Joan Azarva

Posted on 7/17/09

After having worked for 13 years as a college Learning
Specialist, I resigned in 2006, dismayed by the poor success
rate of college students with learning disabilities. By
2006, there were so many students disclosing and requesting
services that I could see students only once in two weeks; I
couldn't possibly provide the level of support they needed
to succeed.

Under-staffing at college and university disability offices
is the rule, with few exceptions, and usually those are the
ones offering specialized programs. As a result, it is
common for students with LD to be set up to fail from day
one; unfortunately, neither they nor their parents realize that.

Because high school and college are such different systems,
and students and parents haven't been schooled in how to
navigate college with a disability, students inadvertently
make errors that quickly result in a downhill slide. After
an unsuccessful first semester, those who entered college
with hope for a better future are terribly discouraged.
Many of them leave after their first year.

The tragedy of this is threefold:

a. These students leave school thinking they are not
"college material", when in fact, that isn't necessarily the
case. Had they made different decisions and had proper
support, the outcome could have been far brighter.

b. Where do you go after failing college, particularly
community college, where the multitude of LD students
begins? You go to tech school, if you're so inclined, or you
are relegated to a low-paying menial job.

c. Parents, feeling it's their duty to sacrifice and provide
their kids with higher education, unknowingly throw their
tuition dollars away. In the worst case scenario, the
student takes a loan, has a good deal of money to re-pay
(with interest), yet has no degree or higher-paying job to
show for it. In essence, this student is WORSE off than before!

I know that the outcome can be different because I've sat on
both sides of the desk; I raised a son with LD who graduated
college successfully, but his success was hardly accidental.
It was the result of researching extensively, preparing him
for the college system, and assuring he had a strong safety
net of support.

For me, watching capable college students fail was
unbearable. Feeling ineffectual at my job wasn't much fun
either. I realized that it's almost impossible to rescue
students once they have fallen into an abyss and their
self-esteem is at rock-bottom.

In essence, well-meaning parents think they are doing right
by their teens, providing them the opportunity for higher
education. What they REALLY are doing is sending their teens
off with a tuition check and a backpack, trusting that the
colleges will take over from there. NOT TRUE - this isn't
Kansas anymore!

Upon my resignation in 2006, I vowed to come up with a
PROACTIVE solution --to reach these students while still in
high school. It seemed more sensible to teach them how to
succeed in advance, rather than risk they'd fail, as
approximately 84% of these students do.

I started a free e-list to arm parents with knowledge of the
college system, so they can now enter this uncharted
territory with eyes wide open. Anyone can subscribe at
www.conquercollegewithld.com. The list is filled with TONS
of valuable free nuggets.

I also wrote a course for this cohort which I teach locally
and online. For each student who fails, not only do we lose
a creative mind, we risk adding yet another person to our
already over-crowded criminal justice system, a large
percentage of which is people with learning differences.

It is my hope that a proactive approach will FINALLY give
special education students the fair shot at college success
they deserve.

Conquer College with LD/ADD

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