My son is a very bright student with difficulties with time management, study skills and writing. He has had LD support since the end of 1st grade. He has been successful in high school in honors and AP classes with LD and home support and would like to attend a small college away from home.
What small colleges are people aware of that not only provide support with time management and study skills, but also monitor the progress of their LD/ ADD students?
Landmark is too expensive for us, and several of the other schools with LD programs that we have talked with indicated that he functions too high to fit their program.
What colleges have people found that seem to really get the time management and organization problems of ADD students and offer appropriate support?
College-Help
Since he doesn’t recognize when he needs help, he needs somebody to check in with on a regular basis who can help him assess what where he needs to speak with the prof, and to help him plan how he will spend time studying. Also, he has difficulty breaking large projects into parts, so he needs help with that.
Mastery of content is rarely a problem.
Poor planning, organization, time management and weak metacognitive skills to recognize when he needs help are all problems.
His writing is inconsistent. It takes him a long time to get his thoughts on paper, and he struggles with organization and editing. Over the years, he has closed some of this gap—but his writing is still no place near his reading or thinking level. But a good writing center will be able to support him in this area.
I’ve been reading Petersons and K and W as well as web sites. But I know that there are colleges that do well with this type of student who don’t advertise it—you have to know by word of mouth. That is why I’m asking.
Re: College-Help!
DOes he have the kind of smarts to look for classmates who *are* organized and could benefit from his quick intelligence… and be modeling the studying and time management? (It’s saved my little neck a few times.)
Would he remember to check in?
I would look at schools that would have “freshman skills” kinds of courses because when these are done right, they can really help - but sometimes they are done poorly at a school where a *lot* of students are flunking because they have poor study & management skills, and that can be contagious.
Re: College-Help!
I got some good ideas from “Colleges That Change Lives” by Loren (?) Pope. Our son did very well in a small high school and we were looking for a small liberal arts college. Most of the college websites discuss freshman programs, learning support and ld services.
We have decided on Whittier College near to us in California. We visited the LD services office. There is also a learning support center for all students that offers tutoring and I think a program where you meet with someone weekly to plan time/work management. They have an intensive writing program, but also writing support. Also, students from my son’s high school have been successful at Whittier.
Still, he won’t start until Sept. He took a year off and defered his acceptance. So, we’re keeping a positive outlook…..
colleges
Hiram College, Hiram. Ohio-My son mirrors your son.My wife is an LD teacher and she picked the ideal school for him. I was worried sick that he woul flunk out. SMALL CLASSES, PROFS KNOW EVERY STUDENT. HE HAS AN ADVOCATE WHO WILL WORK WITH HIM ON TIME MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION. IEP FOLLOWED!!!– BOOKS ON TAPE. NOTETAKER. READER ON TESTS.EXTENDED TIME.Anything else???
How much help does he think he needs?
Many colleges have support available for freshmen and entire courses in time management & study skills, and support groups … but you have to get past a certain too-common attitude that you Should Be Doing This By Yourself. (We’ve considered making buttons for some of our students that say “I asked for help and that’s why I”m doing well!”)
I would visit the websites of the colleges and see what supports they offer. I *would* look for stuff specific to ADHD… but not rule something out just because it wasn’t.