College scholarships for LD students?
Wednesday, January 5th, 2005
I get asked from time to time if there are college scholarships for students with learning disabilities.
There are assumptions built into this question that bother me. What is it about having a learning disability qualifies you for a free ride to college?
I can easily see a financial aid issue if it exists or an academic excellence issue, if it exists but singling out disability types for monetary support seems counter productive to the end where we’re all equal.
I have no problems with quotas as social engineering (affirmative action) but that’s not what most people who ask me are looking for: they don’t feel that LD students are under-represented in college and ought to be admitted to make the student body more diverse. The folks who ask me about this are looking a financial award based solely on the learning disabilities label.
There’s something fishy here, does anyone else see it that way?
I don’t think the scholarship question is unreasonable. Many scholarships are awarded based on GPAs. However, there are specific other areas for scholarships, but there is such a vast amount of information that sifting through it is overwhelming.
Many people with LD have other qualities, but often this doesn’t show in their GPA. While all people with LD should not be handed scholarships, there are probably scholarships more reasonable for an LD person to apply for. Just because a person does not obviously excel academically doesn’t mean they don’t have great things to offer & may deserve assistance in their journey to get additional education.
My son has a learning disability. There isn’t a college in the area that can assist him. My family has visited quite a few colleges both private and public. The private schools seems to be the ideal situation for him. I can afford the cost of the private school but I can’t afford to pay the extra costs of the special LD program.
If my son was considered gifted schools would be throwing money at him no matter what the parents’ financial situation is. If you have a child with LD you’ve most probably been paying for private tutors and programs for the last 10 years, therefore you have very little saved for college. Is there any help for a kids who have worked harder than most but doesn’t have high enough ACT scores to qualify for any grants and did’t have time to join after school organizations because he was tutored every afternoon?
Try the local Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, under the Department of Labor. Depending on income, this agency provides financial support for post-secondary education.
Good luck
Fishy, what is so fishy about a student trying to take advantage of all the resources at hand? They give scholarships based on color, ethnicity and country of origin, so why not by disability? I was diagnosed with LD and ADD at the age of 10 and I am now 27 years old. I graduated from DePaul University in 2001 and now I want to go back to graduate school and I’m looking for a little help. For someone like me who has never been a strong test taker, as many LD students are, we are forced to rely on participation, projects, and other means to get satisfactory grades. I now find myself in a bind, but does that mean I am not entitled to scholarship money or aid? I have decided to go in to the design planning which will allow me to use my project based skills as a performance measure in this job profession. For a lot of students with LD’s their ability to be solely tested on project performance is not an option. We still have to take exams like the LSTAT, GRE, GMAT, SAT, ACT which is an integral measure for assisted funding for anybody looking at higher education. I’m not looking for a free ride, but some help would be nice. I understand that the study of LD’s is relatively new, but I would hope that those baby boomers who did go back and get tested would want to help. I know that I have, but my contributions were not monetary, I decided to devote my time to teaching outdoor education for a short period after graduating undergrad. All I have to say is that kids with LD’s have to work twice as hard to get half the results a regular student does, and if that is does not entitle someone for some assistance I don’t know what does.
Oh cbolding or the guy with the kid looking at colleges, DePaul was an excellent choice and the LD assistance was amazing. It is expensive, but well worth it, and culture that surrounds provides for a exciting learning environment.
So, the question is, are there scholarships that single out people based on disability? I’d be curious to read what’s involved in qualifying for one.
I guess the part I’m uncomfortable with is that scholarships that people ask me about tend to be financial, not academic. If, what we’re talking about here is a change in admission standards to allow people with learning disabilities into college who might not otherwise make it, that seems like a different question and issue to me.
What I don’t understand, is how having a learning disability, by itself, qualifies someone for financial assistance. Academic waivers are one thing, financial assistance is something else.
I was diagnosed with ADD a year ago. It has affected my education and many other aspects of my life. I’m abt to turn 24, have not yet graduated from the community college b/c I go on and off so much. I’m still have time though. I researched LD and ADD scholarships and the results said they were too far and too few. I’ve been struggling doing administrative work full time for most of my after high school life. A field that does not suit me at all and doesn’t naturally fit my brain wiring. ADD is not considered a learning disability although they are closely associated. Now I have to spend a large amt. of money to get tested for any specific learning disabilities. There is a discrepency between academic and intillectual achievment. For instance my friend Peter w/ ADD and LD has a very high IQ but his LD and problems w/ ADD make him “slow” compared to most. Once i get tested for LD, I’ll have the proper documentation (if I am LD) to at least be accomodated in certain ways at the community college. Examples would be having my own exam room, extra hour to take exam, etc. My bigger problem however, is that I was laid off a couple of days ago and I’m not too thrilled abt looking for yet another mentally frustrating admin position. I’m abt to finish a 2nd book ever called “ADD and Creativity” which goes in depth abt left brain vs. right brain, career, etc. I really want to persue an education on the vocational path which is more hands on and ideal for my success. I’m highly interested in Graphic Design and looking for financial aid. The bachelor’s degree would land me a job that pays less but I’d be much happier. These private art institutions are said to be pretty expensive. You ask what qualifies a person for a free ride to college? Well in response to that.. I look back at all the struggling I’ve been thru during school and different positions I held and all I can say is that I felt like a hampster on a wheel b/c it was so hard to keep up. I feel like “a child left behind” b/c none of my many teachers ever detected my problem. Not trying to make myself out to be a victim. I’m absolutely blessed that God answered my prayer and showed me why I was having such a difficult time getting ahead and being successful. I think a lot of ppl w/ LD deserve a break. Most of our traditional education systems aren’t designed to handle everyone’s different brain types. If you have a perfectly neurologically correct brain, and your chemical transmitters are connected all the way, then consider yourself lucky! Why are you so concerned w/ the rights of ppl who have LD? Obviously if we have a hard time learning b/c of conditions that exist in the brain, I think it’s only fair that some assistance be provided so that we can progress and have a decent chance at a good quality of life like many of the “normal” ppl in society who don’t have mental disorders. Peace be with you..
