College Self-advocacy is a crucial skill for students with hidden disabilities like dyslexia. It affects their decision of what college to attend, to apply for college disability accommodations, and a lot more. Moreover, self-advocacy for students with learning differences begins with self-awareness. I’ve stated before, “you cannot self-advocate if you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Otherwise, what exactly would your student be advocating about?
In addition, not many students actually apply to get them. This episode is all about self-advocacy and the areas you and your student needs to consider before they attend college. Consider this article a self-advocacy mini course so you and your student can make an informed decision about asking for accommodations in college.
Not having accommodations has consequences
EP. 31 Top 5 Consequences of Not Having Accommodations in College
Did you know that a significant number of college students who are eligible for disability accommodations often refrain from requesting them? Statistics show that up to 20% of college students have a disability. However, only a fraction of those will ask for accommodations. In fact, research from the National Center for Learning Disabilities indicates that only 10% will actually apply for accommodations.
Surprisingly, even those who do apply for accommodations sometimes delay their application or decide not to utilize the available support. It’s crucial to consider the potential consequences of such choices and discuss them thoroughly with your student. Their decision to seek accommodations relates directly to what a student knows about their disability, academic success, and the transition to being their own advocate. This correlates to how successful they are in college. Consider this, a study from 2013 showed that students who did not request accommodations are 3.5 times MORE likely to NOT graduate (Hudson, R.L., 2013).
Blog Posts Mentioned
Not Requesting Accommodations in College? Read this first.
The Power of Autonomy and Awareness
Be informed about college disability accommodations
Ep. 32 Not requesting college accommodations? The One Point That Matters Most.
The decision to apply for and/or use college disability accommodations requires the right information. It can make or break your college transition and even your career goals. So if your student is saying that they do not want accommodations or if they have them they won’t use them, then this is the episode for you.
There is one consequence that is so important it deserves it’s own episode. It’s the most important consequence to keep in mind as you and your student navigate the decision to seek accommodations or not. Regardless of their decision, let’s have them make an informed one. This episode will help your student decide and, as a parent, you’ll have the knowledge that you gave your child all the information needed to make an informed choice.
Self-advocacy is more than “Speaking up”
In this podcast episode, we answer the question: Why self-advocacy is important? This is a pivotal question for self-advocacy for college students with disabilities. While self-advocacy is widely acknowledged and supported, self-advocacy skills are absent from K-12. In addition, self-advocacy’s significance within higher education and beyond often remains overlooked.
I redefine self-advocacy as a lot more than “speaking up.” Self-advocacy begins by fostering self-awareness, navigating strengths and weaknesses. From there a student should know about the disability, how it affects them, and what accommodations work for them or not. Self-advocacy extends to encompassing seeking help when necessary and prioritizing overall wellness for college and beyond.
Self-advocacy is a lot more than just speaking up. It has a great influence on college success and even influencing subsequent generations. Click below to learn more about college self-advocacy.
To learn more about how to have your student become a great self-advocate, click the link below to get my book.
Self-Advocacy for Higher Education Book
More self-advocacy support
I’ve said it before. K-12 does a horrible job of teaching self-advocacy. I find it tragic and neglectful that it’s not taught. A ton of people advocate for it, emphasize it, and even set goals for it. But they all get it wrong. What’s the best way to teach it and what do you need to do for your student to learn to self-advocate?
Here are eight episodes that focus all on self-advocacy for students with ADHD, learning disabilities like dyslexia, and mental health conditions. If you’re new to self-advocacy, these episodes will be a great primer for developing this in your student..
Self-advocacy all starts with self-awareness and builds from there. I’ve said it before and will continue saying it. You cannot advocate from a position of ignorance. As your student builds their awareness of their disability and how it affects them, their knowledge increases as does their ability and confidence to speak about it.
Here’s the link to the episode.
Self-Advocacy for hidden disabilities.
More tips to help you
Self-advocacy is an essential skill for life. For college, it can mean the difference in deciding to apply and use accommodations or not. I’m all for making informed decisions too. You as the parent or teacher may want your student to get the accommodations they need. However, your student may have a different plan. That’s ok.
As long as your student is fully aware of their disability, how it affects them, and what accommodations are needed, then whatever they choose is an informed decision. You may not like what they decide, but it will be informed.
Listen to each episode. Take notes. Encourage your student to listen too or schedule a time to listen to it together. If you’re a teacher, this is a great use of tech in your classroom. Have them listen and do a discussion about it or write about it. For parents, if your student is resistant, listen to it in the car when you take them somewhere. Captive audience.
Once you’ve gone through the episodes and taken notes, write down the questions you want to ask your student. For example, “what are you deciding to do about asking for accommodations?” “Why would accommodations be necessary for you?” Come up with your own. This might lead to further discussions about what they know, where the information deficits are, and what they want to decide to do.
Click the link below to get the college services planner mentioned in the episode.
