For Parents of College Students with Learning Disabilities
You deserve congratulations for having supported your son or daughter through all those years of elementary, middle, and high school. You've attended countless IEP meetings, fought long and hard to have your child mainstreamed as much as possible, and done everything you could to help make your child self-confident and independent. And now comes the payoff! Now your child is a young adult and entering college. He/she is now legally responsible for his/her actions and must make decisions and advocate for him/herself! You still have a very important supportive role as the parent of an adult college student…but your role must change if you want to help your son/daughter become self-sufficient.
You now need to help your son/daughter get ready for college and adult responsibilities by stepping back and making room for him/her to take charge! This is not easy…we know students with LD don't always pay attention to the details they need to address. They don't always have a good sense of time management or how to plan ahead. They don't always think before they act…but we can't do that for them! If we take those responsibilities for them, why should they? If you are willing to call to get the information they need, why should they make the call? If you are willing to always remind them of due dates, tests coming up, deadlines…how will they ever learn to do those important management tasks for themselves? Get the point?
Click here for some handy "do's and don'ts" that may help you in your changing role.