PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS & PARENTS

Transitioning from high school to college is an exciting and anxiety provoking period for most students and parents. For students and parents of students with learning differences, this time can be especially stressful. SMU offers a great deal of academic support for students with learning differences. Some of those supports include academic counseling and coaching, a student run support group for students with learning differences called Students for New Learning, and potentially class accommodations through the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities.

The classroom accommodations, such as extended time for tests or note taking assistance, provided by OSSD can be a crucial element of a student's experience on campus. However, students sometimes hesitate to ask for accommodations from the Disabilities office and hope they can do it on their own for the first time in their lives. This is a respectable wish, but not one that is recommended for your first semester in college. This may actually be the worst time to "fly under the radar" and we encourage prospective students and their parents to discuss why it will be important to utilize support for their learning difference during such a critical time.

It should be noted that students do not have to qualify for disability accommodations from OSSD in order to use the support of a LeAD Counselor for ongoing academic coaching. Also, in an effort to help your transition, the LEC has put together a resource for students to understand the differences between high school and college:
Differences between High School and College

In addition to the resources we offer to you when you come to the Hilltop, we have also compiled a list of resources that are not directly related to SMU and we hope you glance at them when you have some time.

Going to College
A full on-line tutorial for students with learning differences and their parents on what to expect during the transition into college.

NCLD Info on Post High School Options
This site includes check lists, resources (books, etc), and talks (podcast) about transitioning issues for prospective college students.

Office of Civil Rights Info on Preparing for College
This site lists answers to questions prospective students usually have preparing for transition.
- Revised Sept 2007

Self-Advocacy Skills
This is a resource for students to learn how to advocate for themselves and discuss their learning difference with key people in their academic career.

Scholarship sites for students with learning differences: http://colleges.suite101.com/article.cfm/scholarships_for_learning_disabled
http://www.collegescholarships.org/health/adhd.htm
http://add.about.com/od/adhdresources/a/Scholarships.htm