Customer Reviews

Coll for Stdts w/Learning Disab/ADD, 7/e (Peterson's Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities or ADD)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book has a lot of information, much more than I expected. Another book, the K&W Guide to Collegesfor Students with Disabilities, was not useful at all.

I wish this book came with a CD or online search tool so you could search on specifics, but it has a good index.

If you are considering buying this book then you are likely a parent with a child with a learning disability. I am a parent of a child with a learning disability. I have found that I MUST advocate for my child. Entering College as a Freshman is another life transition. These life transitions can be so very difficult for these students. What makes this book valuable is that the book organizes those schools that have "Structured/Proactive Programs". It lists detailed information such as number of staff supporting the program, number of students enrolled, orientation, diagnostic testing, tutoring, written policies. I did not find this kind of organization or these details on the college internet sites. These "Structured/Proactive Programs" are programs that students with IEPs will need. "Services" will simply not be enough. "Services" require the student to seek them out. Students with learning disabilities entering college have not yet developed the maturity to be an advocate for themselves. Hence, the need for a "Program". These programs have additional fees indicating that they provide additional services not provided for students without a disability

I am a person with a disability who holds both an undergraduate and masters degree. These guide books are among the most misleading things I have ever come across. They continue insisting that college accommodations are only available at certain institutions---completely ignoring reality which says they are actually available everywhere.

I entered and successfully completed both my degrees only because I came in already knowing my legal rights and responsibilities. I always recognized that I still would receive accommodations in college, but also that the college environment is covered by a different set of laws than my public school special education classes.

Because all colleges are required to admit otherwise qualified students with a disability and make reasonable accommodations in academics and facilities, these guides are nothing more than a slick con-job for (primarily) gullible parents who aren't up to date on either the law or their child's obligation (if they weren't already doing it!) to be a self-advocate for their own accommodations at college.

In the post-secondary environment, the disability office (regardless of size/staff) is not going to come after students for their initial registration for services or the each semester's re-registration to receive accommodations in specific classes. It is also the student's responsibility to talk with the professor about the accommodations they will need in the class.

It breaks my heart to receive letters from people continuing to make dangerous assumptions, but as long as the books remain in print, I realize errors will repeat. Readers initially might not know better, but I've got to wonder about the conscience of the authors--how can they honestly sleep at night after publishing blatantly inaccurate falsehoods which well-intentioned people attempt taking to heart in the absence of correct information?

What next, a guide to colleges with gravity and/or running water?

After a quick scan this book was returned as it offered very little insight to the individual colleges that could not easily be picked up online. The information provided had no depth as comments were very standardized.

My son had to leave college after his freshman year , due to lack of success, in large part due to his learning differences and ADD. He came home to get help to get back on track and i ordered lots of books, this one among them. I had no idea that accommodations could be made in college. Nor that some school offer a very supportive environment for those students who have learning disabilities.This book will be critical in helping us select the best fit for him next time around.

I had to do all my own research as I have no family. I chose a school using this book as a guide and it turned out to be a huge mistake. They had no resources available at all! Now I don't have the werewithall to transfer somewhere else so I will end up flunking out without resources! Beware. It may have been more the school's fault than Peterson's, but beware just the same. PS. The wrong stock photo is up for this edition.