tests. Our son can schedule to take tests at a special testing location where he is given extra time to take his tests but it must be coordinated by the student with the professor ahead of time. He has been at two large four year universities and both have only offered this accommodation.

I recommend looking into getting her a private executive function coach who can help her stay on top of her assignments. This would likely be most beneficial in your situation. My son has resisted this form of help but I believe it would help him.

College is so much more “every man for himself” than high school was. Sometimes if my son has missed an assignment he has gone to the professor and sometimes they give him grace but most often not. It is a frustrating situation but there is only so much parents can do from far away and schools generally do not welcome parent involvement. At best, in addition to an executive function coach, lightening her class load could help.

Hang in there.

[Lingerly]

Hello, my son is 21 and received his diagnosis during his first semester of college, which also happened to be when the pandemic hit! Typical accommodations are extra time on exams and tests (be sure that the language for both are in the letter since some faculty are literal in how they read this), notetaker or notetaking / recording software (your daughter will need to determine which is more effective for her), a 24 hour extension on assignments, a 12-credit course load (rather than the 15+ credit that is typical).

All of this helps--but what really makes a difference is accessible course design (which none of us can control, unfortunately) and helping your daughter to self-advocate and find allies. In our experience, many of my son's professors (since he transferred from community college to an R1 school) were very responsive--but not all. An advisor in his academic department helped to intervene when a professor was expecting advance notice on the 24 hour extension--which is not feasible when you are in the middle of an assignment and realize that it's going to take a few hours longer to complete.

See if your daughter's institution has a Disability Awareness group or an ADHD Skills group. Good luck!

[Onthemove1971]

The other service is priority registration. This can really help to design her classes at certain times, but also with certain teachers. If she know one teacher is easier to work with she can get into their class. This can only be done if she goes to the office for students with disabilities early to sign up. Good luck