Key Factors in a Student's Success
- Level of Interest
- Motivation
- Independence
- Self-Direction
- Self-Advocacy Skills
- Knowledge About Self
- Academic Abilities
- Acquiring Appropriate Resources for Support
In order to succeed in postsecondary education, students need to know themselves and be prepared in the following ways:
- Understand and be able to describe their strengths and capabilities
- Understand their disabilities and the accommodations they need
- Develop academic and career goals
- Practice using accommodations and devices that help them learn and succeed
- Develop and use effective strategies for studying, test preparation, and time management
- Collect and maintain a file of current school records & disability documentation information
New college students must do the following to receive services and accommodations:
- Identify themselves as students with disabilities
- Provide the required disability documentation
- Request services each semester
- Comply with the college's student code of conduct
- Comply with the policies and procedures of the Accessibility Services Office and the Learning Specialist
- Complete any follow-up activities required by the campus to ensure services
Perhaps the most important concept to grasp is that you need all the same competencies as any college student PLUS whatever special skills or strategies are needed to cope with your disability. It is better to start acquiring skills in an environment you know well (i.e. high school) rather than to wait until you arrive on the college campus. Coming to a college comfortable with yourself and your needs can make the difference between success and failure.
What Makes a Successful Student?
Demonstrated competency of the basic skills (reading, writing, and math) is necessary for success in college level courses where content mastery will be evaluated.
Most instructors expect you to spend at least 3 hours outside of class doing assignments or reading for every hour spent in class. For example: If you are registered for 12 credit hours, you should be spending a minimum of 36 hours per week outside of class doing assignments and preparing for the class. Often students with learning disabilities need to spend considerably more time than this to be successful.
Coming to college as a full-time student is a full-time job. If you cannot make this commitment at this time, you may want to consider enrolling part-time or attending college at a later date.
Desirable Traits for College Students:
- Possessing a positive attitude
- Being flexible
- Having knowledge about academic policies and deadlines
- Using good communication skills
- Having good time management skills
- Being able to organize yourself
- Having a clear sense of your goal
- Being independent
- Knowing when and how to seek help
Ways to Make Your College Transition Successful
- Understand and be able to thoroughly describe your disability.
- Be the central part of decision-making.
- Do your own academic work.
- Find the right college for yourself and your personality.
- It is wise to start slowly and, in the long run, get better grades and graduate.
- Learn, and use to your advantage, laws that protect the rights of people with disabilities.
- Make it a practice to meet your professors and discuss your disability with them.
- Make friends and share your college life/challenges.
Source: Eaton H. (1996) Self advocacy: How students with learning Disabilities Can Make the Transition from High School to College. Santa Barbara, CA: Excel Publishing.
Major Skills Needed by All Students Entering College
Classroom Preparation
- Self Advocacy skills . knows his/her disability and knows what accommodative services are necessary to be successful
- Note taking skills
- Adequate study habits/test taking skills
- Being prepared for class
- Importance of homework
- writing name/date correctly on paper
- organizing work (use of folders, etc.)
- neatness of work
- turning work in on time
- Classroom etiquette
- stay in seat
- raise hand/don't interrupt
- stay in the room
- Importance of being on time for class
Necessary Social Skills
- How to interact appropriately with teachers/mentors/students
- How to introduce yourself to someone
- How to let someone know you like them (dating etiquette)
- How to interact with persons in social situations
- Dealing effectively with peer pressure (drinking, drugs, sexuality)
- How to deal appropriately with rejection
- Ability to use the telephone effectively
- Problem-solving and decision making skills
Living Independently for the First Time
- Structure of environment (or lack of structure) - more choices, more freedoms
- Transportation to and from campus, job, internships
- Ability to use leisure time effectively
- Knows how to locate the help and assistance he/she needs
- Adequate knowledge of medical needs in regard to medication and health problems and being able to articulate these needs to others
- Basic independent living skills . money management, survival cooking, laundry, shopping
Students must be able to advocate for themselves. Students should...
- Be taught what self-advocacy is and how to follow through on it.