Michelle,
I guess you haven’t read some of the other articles by me at this (my) web site nor have you read the about page. I’m LD and I’ve spent the last 20 years advocating for people with learning disabilities as well as doing talks the world over on the right of people with LD as well as how we can become more independent through personal use of technology.
What exactly is a “perfectly neurologically correct brain”? I don’t think this kind of brain exists.
I do think, however that some “brains” seem better suited to traditional educational settings while others learn better in non-traditional settings. Figuring this out allows people who have a hard time with traditional schools to find other, more approriate places to get educated.
A sholarship doesn’t help you fit in at a traditional school so I’m a bit hard pressed to figure out why financial aid is needed in your scenario above. Money doesn’t make learning happen, does it?
You bet your ass money makes learning happen. Colleges require the money before they’ll even let you in the door, not to mention the cost of the supplies, time, effort, and environment to learn in. Besides, who says a scholarship doesn’t help you fit in at a traditional school? Michelle said most traditional education systems aren’t designed to handle different brain types, not ALL traditional education systems. Scholarships can help you get into the schools that
ARE designed that way. Michelle has a perfectly valid reason to be awarded a scholarship based upon her disability, and having both ADHD and Excessive Compulsive Disorder, I know exactly how she feels. She has worked her ass off to get through college, much more so than an average person has to, and she deserves a reward for it. It’s the same way with myself. It takes me sometimes 4 hours to do something it would take a normal person only 2, even when I’m working full tilt, and I believe that extra time and effort deserves to be recognized. That is the whole point with diagnosing us as having disabilites, so other people can recognize that it is harder for us to do things than other people. One more thing, if Michelle is 24 and still hasn’t graduated from community college, then she’s definetely worked at it long enough to deserve some compensation.(providing she has been in the college since right after graduating high school)
William,
I’m still not sure I understand. If I give you extra time, a tutor, a computer that reads to you and make an entire curriculum accessible, isn’t that what you want? THAT is what will make learning happen is it not?
How does giving someone a scholarship (tuition aide) figure into this?
Just because you or Michelle works your ass off (many students, with and without disabilities work their asses off) doesn’t necessarily mean you deserve financial aid or a special monetary dispensation.
Don’t forget, I’m LD too and struggled with high school and college, worked my way through, took many extra years, etc. but I never had the feeling that because I was LD I deserved money? Extra time, yes. A tutor, yes. Various accomodations, absolutely. Tuition help? Why? I don’t see the connection at all.
Everyone has to pay tuition to get in the door to make learning happen. Being LD has nothing to do with your parents’ or your ability to pay. Plenty of LD kids have parents who can afford to send them to $40,000 a year private schools. In what way are those students deserving of financial aid?
Richard, I understand where you are coming from. Right now I’m trying to get into a PhD program. I’m diagnosed w/ ADHD (pardon the spelling errors!) The programs I’ve looked into don’t offer tutors, or any other source of accomodations that require $ (all the programs that are in my region and will not require me to move away, about 5 different programs) . Therefore, I will have to sped quite a bit of money on special assistance to get through my program. As I see it, I would be happy to get the $ for the special assistance, or get some kind of help on tuition. I don’t qualify for many financial aid programs because since there are so little resources available to me in the program, I will have to be a part-time grad. student. Even if for me being a part-time student represents the same amount of workload that the full-time students will, I still can’t get financial aid because of the part-time status. It seems to me that I deserve some financial aid, in whatever shape it comes in…have a tutor provided for me or tuition help to offset the cost of getting a tutor myslef…or whatever.
Patricia,
Getting a tutor is not a scholarship or financial aid. In theory, a school provides that as an accomodation. If the school does not provide it then there are legal issues to be thought out to get them to provide it but again, that’s not financial aid, that’s accademic support.
Whether or not the school pays for the accademic support, there is a difference between that kind of assistance and a sholarship.
Of course, folks are going to have to single one out based on disability to get accademic support, but no one in this thread has yet made clear to me why having a disability qualifies you for a scholarship.
Thanks for your comment Patricia.
Therea are scholarships for people who are left-handed and people who have certain last names. There are scholarships based on race, religion, hometown, hobbies, and career plans. Why is it so unreasonable to think that there might be scholarships for people with LDs? One reason I can think of for offering such tuition assistance would be to increase the number of successful LD people in certain professions. Teaching is an obvious one, but there are others where the nonlinear creativity of some LD minds could be really helpful. I’m not suggessting that you just hand out money to anyone with a diagnosis, but there are committed students for whom a little help could make the difference between getting a degree or not. What’s the problem?
Nancy: your argument is the best I’ve heard so far. Here’s what’s different about it than the others:
1. You give reasons beyond “I’m LD, therefore I deserve assistance”
2. You make the excellent point that filling a school with a heterogenious population is something that some (enlightened) admissions directors want to do and having a different learning style is one of many differences that might qualify.
However, It’s one thing to change an addmission requirement to allow someone to attend a school they otherwise might not be able to get into, it’s another to give a financial reward to someone based on disability, whether or not their parents are millionares.
I’m all for changing admission requirements to fill schools with more diversity, I have questions about using “LD” or “left handedness” as an attribute to look at in giving a scholarship.
Financial aid and admissions requirements are two different things.
Here’s a scenario that may help illustrate my point.
Student A is LD, has poor grades and test scores and his parents cannot afford the tuition at BU.
Student B is LD, has poor grades and test scores and his parents can afford the tuition at BU.
