Elizabeth Hamblet joined us for a second interview to share highlights of the new edition of her book: Seven Steps to College Success: A Pathway for Students with Disabilities. Elizabeth helped us unpack some of the complexities of college accommodations and student responsibilities that help students make a smooth transition from high school to college. The more parents and students know and understand about the differences in laws and the nature of college support the more successful students will be. We learned so much about how different colleges approach support and the questions students and parents need to ask to find a good match.
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We were excited to have Elizabeth Hamblet back for a second interview to talk about her new book – Seven Steps to College Success: A Pathway for Students with Disabilities. Elizabeth’s book is now in its third edition and we talked with her about her earlier edition in our previous interview. If you’d like to listen to that first interview (a great companion to this episode) check out episode #29 – Steps to Success for Students with Disabilities: An Interview with Elizabeth Hamblet.
Elizabeth reminded us that on the college level parents generally don’t interact directly with disability services although they are sometimes present in initial meetings as moral support. It is essential that students take control of this process. 
We discussed some of the differences between students who are “college capable” and “college ready,” two terms also used by Dr. Eric Endlich (you can listen to our interview with Dr. Endlich here.) We were reminded that college is optional and colleges expect certain things from students who choose to attend.
We also talked about some non-academic accommodations students might seek or be eligible for. These things might include certain housing accommodations, but the bar to qualify for a single room may be quite high for a non-medical reason. Services such as career counseling or psychological counseling cannot be different for students with learning disabilities.
Elizabeth also explained that different colleges have differing levels of services. Very few schools are exempt from having to comply with disability laws. Some schools may provide an office to comply with the laws. Some schools go beyond the minimum to provide some disability services and support. Finally, some schools offer a structured learning disability program, often at additional cost.
One of the bottom lines Elizabeth shared was if there is an accommodation that you feel you need, always ask. It doesn’t mean that you will get that accommodation, but if you don’t ask you won’t know or won’t understand why you cannot receive it. Good advice for always – ask a lot of questions about anything that is not clear.
As always, we asked Elizabeth if she had any books that she would recommend for parents. She suggested The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives by Ned Johnson et. al., The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey (Listen to our interview with Jessica Lahey here), Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less: How to Rekindle Your Child’s Motivation, and also Daniel Willingham’s Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning Is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy
If you’d like to connect with Elizabeth or check out some of her materials, she gave us several suggestions. Her website, ldadvisory.com is a place to find her blog, other interviews, additional information including a 6-page guide condensing some of the important concepts she discussed with us. The website also has 2 webinars about accommodations and preparing your student for college (and a $5 discount if you sign up for Elizabeth’s newsletter!) You can join her facebook group or check out her Youtube channel.
And be sure to check out Elizabeth Hamblet’s new book – Seven Steps to College Success: A Pathway to Success for Students with Disabilities.
We talked about some of the earlier episodes we have done on related topics. To follow up on these conversations, you might listen to some of these.
#075 – Understanding More About Your College Student’s Brain
#019 – Students With Learning Differences: What Are the Key Changes Between High School and College?
#068 – Is Your Student Ready for College?
#070 – Increasing Your Student’s Readiness for College
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