WNY Collegiate Consortium and Disability Advocates

• Academic: A minimum of four years of English, three years of Math and Science (including algebra, biology and chemistry) and one year of Keyboarding. Foreign language should not be waived unless absolutely necessary. When foreign language is waived, documentation of a language based disability is essential. In NYS, students who complete third year foreign language and earn a grade of 85 or higher on the Regents exam may not require further foreign language at the college level to meet a general education course requirement if attending a State University of New York (SUNY) institution. This does not apply to private institutions or to SUNY or City University of New York (CUNY) academic programs which require math or foreign language for certification as a core requirement of the program.

• Personal: Self-advocacy skills. In the K-12 system, the decision making is a relationship between district and parents. In college, the relationship is between student and college. The student must be able to self-identify, explain his disability and how it impacts him and discuss what accommodations may be required to make it possible for him to participate in and benefit from his education. This includes knowing when and how to ask for help. Elementary and high schools have a responsibility to seek and identify students with disabilities and arrange appropriate services; colleges and universities do not have this responsibility, but they do have a responsibility to provide appropriate and reasonable accommodations when requested and the student is eligible for accommodations.

One of the emerging issues in postsecondary education service delivery is the increasing number of students who are enrolling who have intellectual or cognitive deficits on the autistic spectrum. Students who have conditions such as Asperger’s Syndrome present unique challenges. These individuals often have average to above average intelligence which makes them academically capable but have a severe lack of skills for social interaction which may make self advocacy almost impossible. Parents should ask the service provider at the college how much interaction he or she will be allowed to have with the provider.

• Technical skills: Use of a computer, spell checker, calculator, textbooks in alternate format, and note takers etc., as necessary and appropriate. These are all skills and competencies that can be addressed on the IEP while the student is still in high school. Any college freshman has to face many new challenges. Students with disabilities face all those challenges plus those posed by their disability. By helping them develop and hone the skills and competencies listed parents and teachers can greatly enhance the student’s potential for making a more comfortable transition to college.

Secondary school professionals often assume that because a student plans to go to college that there are no transition issues that need to be addressed in the IEP. We disagree. Transition is about more than academics. It includes recreation and leisure activities, involvement in the community and the ability to demonstrate independent living skills like managing money, doing laundry, managing meals and medications, or handling transportation issues. Most non-disabled high school graduates do not arrive on a college campus fully prepared to handle the personal and academic challenges that will face them. In fact, more than 40% of all college freshmen with or without disabilities who go away to college return to attend a campus closer to home within the first year. What steps can students take now to help them be better prepared to be successful in college? The following chart lists some suggested activities that can be written into annual Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) to develop those desirable traits listed above. The more comfortable a student is with himself, his disability, the academic courses he will take and the accommodations he will use, the more likely he is to make a smooth transition from high school to college.