Both students could handle the BU workload if admitted.
Both students would need the admissions requirements modified to gain admission.
Only student A needs financial assistance to go, student B could pay the tuition.
In all other respects, the students are identical.
Which student do you give a scholarship to?
Richard,
FYI: The Eli Lilly Corporation (manufacturer of either Adderall or Strattera) has given 20 scholarships to assist adults with ADHD age 25 and above for the exact reason you are arguing against. Why don’t you try making an educated argument? It is a fact that it takes people with learning disabilities much longer just to go through something such as a chapter in a text book. Couple that with the pressure of having to work for a living. If you are an adult returning to college like me, you will find that loans cannot begin to cover the cost of both tuition and supporting one’s self. $6,000 is the amount used to figure cost of “room and board” for an independant student for an entire year. Who can live on $6,000 a year and still pay rent, utilities, groceries, and car expenses? What I am saying is, it would be nice to have some kind of additional funds available, whether it be in the form of loans or grants, to those who cannot afford to pay for school because of a disability. If it were not for my learning disability, I probably would have time to both work and successfully complete my classes, but taking a 3/4-time course load leaves me with very little time. Next semester I student teach, which requires that we do not work at all. I am wondering how I am going to survive! I already have maxed out 2 credit cards supporting myself over a year and a half. Creditors will not raise my available credit… Student loans are already at the maximum. Do you see what I am saying? If I could manage to read and complete my assignments as quickly as my classmates, I too would have the time to work and perhaps money would not be as big of an issue. But sadly, here it is, Sunday night. I still have a pile of work to do… and a pile of bills to somehow pay.
So please stop with your smug attitude. Nobody is asking for cash to throw themself a pity party.
Amy, I’d appreciate if you’d not attack me, I’m not attacking anyone else I’m trying to discuss this with. Remember, I posed the question to elicit discussion, not argument.
My attitude is far from smug: I’m LD and worked to send myself both through undergrad and graduate school. I think that experience gives me the right to an opinion, whether it be the same or different from yours.
It seems to me that there are two parts to your argument and while I agree with both of them separately I don’t agree that they necessarily are interdependent.
1. ” It is a fact that it takes people with learning disabilities much longer just to go through something such as a chapter in a text book.”
I wouldn’t call it a fact but in many cases it’s true. Some kinds of LD are not all about language processing and so, getting through a chapter is no problem, it’s sitting in class and taking notes that is. But, that’s splitting hairs and I’ll grant you that people with LD of various kinds can have a difficult time with school the way it’s typically set up.
However, that’s an academic issue, not work related. Students who do not need to work for a living have this problem right along side people like you who do. You’re LD. They’re LD. Both of you may need extra time, a tutor, an admissions requirement lessened. Fine. Where’s the connection with money?
2. Your argument is excellent that an adult who has to work and go school might need financial assistance to help them go to school full time rather than have to work, but doesn’t it apply to any adult who works and can’t afford to go to school full time (and not work)?
Your argument (an adult has to work…) doesn’t apply to a younger student who does not have to work and who’s parents can afford the tuition. If it does, please explain.
What I am reacting to is the number of people who are asking for financial assistance purely because they are LD, not because they can’t afford college but because they feel that because they have a disability (or maybe their parents feel this) they are entitled.
“Nobody is asking for cash to throw themself a pity party.”
Really? Are you sure about that? Do you really presume to know everybody and every circumstance? I certainly don’t but I do see a pattern in the ones I do.
Ok let me clarify part of my argument. I do not think that any younger student who is supported by their parents, and therefore does not need to work while in school should receive financial assistance solely on the fact that they have a learning disability. I’m not saying it is still not hard work for them, but at least they have the time to pour their hearts into their studies. My first time through college my parents funded it and I do not feel that I should have received any financial assistance because we did not have financial need. What I am talking about are the adults who, after managing their learning disability, want to pursue a more fitting career or attend college in the first place, but are having trouble doing so because as an independent student, in order to actually survive it is assumed that they can work at least part time without a problem. When taking into consideration how much more time it takes someone with a learning disability to complete the requirements of college, it’s definitely a problem. Not to mention the hundreds of dollars in prescription expenses a person who is no longer covered by their parents’ insurance may have. So I guess my argument is twofold. Being an adult trying to fund one’s own tuition or having a learning disability alone may not qualify someone for any special aid. But coupling the two presents a bigger problem that not many schools seem to have considered. I think the Eli Lilly Company recognizes that, and therefore their scholarship is for people over the age of 25. In addition, only 20 of 150 applicants were chosen, to my understanding, based on need. I wish there were more scholarships or even loans out there for people who fall into this category.
That’s the only point I was trying to make.
Amy: I think you’re getting closer to making a clear argument, thank you for taking the time to clarify.
I’m still not sure why an adult with a learning disability who has to work deserves financial aid any more than an adult without. Most adults going to college who have not gone to college take longer to complete work than younger students who come to college with (some) study habbits.
Most adults who don’t have good insurance have to pay a lot of money for persciptions so I’m not sure being LD adds any more to the burden. Not all LD folks are are on medication for their LD and being LD, as far as I know, doesn’t come with a higher medication burden.
Where I agree with you is that being an adult going to college, either for the first time or again after many years of non-attendance is very different from being sent there by your parents.
But, there are assumed pieces of your argument that don’t hold.
Not all adults are poor. Not all LD adults are poor. Some are, some aren’t.
Some LD adults have high paying jobs, savings, and could, if they chose, take a leave of absense from work to attend college. This is rare, but it’s done.
Some LD adults go to night school while they continue work. This is quite hard, LD or no LD as it’s hard enough to do one or the other but both is terrifically hard. Of course night school might be a single class a term, stretching a degree program out over many years.
