If you’re reading this, then chances are you have a child or teen with a learning difference or Autism Spectrum Disorder. And chances are, you’re concerned about their prospects for college.
The truth is, there are colleges that handle learning differences better than others. But honestly, you don’t want that be the primary deciding factor on a college–you still really want proper career development work to be done.
But in the end, you want to find schools that offer better accommodations for those students overall. But again, it’s just another piece of the puzzle.
What we’re seeing more and more is that every college is recognizing the need for great accommodations for all of their students at a variety of levels, whether it’s like a dedicated cafeteria for students with with food allergies, or whether it’s making sure that all of their buildings are accessible so that we don’t need to move classrooms around so that somebody in a wheelchair can take a class that they need to fulfill a major.
We would never recommend a student go to the school because they’ve got a great accommodation program. Instead, we’re going to find you a great fit for your major. And then in addition, we’re going to find you the kind of accommodations that will help you be ultra successful.
It’s even more important for students on the spectrum or who have a learning difference to focus on career development work, because generally they do show amazing scale in one or more ability domains.
There’s nine types of intelligences, and the United States only tests for logical, mathematical or linguistics. And sometimes that’s not the case for students who are on the spectrum or have a learning difference.
So career development work is crucial for students with learning differences. Preparing for college is a very different world than it was even 10, 20, 30 years ago in that regard.
For more information, check out our podcast on applying to college with learning differences.
College Liftoff is Ohio’s premier college planning firm. Since 2009, College Liftoff has helped hundreds of teens find their best-fitting colleges and career paths, while saving their families more than $30 million in higher education costs. College Liftoff’s motto is “securing your son or daughter’s brightest future…and saving you thousands of dollars along the way.” Let them do the same for you.
Call 614-329-6633 or visit collegeliftoff.com.