- Role-play advocating for them selves as soon as possible.
- Be able to explain what disabilities are and to be able to explain their own disabilities.
- Know the difference in laws: IDEA vs. Section 504 and ADA
- Be responsible for own needs, negotiating, compromising, and making their own decisions whenever possible.
- Arrange for services from outside agencies before they leave high school.
- Investigate and understand their preferred learning styles and know how to adapt to various teaching styles.
Developing Your Own Self-Advocacy Skills
- Identify your strengths and weaknesses:
- Know how to describe:
- Your strengths and weaknesses
- The impact your disability has on your life
- The academic and life skills accommodations that benefit you.
- Arrange your accommodations by:
- Knowing your rights
- Knowing your responsibilities
- Knowing ACC.s policies and procedures regarding academic accommodation
- Understanding aggressive, passive, and assertive behavioral patterns
- Role playing for various interactions
- Debriefing methods for working with faculty and staff
Self-Determination is..
- Living a life that is always changing and growing and never fixed.
- Deciding what I want in life and setting my own goals
- Learning to trust my feelings; having others trust my feelings
- Controlling service decisions and the money that buys those decisions.
- Honoring and respecting me and my choices.
- Having enough support not to be confined by my disability.
- Becoming more confident and feeling comfortable about myself as I do things on my own.
- Having a purpose in my life and being successful working toward it.
- Having freedom to make choices and taking responsibility for the choices that I make.
- Having the help I need for choices that I make.
Self-determination Is Impeded By...
- People thinking their main job is to protect me through restrictions, rules, and regulations.
- Having too little information to know and choose different options.
- Having too little self-confidence.
- Being surrounded by people who do not respect me and who underestimate what I can do.
- Having people expecting me to fit into their system and the same old way of doing things.
- Having limited resources and, more importantly, limitations on how those resources are used.
- Having too few creative people in my life to help me solve my problems.
- Having no one who has or will give me the time it takes to help set me up they way I want.
Source: Lakin, K & Soottsman, E. (Eds.) (1997). New Values, New Visions. Minneapolis, MN Hennipin County Adult Services Division.
Ways That Students with Various Disabilities Can Advocate for Themselves in College
General Strategies
- Many students with disabilities come to college and do not anticipate needing any accommodations or support services. However, if you have been previously diagnosed as having a disability, secure a copy of your most recent evaluation or Individual Education Program (IEP). You will need to provide this documentation to the service provider at the college or be reevaluated in order to be eligible for services.
- Learn about Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This is the civil rights law that provides you access to programs and accommodations. It is very different from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which is an entitlement law that guarantees that school districts provide free, appropriate education in the least restrictive environment for all elementary and secondary students. (IDEA) no longer applies once a student receives a high school diploma or reaches age 21.)
- Increase your understanding of the nature of your disability in general and specifically the type and severity of your own disability. You can do this by discussing your test results with the Director of Accessibility Services or the Learning Specialist. The more you know about yourself, the better off you will be when it comes to explaining your academic needs to others and requesting accommodations. You are your own best advocate!
- Rehearse your explanation of the above information with Director of Accessibility Services, the Learning Specialist or a friend so that you can explain fully to faculty the reason for requesting accommodations.
- If you require classroom accommodations of some kind, become familiar with your campus.s procedures for requesting accommodations. Schedule an appointment with your learning specialist and faculty early in the semester.
- Reach out for assistance early, if needed. Schedule an appointment with your faculty when you begin to get confused or flounder. Do not wait until you are already in danger of failing a course. Speak to the learning specialist and/or your advisor to find out what help is available.
- Be aware of Drop-Add and Pass-Fail options and deadlines to adjust your schedule. Use these dates to your advantage to enhance success.
Class Accommodations
Listed below are some examples of accommodations that will be useful. Some will work in some situations and others will work in other situations. Not every accommodation will work for every situation. The Director of Accessibility Services or the Learning Specialist will be able to guide you in determining which accommodation is best to use and when.
