Shift for Students from High School to College

by Dora Raymaker · 2009-04-21 16:00:00 UTC
Topics:

students in a large lecture hall, a slide presentation is being given by the instructor, the point of view is from a seat toward the back of the hallI'm tracked heavily into higher education and the autistic spectrum as I'm doing training session on the topic with brokerage staff today. So I can't pass up a posting on the article Students with autism can do well in college from Fort Wayne (IN). Especially where as it makes a point I stress repeatedly in my presentation:

While the American Disabilities Act of 1973 [ed. the ADA and Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are two separate policies; there is no "ADA of 1973"] provides for certain educational accommodations for high school students with disabilities (extra time for tests, help with notes), the scenario changes slightly for college students with autism.

...Eric J. Wagenfeld, director of the Office for Services for Students with Disabilities at IPFW, agrees communication is the key to success for a student with special needs.

"A student must provide me with documentation about his or her disability," he said. "Then I'll conduct an interview to determine what services that student needs. It may be extra test time, having tests read to them, taking an exam in a room without distractions."

In other words, the scenario changes so that the responsibility for seeking accommodations is on the student. So it's critical that a student be given the information, tools, and full support needed to advocate for their needs successfully. This includes selecting a supportive university--something which sounds from the article like Huntington does a good deal better than my university--

But that's a rant best left for another day.

Dora Raymaker
PREVIOUS STORY:
Would Universal Access Help Health Disparities?
NEXT STORY:
Why I'm Asking Aetna to Cover My Surgery

COMMENTS (3)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.