Last night Springer School and Center hosted our annual program, “Pathways to College Admissions for Students with LD or ADHD.” One advantage of Zoom was the opportunity to invite a speaker from outside Greater Cincinnati.
Faculty from Notre Dame College’s Academic Support Center provided information on the supports available at the private, liberal arts college. Their services include not only academic support, but social and emotion support. Like our local Mount St. Joseph University’s Project EXCEL, Notre Dame's program provides a wrap-around support for college students with LD and/or ADHD. These types of specialized programs have a fee that is separate from tuition.
Our very own Barbara Hunter provided a “road map” for helping families decide if the student is ready for college. One of the points she stressed was the need to continue developing the Executive Function skills, especially as related to being independent on a college campus. This might mean ramping up chores at home to include doing laundry, changing sheets, managing finances, and learning to say “no” to social events when there is a pressing academic commitment such as a test. A recording of the full program will be available soon in the webinar section of our website.
Some additional points:
It has been my experience that when students “flunk out” or leave college early, it is due to poor Executive Function skills rather than a Learning Disability. Students failed to realize that most work in college is outside of class. They did not keep up with the workload for a number of reasons: not prioritizing work over more enjoyable tasks, poor study skills, challenges with managing their time and being disorganized. Students get behind, stop going to class and become demoralized rather than seeking help from the professor, the department, free tutoring on campus, or Disability Services. This can happen to anyone, not just a student with a disability.
My best advice: encourage your student to seek help early.
Blogger Mary Ann Mulcahey, PhD, shares her expertise in assessment and diagnosis of learning disabilities and ADHD, and the social/emotional adjustment to those issues. If you have questions, please contact Mary Ann at