More recently online degree programs are popping up. Not all of them are any good, few are accessible to people with language based learning disabilities, but if this type of education and degree program evolves as I think it will, it would be a wonderful alternative to going to a physical classroom and would be a better way for a working adult to go back to school. Why? Because after a hard day of work you don’t have to go to a physcial campus, you can sit in your pajamas and do the work online, at home in your own time and at your own pace. Also, these programs are typically less expensive than on-campus programs.
I’m glad we got sorted out that you weren’t generalizing the scholarship issue for all people with LD. That I just can’t ever agree with.
If I had the financial resources, I’d endow a scholarship for someone who had an uneven track record because of LD–someone with exceptional strenghts in some areas but who had struggled with other things because of the LD and maybe didn’t make the good grades. There are merit-based scholarships out there for people with uniformly good grades, but I don’t know of any for people with uneven academic records.
Are you saying you’d change the admissions requirements to let a person with uneven academic records in if they showed the potential to do college level work? If so, I’m with you 100%.
A scholarship does not change admissions requirements, does it? If you give money to the person you’re talking about they might not be able to get in.
Don’t you have to change the admissions requirements to allow a person with uneven academic history into college? I think so and I’m all for that. I just don’t see, unless there is also financial need that requires a monetary scholarship.
Why would the dyslexic son of a millionaire need financial aid to get into college. Money is not what’s preventing him from getting in, it’s his “uneven academic past.” So, waive admissions requirements and let him in, but no need to give him a financial boost too.
Seems like Richard goes from making some very good points to being devil’s advocate to bring about debate. Either way, I’ve learned a lot.
I’m a parent of a daughter with some pretty strong learning disabilities. She’s a senior in HS and we are now beginning our college search. We transferred to PA from the very destroyed CA school system during the summer before her 10th grade year and the resource assistance here has been phenomenal. Unfortunately, she still spells at a 5th grade level, is a slow reader and cannot take standardized tests. However, thanks to the extra test time and the ability to have her textbooks read to her on tape while she reads along and some other features of her resource program, she is an honors student in a college prep program at one of the best high schools in the state. And she is dilligent about her homework and studying. But because of her disability with standardized tests, the SAT and ACT are out of reach for her, and her extra curriculars have been minimal because of the time she has to devote to homework and studying.
So Richard, as I look at the many scholarships out there, she doesn’t even qualify to apply – no SAT, minimal extra curriculars. We’re going to start putting together her admissions essay and looking at scholarships, but isn’t there something out there for kids who have been putting every ounce of energy they have into competing with the kids who can do it with half the effort? And succeeding? Those other kids get to apply for twice as many scholarships because they have twice as much time for the extra curriculars plus the high test scores. If my daughter could take the test, she could get an academic scholarship, but the test is beyond her reach.
And in this thread, you haven’t answered the question. Is there financial aid specifically for LD college bound people that you know of?
Tracee: trust me, I’m not trying to be provocative, I’m mostly trying to clarify my point of view which it seems few understand or, if they do, don’t agree with. Good thing we’re not all in the same room; I’d be clobbered for sure!
I agree with you that someone with a learning disability who works hard yet can’t show the traditionally accepted signs of achievement is in a bind when the only way to qualify for a scholarship is to prove one’s mettle academically.
I’m with you there.
Where I have a hard time is with the generalization that having a learning disability automatically qualifies you for a scholarship.
As you state, your daughter works hard and is studious. If you can demonstrate that to an admissions officer of a college (sans-SAT and GPA) they may want her to attend and change their admissions requirements for her. This happens all the time. It has not one thing to do with getting a scholarship, it has to do with working around the traditional means of proving that you can handle college-level work.
Here’s my question for you: suppose I’m the head of admissions at a college your daughter would like to attend but can’t because of her grades and SATs. She comes in for an interview and impresses me and demonstrates her maturity and ability to self-advocate and we come up with a plan for her to get tutoring and help if she needs it. In short, I admit her. No financial aid, no scholarship, but I allow her to side-step the admissions requirements.
I think, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, that this puts you in exactly the same place as any parent who’s child is accepted to college and has to come up with a way to pay for it.
So, let’s parse this out. What are you after? Financial aid or a softening of entrance requirements or both?
The part I have problems with is the conflating of the two which assumes that having a learning disability automatically qualifies you for financial aid. For that matter, I don’t think having a learning disability ought to automatically qualify one for a softening of admissions requirements either.
I know this sounds like I’m trying to be a hard-ass or reactionary for the sake of being reactionary but in fact, I have a learning disability and had a hard time with all of this stuff myself. I’m just reacting to a social trend I see happening in the LD world. Maybe it could be called “label abuse.”
“And in this thread, you haven’t answered the question. Is there financial aid specifically for LD college bound people that you know of?”
I’m sure there is. That’s not my question. My question is should there be.
I think there should be.
There are many scholarships that are not need based and these are really prizes. They are self esteem raising prizes for a student to compete for against their peers who have attained a high GPAs while doing many other things at the same time.
I want my daughter to be able to compete her peers for a scholarship, a prize so she can feel that she is participating in paying for college and yes, I need help paying for it too. But even if I didn’t, why shouldn’t she be able to compete against her own peer group of kids who have to spend their extra time on school work who do not have all of the extra time for volunteerism. So again I say, yes, there should be scholarships for the LD population.
As for the entrance requirements, I sincerely hope they are softened for her. She has been in college prep, but not at the level of a lot of kids. No AP courses, only got as high as Algebra 2 and no Chemistry or Physics. So while her classes were all in the CP program, they are not the same as the kids she will be applying with.
Thanks to your list of colleges, I found a couple that we will be applying to, but now see there is an additional $4000+ fee for those services. WOW! I had no idea that was going to be a part of the picture.
I’ve heard the term “academic waiver”. Is that addressed on your site somewhere? I’d like to learn what that refers to.
