In order to facilitate the college application process, adults with learning disabilities need to have an accurate idea of the strengths they bring to college. They also need to have an accurate idea of the academic requirements and admission procedures of the colleges or universities in which they are interested.
Professional documentation of one's learning disability is the vehicle for understanding one's strengths and weaknesses. It is essential to have a full and frank discussion about that documentation with the psychologist or other expert who made the assessment.
Successful students with learning disabilities advise that the actual college application process should begin as early as possible. This will enable students to review the documentation of their learning disabilities and to work on understanding their strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, and any accommodative services that may be necessary.
Once in college, students are responsible for self-identification and self-advocacy. Effective self-advocates must learn to understand their particular type of learning disability, the resultant academic strengths and weaknesses, and their individual learning styles. Most importantly, they need to become comfortable with describing to others both their disabilities and their academic needs.
In order to be effective self-advocates, students need to be informed about legislation with which colleges and universities must comply that protects the rights of people with disabilities. It is important to know about the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (especially Section 504) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and how these two pieces of legislation differ from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1990. IDEA is the legislation that governs the provision of special education services to children and youths with disabilities in elementary and secondary schools. IDEA does not apply to higher education. Colleges and universities do not offer "special" education.
Section 504 and the ADA protect the civil rights of people with disabilities and require post secondary institutions to provide accommodative services to students with disabilities. However, keep in mind that once students have been admitted to a college or university, it is their responsibility to self identify and provide documentation of their disability. Otherwise, the college or university need not provide any accommodation.
Students with disabilities want to ensure that written records will be kept confidential and made available only to those with a legitimate interest in them. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 protects the confidentiality of student medical records. Disability related information should be kept by the college or university in separate files with access limited to appropriate personnel. Disability documentation should be held by a single source within the institution in order to protect the confidentiality of persons with disabilities. FERPA protects a student's record from being shared (without the student's permission) with "curious" faculty, administrators, other students, the press, or anyone without a legitimate reason for seeing the record.
Students with learning disabilities who are planning to go to college should familiarize themselves with the general categories of post-secondary education institutions. There are more than 3,000 colleges and universities in the United States. In addition to size, scope of programs offered, setting (urban, suburban, or rural, residential or commuter), and cost of attendance, several factors are of special importance for students with learning disabilities.
Some colleges have open admissions and admit anyone over age 18 or with a high school diploma. These include both two-year and four-year institutions. Other colleges have selective admissions requirements. Applicants to a selective college must meet the criteria set by that particular college. Some standard, commercially available college guides list colleges by their degree of selectivity, or "how hard it is to get in" -- from "most difficult" to "minimally difficult."
Two-year colleges are most frequently public community colleges located in urban, suburban, and rural areas across the United States. Most are open admissions institutions and are nonresidential. Some are independent (private) junior colleges that encourage students to earn an associate degree. Community colleges attract a variety of students: those who plan to take either a few selected courses in their interest area, those seeking vocational courses to train for specific jobs, and those pursuing an undergraduate certificate (to study a specific field of training). Also, many students find it cost effective to obtain an associate degree at a local community college and then transfer to a four-year institution.
Four-year colleges and universities may have either open or selective admissions. Most require students to pursue a degree, and many are residential. Four-year colleges also are located in various settings, and in small communities they may be the center of cultural life. Tuition, room, board, and books are generally more expensive per year than they are at a community college.