Preparing for College
- Help your student understand their disability and how it impacts them.
- Involve your student early and often in conversations about accommodations and the accommodation process. Make sure your student attends their IEP meetings.
- Allow your student to develop their own voice. Developing self-advocacy skills and a sense of personal responsibility early will benefit your student throughout their lifetime.
- Encourage your student to take challenging courses while in high school.
- Foster independence – encourage your student to seek academic help independently while in high school.
- Encourage your high school student to develop an understanding of their disability and appropriate memorization strategies, study strategies, and test taking strategies necessitated by this disability and learning style.
- Support good time management strategies (i.e., smart phone calendar, planners, white board, wall calendar, electronic reminders and timers)
- Encourage self-regulation and teach them to independently wake up in the morning for school.
- Request updated documentation during your student’s junior or senior high school year.
- Assist your student in becoming aware of the differences between high school and college expectations. (Please refer to – Differences between High School and UMass Dartmouth)
- Encourage your student to take ownership of his or her college experience by making their own well informed decisions.