And by the way, I don’t think money should just be thrown at a person who has a learning disability. Just think there should be a scholarship category, or even a financial aid category just for those students who have been identified as LD, to compete for financial aid or scholarship. What you have accomplished with your disability in school says something about your character. If you accompished a C average in a single parent working household with LD, that says something about how you are able to guide your own self. Even if you had the resource help. If you failed all of your classes with resource help, that says, to me, that school is not the place for you. Maybe some time off is best. I’m sure I’ll get nailed with that one, but a lot of kids just need time out there to find themselves for a while in my opinion – LD or not. I’m lucky in the sense that we’ll have a tiny bit easier of a time gaining admission to a college – my daughter has a high honors GPA, but only could have done it with the fabulous resource help we’ve gotten in PA because CA schools failed her miserably. They watched movies and did really stupid stuff in her resource classes and are probably the reason she is still spelling at a 5th grade level. It took 3 years here to bring her up one grade level with that.
Tracee: “academic waiver” generally refers to waiving a requirement. For instance, if students with LD have a hard time with foreign language, some schools will provide a foreign language waiver to allow them to take something else instead.
This is actually another discussion topic at this site:
www.ldresources.org/?p=929
where I, again, seem to be in a minority and get beaten up. Check it out, it’s an interesting thread.
I really have no problems with academic waivers but what I have a problem with is with parents and students not doing their homework on which schools offer them and which don’t, then getting all bent when a school, which never said it offered them won’t bend when pushed.
Bottom line: it’s very important for you and your daughter to read the college or university’s academic requirements carefully including the particular academic requirements for a degree in the majors she might be interested in (each is different). Then, once you’re familiar with what it will take to graduate, spend some time talking with admissions folks, and teachers in the various departments to make sure you correctly understand what’s required.
Oh, not all colleges have extra fees for academic support, some colleges build it into the regular tuition (which may be astronomical by itself).
For what it’s worth, I went to a community college for a year because I didn’t have the grades or maturity to go to a four year college. For me it was like what is now called a “post graduate” high school year but unlike high school (my experience) I actually learned how to learn in community college. I was lucky to have great teachers and I was anxious to do the work to stay afloat in their classes. There was no LD support in those days at any level but I took a reduced load and in a year transferred to the University of Oregon where I did pretty well. Had I not done community college first I’d have flunked out for sure.
And, since it was so inexpensive as to be almost free, it gave me some cheaper credits toward my eventual degree(s). Something to consider.
Thanks Richard for the added info. Yes, community college is definitely in our plans. There’s about an 80% chance that’s where she’ll be for the first two years, both for the cost reasons and also because it’s nice and local. I did community college before I transferred and there’s no shame in it. We’re still applying to the Universities that have LD programs and depending on the financial assistance, she may end up there, because it really is a different experience and one that I really want her to have. It would have to end up equaling the cost of the community college for me. One great thing about CA is the community college system and the pricing thereof. But here in PA, it’s quite expensive – about $3000/year. Compared to say, Edinboro, a school with a great LD program (without added cost it seems) at $11K with housing, financial aid could make that attainable for me and the LD support could make that attainabe for her. So again, I have to say that it sure would be nice if she could compete against her own peer group for some financial aid or scholarship money for college.
Here is a thought – I’m a teacher have 2 kids in high school – work my butt off to pay their school tution – husband is disabled and will never work again – husband has become a basket of emotional problems – I have very little extra income and any money goes to my kids for their activities (and no they don’t get everything) – I am at the top of my salary ladder – cost of living going up and my salary is not – one son has LD’s, i HAVE SPENT THOUSANDS of dollars to keep him on task and passing ( before high school was in public). I have very little money saved for COLLEGE. public education here is a mess so both go to a small private catholic school
You bet I think it would stink if the kid whose parents have money gets money and my kid does not. I am not and never have asked for assistance although THIS YEAR I cannot afford to just teach and will have to get another part time job. I am doing the best I can but little did I know this would all happen as I got in my midyears.
And some of you write you should get money from colleges just because you have LD – please think of the BIG PICTURE for some people.
Jean: thanks for helping me try to clarify the difference between financial aid and academic waivers or assistance.
My polnt is that the LD label alone ought not be a flag for financial assistance.
Tracee: I realize that the cost of community college has gone up and that it is different in each state, however, it is generally cheaper with more accessible academic requirements than a state university or a private college.
I think the reason many parents don’t choose this route has to do with cache and spin: they want to be able to say that their child is attending BU or another expensive college or university. Nothing wrong with BU but it’s not the only game in town and there are cheaper, high-quality, more academically accessible schools around that should be considered first.
Richard wrote:
I think the reason many parents don’t choose this route has to do with cache and spin: they want to be able to say that their child is attending BU or another expensive college or university. Nothing wrong with BU but it’s not the only game in town and there are cheaper, high-quality, more academically accessible schools around that should be considered first.
This is 100% accurate -
Jean: thanks for the support, I know there are many sides to this issue but I see a lot of that stuff. I started noticing it a while back and wrote about it here:
Spinning Learning Disabilities
Gifted Dyslexics
Is Dyslexia a Learning Disability?
Reading all of those back to back would paint a bit too cynical a picture of me and my ideas, but they are the back-story for my last comment here. My thinking (and writing) has matured in the years since I wrote these essays, however, the world of LD has become much more complex and difficult.
By the way, I am what they call a twice-exceptional student, meaning that I am not only learning disabled, but also gifted. I don’t need a tutor and in fact I tutor others myself, and my parents are fully able to pay for my college education, WAY ABLE TO !! the problem is, da da daaaa, they are not WILLING TO!!!! that is why I need an LD scholarship so bad, I am royally schrewed when it comes to financial aid. Because my parents are so wealthy, financial aid scholarships automatically blow me off, ignoring the fact that my parents aren’t willing to pay any more than about 1/3 of the tuition for college. Those type of scholarships, not to mention federal aid, account for about 90% of scholarships in existence.
