OUR PROJECTS

​CVCSNCSP has identified three components that are important to the success of students with learning and attention issues as they enter college:

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REDUCING STIGMA & PROMOTING SELF-ADVOCACY

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CVCSNCSP has identified that once graduates leave high school to attend college, students with learning disabilities no longer have the same guarantees to special education and accommodations that they had in high school. Instead, students are expected to be their own self-advocates and disclose their learning and attention issues to receive accommodations in college. This assumption poses too many challenges for many youths as they are not prepared nor aware of what is needed. Unfortunately, research shows that far too many students do not disclose their Learning Disabilities or request  accommodations. Some students fear they will be bullied or perceived as lazy or unintelligent by disclosing their Learning Disabilities, and therefore do not take the proper steps to secure accommodations for their college classes. In fact, research also show that less than 1 in 20 students with disabilities disclose their specific learning disability in post secondary schools.

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While some students may want to distance themselves from the label of “learning disability” once they get to college, it can be detrimental to their success.  Instead, it helps students more when they focus on self-advocacy, including understanding one’s own needs and being able to explain those needs to others. Because individuals do not grow out of their learning and attention issues, college can be even more challenging without the necessary accommodations. One study found that undergraduates who waited until after their first year in college to request accommodations were 3.5 times more likely not to graduate within six years. CVCSNCSP plans to provide the needed accommodations for youth and young adults within the first and second years of college as they mature and grow to the level of understanding self-advocacy, adulthood, and handling responsibilities.

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In his article “Learning Disabilities: How to Succeed in College From Day One” (By Grown and Flown, Feb. 4, 2016) Dr. Jack Trammell, Director of Disability Support Services at Randolph-Macon College, tells his story and the struggles of his life during his college years. Students with learning disabilities can learn much from this former college president. He overcame his own academic struggles and offers help for college-bound students.

 

“When I left home for a Midwestern college many moons ago, I was a shipwreck waiting to happen. In high school I was  such a slow reader that I could never complete the SATs and as a result my scores were embarrassingly low. My grades, too, were mediocre and the only reason I got into a good college was because of a persuasive high school guidance counselor. At my college, I struggled with assignments. One of my teachers told me he did not think I was very bright and was surprised that the college had admitted me. In those days little was known about learning disabilities and there were very few resources for students like me. And so, at the end of my first year I considered of dropping out of college.

 

I eventually transferred to a college closer to home and by sheer good fortune took an introductory sociology course taught by a professor who noticed that, while I was always behind with reading assignments, my observational and communication skills were still pretty good. This professor also knew little about learning disabilities but could see that I was not stupid and took me under his wing.  By the end of sophomore year, my grades were improving and at graduation I had done well enough to get into graduate school. I eventually ended up getting a PhD and teaching college history before going on to become a college president.

 

Today, in retirement, I volunteer at the high school I graduated from doing mock college interviews with rising juniors and seniors.  And when I do this, I often meet students who are struggling with a learning disability. Nationally, 3.3% of all students who head off to college each year (or about 40,000 students going to a four-year college or university) report having a learning disability, usually ADHD, dyslexia, or a processing disorder. I tell these students not to be ashamed of their disability, that learning disabilities usually don’t go away and consequently in school and in college they will probably have to work harder than their classmates, but that at the end of the day they will have developed a work ethic that will serve them well later in life. Many remarkably successful people—corporate CEOs, famous trial lawyers, university presidents—struggle with a learning disability.