I'm passing this on to a parent of one of my LD students who
wants to become Phys Ed teacher....
A kid who was a day away from disciplinary school, who came
to me as a last resort- and did a great job....also found out
he is LD while in my room...:)
Thanks for your information!
On 7/17/09, Joan Azarva wrote:
> 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.

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