By Eve Kessler, Esq.

The more your teen develops the skills they’ll need in college before they graduate from high school, the easier their transition will be. That’s why Janine Kelly and Deborah List, professionals who prepare students with learning differences for post-secondary transitions, recommend that you take advantage of the middle- and high-school years to prepare your teen for life after graduation.

Promote Independence

Following are Kelly and List’s suggestions for encouraging the self-reliance and skill-building necessary for your child to become an independent young adult, prepared to navigate college when the time comes.  

• Assess strengths and difficulties. Develop a good understanding of your teen as a learner. What would they like to study? What are their overall goals? If they don’t know yet, that’s fine, but keep the conversation alive as they evolve and mature. What are their strengths and interests? What are their difficulties and needs? All of this information will help inform their college search. 

• Help them understand how they learn best. Focus on what accommodations and strategies are most beneficial, and ensure they can explain their particular learning style and needs to others. By the time they meet with the the college’s Office of Accessibility Services, they should be able to self-advocate for what they need to succeed academically.

• Speak with them often about their strengths. Encourage them to master positive self-talk and optimistic mantras. 

• Encourage independence, problem solving, and essential self-advocacy skills everywhere. 

• Teach life skills: how to do laundry; cook the basics; navigate public transportation; book and take a flight; create a budget, pay for non cash transactions (e.g., write checks or use digital payment options), track expenses (e.g., balance a check book, reconcile a bank statement), etc.

• Empower them. As they develop stronger executive function (EF) skills, fade your role as enabler. You’ve probably spent years serving as their prefrontal cortex and it’s time to empower them.

• Let them fail. It seems counter-intuitive, but your child needs to learn to pick themself up while the stakes are still low. Frame failure as “learning opportunities” to help them learn from their mistakes.

• Consider transition programs or a gap year. If your teen isn’t prepared to transition directly to college, discuss other possibilities to help develop college-readiness skills, such as working with an EF coach, enrolling at community college, or getting an internship, apprenticeship or job. 

School Support

Beyond academics, your child’s school team can help prepare your child for higher education through support and encouragement. Use the team meeting to review these strategies and discuss how to incorporate them into the IEP or 504 plan where appropriate, and explore other available resources for less formal items.

• Develop targeted skill-building and strategies. Set appropriate SMART goals and objectives that address weak and lagging skills they will need in college. Include goals for executive functioning, self-awareness and self-advocacy. Set further goals aimed at developing additional knowledge and skills.

• Build a broad plan that encourages independence. As your child progresses and matures, have the team begin to fade modifications with the aim of removing all modifications from their IEP or 504 Plan before high-school graduation.

• Access college prep support at school. Urge your teen to work with guidance counselors and then independently on graduation requirements, course selection, and any college admission and SAT/ACT accommodations. 

• Work with the team to encourage your child to take enjoyable courses, in which they are interested and excel.   

This blog post is based on a webinar, The College Timeline: Nuts and Bolts for Teens with IEPs or 504 Plans, by Janine Kelly, JD and Deborah List, PhD, partners in College Access & Beyond, LLC. Eve Kessler, Esq., a former criminal appellate attorney, is Executive Director of SPED*NET, www.spednet.org, and a Contributing Editor of Smart Kids. Click here for a recording of the webinar. https://spednet.org/nutsandbolts/

Related Smart Kids Topics

• College Bound? Focus on Readiness
• Transition Planning for College
• Getting On—And Staying On—the College Track