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Best Practices for College Students with Learning Differences:
Easy Steps to Help Your LD College Student Thrive at School
by Joanna Lilley, MA, NCC, founder of Lilley Consulting
According to the College Admissions staff of the college your adult child is attending, he or she is academically capable of the rigors at their institution. You have helped him move into their comfortable and newly decked out residence hall room. But the real work is just beginning for your child, and work it is! How to succeed at academics, find a comfortable social situation, and keep mind and body safe and healthy? A lot to ask from a young adult who has never lived on his own. But if your child is systematic about doing what he needs to do, and proactive about taking care of his physical and emotional health, he can do beautifully and feel justifiably proud of himself for learning how to live as an adult.
From someone who used to work with students on academic probation, here are 10 steps a student must take, and take seriously, to truly be successful and relatively happy in college. Some are easy, and some not as easy. But all are doable for a young adult, and well worth the relatively minor effort!
- Treat college like a full-time job. Full-time jobs are 40 hours or more per week. Your efforts in college will translate to your work ethic in the workforce. If you don't show up for work, what would your boss do? Fire you. Treat class the same way you would treat a job. You need to note that if you are only in class physically for 15 hours, then you have 25 hours or more of studying to do to ensure you are "successful" in your job as a full-time student.
- Create a schedule, and commit to sticking to it. This is both daily and weekly. Did you know there are 168 hours in one week? Most students wait until it's too late to get themselves into a routine. Set one early, so you are setting yourself up for success! Typically, full-time students are taking 15 credits a semester. This only takes up 15 or so hours where they are physically in class. Students don't think to "plan" out their study time.
- Learn to use a calendar. Pull out all syllabi from class and plug in every assignment for the semester in said calendar. It can be a Google calendar, old-school paper planner, or newly created app. Regardless, you need to know when you have assignments due and plan ahead to get them done early!
- Get involved. To help fill those 168 hours you need to be productive. What do I mean by that? Get a part-time job. Nothing more than 20 hours per week! Find a club or two that you're interested in joining. Check out of the Campus Activities calendar and attend events on campus that interest you. Regardless of what you do, plug it on your calendar!
- Familiarize yourself with campus resources. I can't tell you the number of times students would meet with me in my office and say things like "I didn't know there was a Writing Center on campus" or "I don't even know where the Student Health Center is."
- College is not the time to skip accommodations or stop taking medications. Seriously, this is not the timeto experiment! If a student had an IEP in high school, carrying over the type of supports and accommodations you had will ensure that your student hits the ground running academically. Collegiate coursework is not to be taken lightly. Similarly, if a student was diagnosed with ADHD in 2nd Grade and has taken medication for it since, going cold turkey in college is setting yourself up for a major meltdown.
- Exercise daily. Tell your student to factor this into your schedule and calendar too! Even if it's a 20 minute walk daily, or taking a yoga class at the Rec Center. The exact amount of time doesn't matter, and it is not all or nothing: people need to be active to be physically and mentally healthy! Exercise significantly decreases student stress. And if your student was a high school athlete, this is especially important! A lot of your son's or daughter's identity revolved around exercising, time management, and balancing athletics with school. Take away the athletics and you will have a mini-identity crisis. Even if it's just playing on an intramural team, you'll appreciate the recommendation later!
- Create a sleep routine. Studies show that you need eight hours of sleep. Realistically, everyone is different. Regardless, you need to listen to your body and rest when you need rest. Pulling all-nighters for last minute assignments or video games is going to throw off everything! Urge your student to make sure to get to bed at a decent hour, sleep enough to hit REM, and take care of yourself!
- Drink water! I live in Colorado and this is mandatory. Regardless of being at higher altitude or sea level, hydration is key to being awake and alert as a student. Again, dehydration will crush you and you will struggle academically. If the university hasn't given your student a free water bottle, I'm sure he can score one if he asks! Drink up!
Now, many college students will hear this and agree that all these ten steps absolutely needs to happen. They might even acknowledge that the tasks on this list are really simple. The reality, though, is that college students continue to slack off on what they need to do, and settle into the world of "I hear you, but that's not me." It's not them until they failed all their first exams, gained more than the freshmen fifteen, and feel so overwhelmed when sitting down to create a schedule that they'd rather shut down and not do anything at all. Denial and pretending nothing is wrong is a way easier approach.
Help yourself and help your college student. Planning ahead is no joke. I used to share the Benjamin Franklin quote with students "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." College is a sink or swim situation. The students that take this list seriously in the very beginning are the only ones swimming.
If you are worried about your young adult sinking, consider pro-actively hiring a Transition Coach. If you specifically have a young adult with pre-existing mental health concerns, definitely consider this hire as an investment! College tuition is a lot of money to throw down the drain. Take the weight off your own shoulders and hire someone to help your young adult being successful on campus from day one!
Joanna Lilley, MA, NCC is a Therapeutic Consultant, Behavioral Healthcare Navigator, and Young Adult Advocate, specializing in working with struggling young adults and their families nationally and internationally. See her site at: www.lilley-consulting.com, contact her by phone at: (970) 218-9958, or email at: joanna@lilley-consulting.com.