Getting Support Services in College for Your Graduating Senior

Seniors are graduating from schools across the country, east and west, north and south. Several of these seniors are students who will need more support when they get to college. But where do they get this support? And how do they go about doing it?

Seniors with diagnosed disabilities who are headed to college in the Fall should start contacting the services at their college over the summer. Every school calls these services a different name, however most likely the name is a spin-off of “DPRC”, or the “Disabled Persons Resource Center”. While the name of this place is an obvious turn-off for any student with a disability, this place is their go to. As soon as possible, set up a meeting with a counselor there. At the meeting you will want to bring all documentation (IEPs or 504s, Psycho-educational Assessment Reports, etc.) and here is what you will want to know:

1. What support will I receive here based on my disability?
   (Most schools rank disabilities on a scale for funding and service reasons. Your child may not be eligible for services due to their disability marker.)
2. What accommodations are you able to provide me? (Colleges are usually limited in what they provide, but all do provide some basic accommodations, such as: priority registration, extended time, and shared note-taking.)
3. Where do I go to get my accommodations and will I need to request them for each class? (This is often the reality in college. Colleges want students to request the support they need for each class, each semester, for all semesters. This can be tiresome and time-consuming for students, so make sure your senior plans this into their schedule at the beginning of each semester.)
4. Will you inform my teachers I have a disability and of the accommodations I receive? (Many DPRCs keep student’s information private and believe it is a breech of privacy to inform the professor that one of their students has a disability. Knowing their procedures is important to know so your child can plan to communicate with their instructors directly about their disability. 

After meeting with the counselor, make sure you have another appointment set up about 2-3 weeks into the term. It may be helpful to check in and either add additional accommodations, problem-solve about a specific professor or class, or get support with adding or dropping classes. While this counselor will not keep tabs on your student, they are a resource and support on campus.