7 Colleges for the Learning Disabled

When it comes to selecting a post-secondary school, the decision is often a difficult one. This proves especially true if you're a young adult with a learning disability or attention deficit disorder.

The good news is there has been a lot of research over the years that has gone into helping people with different ways of learning compensate for seeing the world in a different way. This provides options for LD adults that didn't exist in the past.

While some of you will prefer to mainstream yourselves on large campuses, others may thrive in smaller, private colleges geared especially toward serving someone with unique learning challenges. Here is a brief overview of seven of the best and some of the services they offer their students.

Mitchell's Bentsen Learning Center Program (BLCP) offers different support levels. Freshmen meet with a learning specialist three times a week. Four and two year programs are offered.

Mitchell College also runs Thames Academy, a gap-year program, to help kids with learning and attention issues get into college. The academy also makes earning college credit possible.

Curry's Program for Advancement of Learning (or PAL) helps its students individually and in small groups or classes. Students take one course with PAL for each semester. The courses focus on writing, reading, listening and organization skills.

For an extra fee, PAL offers a summer transition program to future freshmen.

This campus offers different support programs. The most intensive is the Academic Skills Program.

A counselor meets with students weekly to work on academics, time management, organization, and self advocacy. PASS (Providing Academic Support for Success) meets three times a week in group academic support sessions.

McDaniel also has a MAP (Mentorship Advantage Program.) This provides workshops on social skills, organization, time management and other useful topics.

This college also has a Mentor Advantage Program. Students meet with tutoring staff several hours a week to gain general organizational skills and strategies for specific courses.

Freshmen can attend a college transition course. And evening drop-in hours are available for extra support.

King's College has a 3-tier program called First Year Academic Studies Program (FASP.)

Students meet in groups or individually with a learning specialist for fours hours a week. This is to build executive functioning and learning skills. As the year progresses, along with the student's skills, support decreases.

The Jones Learning Center (JLC) gives students one-on-one access to support staff. Together they work on academic and organization skills. There is no limit to how often they meet.

Peer tutoring and note-taking services are also offered. Special help for students with autism spectrum disorder is available on this campus.

The Center of Learning and Accessible Student Services or CLASS is the curriculum used here.

Staffed by disability specialists who offer individual support, this school offers instruction of learning strategies, time management, compensatory strategies and academic advising along with housing assistance.

There are no fees for these services.

This article is just to inform you that there are options to traditional learning on the college level. But in the end, only you can determine the right college or university for yourself.

Be sure to do your research so when you go off to college, you will be well informed of what to expect--able to embrace the new life that lies ahead.