The time has come for your high schooler with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to transition to college. As a parent with a child with learning differences, you are likely feeling many different emotions including joy, pride, anxiety, fear.
Research estimates that between 2 and 8% of all college students in the United States have ADHD. Teens and young adults with ADHD experience more academic performance concerns and higher levels of depression during their transition to college when compared to their peers. Because these students experience academic difficulties, mood problems, and are at a greater risk for drop out, preparing them for a successful transition from high school to college is essential.
The good news is that there are concrete ways that you can help your teen in the months leading up to their first day as a college freshman. The following tips cover everything from teaching your high schooler how to do laundry to helping them takeownership of their disability and seek out support.
1. Help your teen become a self-advocate
It is likely that you have spent the last several years tirelessly advocating on behalf of your child with ADHD and their unique needs. The time has come for you to step back and your teen to step forward. In order to succeed in college, they will need to understand and accept their own disability and self-advocate for what they need. In college, students are required to disclose disabilities, seek accommodations, and communicate needs themselves. As you can imagine, this can be a big shift in expectations and one that can be especially complex for teens with executive functioning deficits. In order to help with this, begin to transfer the role of advocate to your high schooler early on. Involve them in the decision making and accommodations in addition to fully understanding their own IEP. We recommend several books at the end of this article that may help with their understanding, acceptance and self-advocacy of ADHD.
2. Practice daily living tasks at home
Up to 1/3 of American college students drop out at the end of their freshman year. That number is staggering and also a pre-pandemic statistic. One of the primary reasons cited is the stress that accompanies a lack of life skills and difficulty functioning independently. One of the most impactful ways parents of high schoolers can prepare their teens for college is to teach them how to take care of tasks of daily living. These include preparing meals, remembering to take medications, setting an alarm clock,doing their own laundry, etc. Spending time teaching your teen how to take care of these tasks will pay off by helping them avoid the stress of learning new skills in the midst of an already stressful transition.
3. Collaborate on a strong transition plan with identified supports
Colleges and universities operate under different legal guidelines when it comes to disabilities and are only required to provide accommodations to students that do not fundamentally alter the course or degree requirements. It is up to the student to understand what each institution is willing to do to accommodate their learning differences. Enlist your teen with the job of researching the college’s available supports and identify a time to review them together.
Remember that support includes not just services available from the disability office, but also things like the writing centers, tutoring groups, or mental health services. It is also helpful to brainstorm in advance the signs and signals your teen can pay attention to that would trigger seeking out these services. For example, booking an appointment with the counseling center at the start of insomnia or feelings of stress is likely to have a better outcome versus waiting until it becomes a big problem.
Transitioning to college can be overwhelming for both parents and teens, but it is also an exciting time filled with opportunities for self-advocacy and independence.
For further reading, we suggest:
From Disability to Diversity: College Success for Students with Learning Disabilities, ADHD, and Autism Spectrum Disorder (Lynne Shea, et.al)
ADHD: The College Experience (Arash Zagji, Ph.D., 2018)
Thriving at the Edge of Chaos: Making ADHD a Superpower in College and Career (Jon Thomas, EdD, 2019)