From a very early age children on the autism spectrum have an IEP or 504 plan developed to help them in school. They have become accustomed to using the accommodations established for them in the IEP. But what happens when if they take a dual enrollment class at the local college while they are still in high school? What happens when they graduate out of the K12 program and start college? Do they have to honor your child’s IEP?
The answer is no. Colleges do not have IEPs to help students, however, they will offer some accommodations. Colleges have an office called disability services that are responsible for granting accommodations to their students. Colleges are not required to follow the Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA), but they do have to follow Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
So How Can My Child Get Accommodations?
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) were created to ensure equal access for people with disabilities and protect them from discrimination. So their goal is slightly different than IDEA.
The best thing to do is to have your child bring their IEP or 504 plan to their college’s disability services office. They will look over the IEP and tell you which, if any services they can offer. Individualized help is usually not offered such as rephrasing questions, or developing study guides. However they typically have standard amounts of extra time that they allow on tests and they may be able to take a test by themselves in a testing center. However, they usually don’t grant extra time for assignments.
Colleges are not required to provide tutoring, however it is typically available at most colleges. Check to see if you need to pay a fee to use this service.
If you can justify why they need a specific service, they are more likely to accommodate it. For instance, our son is currently taking two dual enrollment classes at a local private college. He explained that he has difficulty focusing during tests and needs a quiet area to perform well. One of his teachers lets him go to the tutoring center to take his test at the same time as his classmates.
Registering For Accommodations
In order to receive accommodations, your student must register for them. Colleges usually have instructions for how to register for disability services on their website or you can go down in person. Many people make the mistake of going to the admissions office, however under the ADA they are not allowed to accept or request information about a student’s disability.
You will need proof of your child’s disability. Typically an official diagnosis letter from a psychologist will work. Some colleges require a recent evaluation and/or one done outside of the public school system so check with the college disability office to see what they need.
The school will set up a one-on-one meeting to go over what accommodations they will offer and write up an accommodation letter detailing the services your child is entitled to get. The letter will be addressed to the teachers your child has the upcoming semester. You will want to get this as soon as possible each semester and make sure the teachers have it hopefully before the first day of class. Sometimes the disability services office delivers it to the teachers, but many times it is up to the student to do this themselves. A new letter will be issued each semester, however it up to the student to get this taken care of each semester.
What About a Case Manager or Support Team?
Normally an IEP or 504 plan is written each year by a case manager and a meeting is held with their IEP team. This is not the case in colleges. There is no team just your child and the disability services office. They assign accommodations, issue a letter to the instructors making sure they know what’s required of them, and basically that’s it. The letter is the same each semester, just the names of the teachers change. Your child is responsible for making sure the letter is delivered and accommodations are offered.
Your Child as Their Own Advocate
One of the biggest differences you might notice is that in college, you may not be able to speak to the ADA compliance officer, or disability coordinator. Parents have no authority at the college level, even in the case of a minor. It is up to your child to make sure they handle the paperwork and turn everything in. Parents will need both their child’s and the college’s permission to attend meetings with the disability services office.
This is for several reasons outside of the scope of this article, but it can be summed up as: colleges expect your child to be an adult, both legally and figuratively.
Therefore, before your child attends their one-on-one meeting make sure you have a copy of their disability diagnosis, their IEP or 504 plan and talk with your child about how they might not get all the same accommodations. Have them think about which accommodations helped them the best and to explain why. Colleges are a lot more willing to offer extra accommodations if you can justify that you need them or show how much they’ve helped you. As it will be up to your child to advocate for themself, you may want to coach them through the process, offering suggestions on what to say and reminding them to have all of their documentation.
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