Why You Should Register For College Disability Accommodations

When you were in high school, your IEP or 504 case manager might not have told you that colleges offer accommodations for all sorts of disabilities (including learning disabilities, psychological disabilities, and ADHD). Maybe you did know you could have accommodations but didn’t register because you were tired of feeling different or being in special education.

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If you’re already at college and doing well, you may not need them. But if you are currently at school and struggling, or you are just starting, you may want to consider registering for accommodations with your school’s disability services office.

Accommodations alone won’t guarantee success (you still need to go to class, keep up with readings, study effectively, and seek help when you need it), but they can be a tool to help you achieve success.

HERE’S MY ADVICE, WHICH I HOPE WILL ADDRESS YOUR CONCERNS AND QUESTIONS:

  • You should register for accommodations, even if you think you won’t need them. At college, the system is different. You don’t have to take special classes, and no one in class will check in or check up on you, so if you didn’t like being in the special education system before, don’t let your previous experiences keep you from registering.
  • College disability services offices take your privacy seriously. The only people who need to know you have accommodations are the people who’ll be involved in them, like professors. But professors have no right to know what your disability is, and it’s unlikely that the disability services office will tell them. (Ask them if it concerns you!) That said, you can tell professors about your disability if you like.
  • Register for accommodations now, whenver you’re reading this. (The approval process can take several weeks.) If you don’t need them, no one can “make” you use them, but if you panic the night before your first exam, it will be too late to get accommodated for that test, and there typically are no “do-overs” for exams in college.
  • If one or more of your requests is denied, ask how to appeal the decision. You won’t necessarily get a different answer, but it’s worth trying.
  • Depending upon the way the system works at your college, you may have to give your professors your letter showing you’re approved for accommodations. At the time that you get those letters, ask your disability coordinator what to do if a professor says you can’t have one (or all) of those accommodations in that class. It probably won’t happen, but you may feel more comfortable knowing what to do it it does.
  • If it’s your job to give professors your accommodation letters, go to one class to get your sense of them (so you can plan how much you want to tell them), and then go to office hours to give them your letter and chat. This will help you make sure they know what they letter says. You may even find they want to know more about you (but you don’t have to tell them more, if it makes you uncomfortable).
  • Remember that accommodations like extended time on tests won’t be helpful if you don’t keep up with readings and go to class. You have to know the material. Research also shows that students who were successful both used their accommodations and sought help at tutoring centers, writing centers, etc. Remember – seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

The decision to register is yours, and the responsibility is, too. Consider how accommodations might help you and keep an open mind. It’s better to register and find out you don’t need accommodations than it is to find out the hard way that you do.