- Apply these principles of effective learning when you study:
- Attend all classes. Other students can get by missing an occasional class, but for you, hearing the lecture may be a critical factor in learning new material.
- Preview new material and review the previous lecture before each class.
- Sit toward the front of the class so that you can hear and see well and be more easily recognized if you have a question or want to participate in the discussion.
- Match your notebook to the color of your textbook. If you keep a binder or file folder, match colors to textbooks. This insures that you have needed materials for class and/or study.
- If you need to tape record lectures, ask permission of the instructor before doing so. Be sure to explain why you need this modification and how you will use the tape to modify your learning.
- Take notes simultaneously to tape recording. Indicate questions in the margins.
- If you tape record in class, carefully label every tape (for example, Intro to Psy. 9/16/96) before you insert it into the recorder. Set the counter to zero. If you are unsure of a concept during the lecture, jot down the counter number in the margin of your notes for easy review and clarification later.
- Review tapes and notes as soon after the lecture as possible.
- Compare your notes with those of a study partner. Copy notes over, if necessary highlight and summarize the main points. Keep a separate section of your notebook with terms, key concepts, major events, contributors, theories, or formulas.
- Because most college students with written language difficulties have trouble recognizing and correcting spelling errors in their writing, it is important to use a work processor with a spell checker to identify misspelled words. However, certain spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors will not be identified. If your instructor agrees to the plan, request that a writing tutor or a learning specialist proofread your paper and assist you in error identification and correction.
Self-Confidence Building Strategies
Building self-confidence is not an easy task. Many people benefit from the assistance of a counselor or therapist on a one-to-one basis or in a support group. You should explore such options in the campus Counseling Center. In addition, the following strategies may prove helpful:
- After preparing as well as you could, tell yourself as you go in to take an exam or make a presentation that you will succeed and you are well prepared.
- Identify a realistic goal and work toward it. When you succeed in accomplishing it, identify the strategies that you developed that contributed to your success. Building self-confidence is a step-by-step process in which you meet increasingly difficult challenges and take credit as you accomplish each one.
- If you don't achieve your goal on the first attempt, sit down wit a friend, faculty, or counselor and analyze and refine your strategies. Identify new strategies and intermediate goals that will prepare you better to achieve your final goal. Tell yourself, "Next time I know I.ll do better".
- Develop a time line to accomplish each goal. Build in extra time for the unexpected. Remember, there is no point rushing toward failure. Take a long-range perspective on your life, rather than focusing on just one semester.
- Keep a list of your past successes and accomplishments and read this list over frequently.
- Take credit for you achievements and work well done. Accept compliments with a simple "thank you:" A compliment is like a gift. When you reject a compliment, you are rejecting not only the compliment but also the person giving it. How would you feel if you bought a gift for someone and it was rejected? If your performance did not meet your expectations, you can critique it at a later time with your faculty, counselor, or friend.
- Identify your strengths and keep expanding the list of things you do well. Your disability gave you some special talents as well as difficulties. Identify your talents, develop them and enjoy them.
- Keep disappointments in perspective; a "D" on one quiz does not mean you will fail the course; a "D" in one course does not mean you will be dismissed from college.
- If you do poorly on a paper or exam, find out why rather than condemning yourself or rejecting the good along with the ineffective strategies that you may have used. By analyzing what went wrong, you will be better able to avoid such mistakes in the future.
- Look at your friends. What do you admire and respect in them? Because they also chose you as a friend, you share in their attributes and have other qualities that they admire and respect in you as well.
- Dress for success. If you are unsure of the appropriate dress for a specific occasion, setting, or social event, check ahead with a knowledgeable person.
- Smile. People who smile send a message to others that they are comfortable with themselves and are self-confident. Smiling is contagious. You will find people will reflect your facial expression, be much more pleasant, and have confidence in you when you smile.
- Look at those who have expressed confidence in you, provided you with opportunities, and given you responsibilities. These people know you well, have observed your past performance, and have confidence in your abilities and potential to succeed. As you accept new challenges, keep them and their confidence in you clearly in mind.