Richard, it is interesting that you bring up the point in your September 23rd post about the son of a millionare. I personally know a son of not only a millionare but also the OWNER OF A COLLEGE
(sorry, pressed enter) …. that still received nothing short of a foot up the ASSHOLE in terms of money for college. By the way, he works as a pizza delivery driver now in the restuarant that I work in. It seems that everyone, especially you, are flagrantly steriotyping students with wealthy parents as being wealthy themselves. You keep mentioning students with parents who “can” pay for college while ignoring whether or not they actually “will” pay. As I have previously stated, my family has well over the amount needed for my college education, but that does not mean they are going to give me it. Rich people (though I’m not exactly rich)aren’t all steriotypically like moviestars who blow untold millions on their family members. They still want their children to work for themselves. My dad started in a low income family in England and made every penny of his money himself and expects me and my 2 brothers and 1 sister to do the same. By the way, Bill Gates is more or less doing the same thing, supplying I think 0.02% of his wealth to his family and 99.98% of it to charities and such when he dies, which is still a few million for his sons, but out of 70 BILLION, you see what I mean. The point is, don’t think in terms of what parents CAN supply, think in terms of what they WILL supply. I pretty much know I am going to have college loans to pay off for decades after I finish school, without help from my parents, and I just wish there was some way I could get out of it. I understand that you probably hadn’t considered the fact that parents with money won’t give it to their children, but they don’t want us getting spoiled. Oh yeah, and I disagree with what you said about lowering academic levels for acceptance into college. Learning disabilities don’t automatically mean you will get low gradesin school, even if you have to overcome them. I am ADHD and OCD and I still managed a 1440 out of 1600 SAT score and got into college very easily.+
“I want my daughter to be able to compete her peers for a scholarship”-
so do I Tracee, so do I. The problem is not competing with your peers. It doesn’t work that way. It is competing with unamiginably awesome essay writers from all over the United States, or a specific state, that is the hard part. Don’t think your daughter would really be able to do that even if she wasn’t LD. To have any chance at all against the entire country, you need to at least be in the top 20 smartest student in your own school. So don’t feel like you are missing out.
By the way, there are most definately learning disability scholarships out there. I know of one that I would have signed up for, but according to them OCD/ADHD isn’t good enough as a learning disability. It is called the Anne Ford scholarship for College Bound Students with Learning Disabilities. By the way, in terms of the SAT, don’t give me that “the SAT/ ACT are out of reach for her” crap, you just have to be willing to fight dirty with the college board to get the tests read to her. I got extended time for mine and I saw another kid who had the test blown out into a much larger sized text size, so he could read it better. They should accomidate you, you just my have to hit below the belt. AND DON’T ACCEPT NO FOR AN ANSWER. Also your daughter should really look into those Chemistry and Physics courses, now that we are blessed with the internet. There are a multide of interactive science/ math lessons where you just sit and watch movie/lessons over and over until it sticks in the brain.
sorry for the atrocious grammer, it is late
My college is about
$35,000 per year
NOT including:
Books, room and board, food plan, extra expenses, lab fees, transportation, and equipment costs.
I managed to get the 100% of(comparable) tuition Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, which subtracted an entire $2,000 off of this. The college gave me $12,500
thank God, and combined itself with the aformentioned 2,000 and some other thing to give me a total assistance of $19,500 per year. For tuition only, that leaves 35,000-19,500 which = 15,500 for me, plus maybe 10,000+ for all the other crap, giving me a bill of maybe 25,000 dollars a year, so I’ll be about 100 Grand in the hole at the end of 4 years.
^_^ ooh, one more thing. A good trick for helping out with studies in high school if you are LD is to have your teacher’s phone numbers on speed dial. I have both my Physics teacher’s and Calculus teacher’s numbers.
I have a son that has a language based learning disability and attends a local college prep Catholic High school. has always been a horrible test taker but has a 2,3 average due to on time assignments,projects,participation, etc. He is an Eagle Scout, pole vaulter, won a Point of Lights award for volunteerism from Governor Bush, he has got a great college well-rounded portfolio going on however his test scores will always hold him back. In addition to his testing problems, in Florida you must pass the FCAT in order to receive a high school diploma , that is why we have Paul attend aprivate high school. Are there any colleges that utilize non written tets to assess kids? Also, do LD colleges such as Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida offer scholarships? Paul really wants to attend college, so I am sure that it will be our local community college… THere are tests there as well so we know we will have to have to have Paul take some core classes online to avoid him being in remedial classes forever and to keep the GPA up so as to avoid taking a post test like the CLAST. Any thoughts or help would b most appreciated.. I am an LD teacher and wish I knew of more ways to help kids like Paul become successful without alot of stress in high school and college. Help!!
I just happened upon this site in sreach of a college suitable for my 17 year old son who has been id w/ a LD. I started to read some of the comments, and like everything, you agree with some, and you don’t agree with some. I am going to go back to finish reading the rest of the comments, however! I do not believe that people how has been ID w/ LD are lookin g a free ride of any kind. But that are looking for a fair one. If all of the scholarships are desige w/ high GPA’s in mind (no pon intended)and my son’s mind and others w/LD are not eqipped for that ,but are gifted in other areas, than why should they not be included. Maybe have their own scholarship fund to compete w other people w/LD. Is there such a scholarship out there you know of? Please let me know, I am a single mother w/three children, and bearly receive child support from my EX, so every little bit helps, and my son does want to go to college. THANZ!!!
I am ld,and dyslexic I am an adult, I live in fl, and I want to go back to college and get a BA ( failed out yrs. back) I have compensated a lot since.
Money is what is holding me back, don’t want to take out student loans
looking for scholarships for adults, vs right out of highschool
any info would forever be apprecaited
Richard, I’ve also noticed the disturbing trend in the LD community that seems to believe that students with LD should receive privleges rather than accomodations. From both of our life experiences, I’m sure we can empathize with the motivations for this understandable sentiment, even if it isn’t rational. Whether they are diagnosed early and pathologized, or undiagnosed until higher education, there is a high probability that their academic difficulties have affected their self-image and identity development aversely, to some degree. This foments anger and frustration at the education system, where it often feels like the diagnosis should have been made earlier, and/or that educators are willfully blind to diagnosis and resistant to (especially non-standard) accomodations, due to the financial implications of acknowledging an LD. An unfortunate side-effect, however, is that people often feel they are owed reparations. Another is that the student internalizes their pathologization, and stops taking responsibility for making the requisite effort required of all students.
There is also an incredibly frustrating trend in students to self-diagnose, then ask a professor for accomodations, or seek a false (or weak) diagnosis of ADD for an amphetamine prescription. This undermines the efforts of legit ADD/LD students to gain the sympathy and cooperation of instructors in working with them so they can learn well and be assessed fairly. In this regard, faculty members seem much more able to spot lies than discern truth.
As a student who was repeatedly flagged as gifted during K-8, the possibility that I might have ADD/LD wasn’t even considered when I went from a straight A to a D student in middle school, as the methods of assessment changed. For example, I was placed in conceptual algebra in 1st and 3rd grades (I was the only student and the instructional style didn’t suit me), then again in standard algebra in 8th, then held back because, despite the fact that I got A’s on my tests, I neither showed my work or turned in homework. It frustrated me that I was struggling to meet a mediocre standard, and not striving to reach my potential. It wasn’t until I got detailed testing at 19 that it was discovered that despite my exceptional verbal, matrix, and abstract reasoning, I was well below average in the working memory index, in addition to having severe ADHD and dysgraphia.
During high school, I transferred to alternative independent study (reading, papers, weekly intensive oral exams, self-paced math), and graduated at 16. I went dirctly into the CA community college system, for 8 years, full-time. Since the majority of my problems relate to executive functioning (time management, organization, transitions) or my idiosyncratic learning style, the standard accomodations (time x1,5, notetaker, remedial instruction, etc) were useless, and the accomodations I required (coaching, one-on-one tutoring, alternative assessment) were considered personal in nature, and therefore not mandated by section 504 of the ADA. This has been the source of great personal expense, as has my protracted college career and inability to work full-time. As I am now considering Landmark College (46k a year) for two-years before even getting to a university, since CC is obviously not viable, I could really use some financial assistance.
In my opinion, as there are more and more people with ADD/LD who are aware of it than ever before, over time the more successful ones will begin to endow scholarships for LD students. What I think would be most appropriate is merit-based scholarships that require ADD/LD for eligibility, and assess merit in a more holistic fashion, incorporating motivation, drive, and extra-academic talents and ability. While it would be nice for the state or federal government to provide SOME, it’s likely the majority will have to be endowed privately. I also think that state K-12 systems should have the burden to at least administer a not-exceedingly-detailed (for cost) screening program to identify ADD/LD students early, and should be held liable for any expenses incurred by a student for accomodations not covered by the ADA that they are found to have been “reasonably able” to identify with their testing. (self-interest? *wink*) The argument for this latter program is that if ADD/LDs are identified early enough in a child’s education, especially in children with at least average cognitive ability, then their academic development should be able to be shaped and molded in such a way as to eliminate, or at least mitigate, discrepencies in assessment and ability deriving from the LD, thus saving the expense of non-ADA mandated accomodations.
Austin. Wow, what can I say? I agree with almost everything you say, and you say it beautifully.
Are you hopefull that things will move in this direction? I’m not hopeful that many will take a holistic view of much in our current culture.
I have a recent high school graduate that could benefit to help us cover from expense that it will take to cover for tutorial in all language and math subjects in order to be sucessful.
I have to more boys to follow him.
Check out the amazing progam at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville Ark. The Jones Learning Center is the most indepth program for an LD college student that I have ever seen. We searched all over the ocuntry for a program that would meet the needs of our Gifted/Ld son and this is it! If you have not heard about it, check it out. Our son will attend there next year as a freshman. The program is costly but they have a lot of different scholarships available.
is there a good site listing scholarship information for dyslexic high school seniors who are college bound?
thanks
I think you have to ask the college or university directly. My guess is that each one offers a different range of financial aid.
Ooooh, i posted this question before reading all of this. Sorry, let me ask a different question (s). Ok, so I have a daughter who is clinically diagnosed with dyslexia, has 2 deviations on the bell graph within her intelligence testing, visual, written, and oral expression disabilities, reading and writing fluency rates on the 5th grade level. So, as you can imagine, she works harder than most. That is the key phrase here. She is in a private, church affiliated, college-prep high school. Has taken 1 AP class and will take 2 or 3 more next year, her senior year. We have tried to get multiple accomodations for her just to help her take tests that would put her at equal with her non-LD peers. But, this i don’t believe is still possible. Her intelligence is, in a few areas, off the chart-the good end! So, we can see that she has great potential in life. She needs to spend more time and more energy just to compete with the children that God blessed with “normal” intelligence with. “Normal” meaning that way that teachers teach, they learn with somewhat minimal effort IN COMPARISON. So, when giving out academic scholarships, aren’t schools giving away money to some perceived effort? Isn’t it actually effort they are trying to reward with money? Isn’t a high GPA/SAT number actually perceived effort? IF this is the case, then my daughter should be considered along side them with different measures. She does work hard, and perhaps even harder. She will not be able to achieve the 1440 on her SAT, not achieve the 4.8 GPA, but her 1150 SAT and 3.4 GPA from her school with her disabilities (not student diagnosed) I would hope would get her in line for something. Scholarships for someone like her, whose effort is great would be a real motivator and a real leveler. Maybe she should be rewarded for her efforts like those with “normal” brains and their high scores. But, maybe I have misunderstood the scholarship purpose. If it is only based on financial need, then why are we talking about GPA’s and SAT’s?
thanks
Robin: great questions, all and I’m no expert, just another person with opinions.
Scholarships are given for many reasons: financial need, rewarding high grades, effort, or acheivement, or, social engineering as in trying to build a more diverse student body beyond what typical admissions policies might bring in.
My concern, as stated beautifully by Austin above, is that things will get generalized (they generally do) to: “I’m LD, I deserve support because of that.”
Want evidence of it? Have you heard about the number of parents who pay to have an LD label put on their kid so those kids, who are not LD, can have extended time on the SAT? Well, that goes on.
So, what I typically react to is folks wanting to make the simple equation: “I’m LD therefore I deserve support.”
You daughter’s situation is different in that, as you’ve stated, there’s an effort and participation piece to it and I would think that the way to build a “case” is to try to have her current teachers document that so that college admissions folks can see it.
If, for instance, Yale said we want her and we’ll change our admissions requirements to get her, would you be willing to pony up the tuition? Or, are you saying that if Yale wants her they have to pay her way or part of her way?
In other words, are you simply trying to get Yale to do the social engineering piece of admissions to diversify their student body with your daughter, or, are you saying that if your daughter gets in someplace (Yale or anyplace else) she deserves financial aid because of her LD, whether or not you can afford to send her there?
I’m all for diversifying student bodies and I don’t want your daughter penalized for being LD, but, again, there’s a difference between Yale admitting her and Yale giving her a free ride.
See my point?
Thanks for your comments, Richard. My main point here is if there are some scholarships for students who are legitimately LD, then I want my daughter to apply for any that suit her needs. Not everyone who goes to college gets a scholarship. “They” do give scholarships for all kinds of reasons: duck callers, certain races or ethnicities, etc. I just want to make sure we don’t miss any opportunities. I do think that offering scholarships to students who prove worthy, in spite of their LD, is a noble cause. It is always a shame when people muddy the waters when they try to cheat the system. This happens everywhere in all scenarios and therefore, in my honest opinion, should not even be brought up in legitimate conversations. It is sad though. I understand your point. My daughter will go to her college of choice from those she is accepted to. She and we, her parents, will figure out how to pay for it. If there are scholarships available to her, then great. I don’t feel like she is owed anything ever from anybody. Her parents are responsible until she becomes of age to take care of herself. I don’t think colleges owe her anything, just a chance, I hope. So, if anyone knows of any scholarships specific to dyslexia, assorted expression disabilities, I would appreciate the heads up. Thanks
I also believe that there should be more scholarships for students with learning disabilities. I have a son, who is dyslexic and dysgraphic, who has worked very hard in HS and as a result has been very sucessful. However, in order for him to continue being sucessful he needs several support services.The only schools that provide these services are very expensive. It would be nice if there was help to defray some of the cost. In addition, these students should be recognized for their efforts and hard work. Perhaps the parents of LD students should set up a fund that would provide scholarships for these students.
Who ever posted the original comment on scholarships for LD students obviously doesn’t have a learning disablity or know anyone who does. LD is something that has to be overcome by all diagnosed if they hope to further their education and they should be given all the help they can. I am going to be a senior in high school this year and I really working on my college search. I also have a learning disablity. Those offering scholarships based on Academic achievement look at the numbers. They should know that the SAT scores and GPA doesn’t always show how hard students work. I have As and Bs but it is because I work 10 times harder that students with similar grades. If a scholarship is to go to a student with a 3.5 GPA and one has LD and one does not the the student with LD is 9 times out of 10 more deserving. If the scholarship is based on financial need and you are choosing between an LD student and a none LD student with similar financial needs, then 9 times out of 10 the LD student will have more expenses. I agree with achievement scholarships for LD students and I can see how families with LD students would have very excessive expenses for higher education and be in need of financial aid.
Whoever posted the origional comment needs to get a life and stop worrying about what other peeople get help with. If this person were at all happy and content with his or her own life they would be happy other people could get financial help to better themselves through education no matter what they are getting scolarship for. Bottom line I agree that scolarships are about money and getting financial help more than help for the actual learning disorder or what ever reasion they are granted it but regardless be happy people are getting money for education not for having babies out of wed lock, or for not working and taking advantage of welfare and medicare. You should really search inside yourself and find out why you are so unhappy you cannot be happy for other people.
I have a son with an anxiety disorder. In order for him to have a normal experience in HS he had to take medication. the meds caused him to have poor performance because it really calmed him and he has become relaxed in follow through. He must have help even in college. But we have had difficulty finding any type of scholarship that would help him get through college.
He’s a very musically talented young man, creates music, plays guitar like I’ve never seen before…and he has a very poor gpa. I am sad…I cant do anything for him financially. and I am scared for him. Where are the scholarships for those with emotional disorders?
Ahhh! Jld has brought up a subject that hasn’t been touched yet…the different forms of giftedness. If you belive Gardner, there are many forms of giftedness:
Linguistic intelligence (“word smart”):
Logical-mathematical intelligence (“number/reasoning smart”)
Spatial intelligence (“picture smart”)
Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence (“body smart”)
Musical intelligence (“music smart”)
Interpersonal intelligence (“people smart”)
Intrapersonal intelligence (“self smart”)
Naturalist intelligence (“nature smart”)
There is a lot of controversy over these ideas, but in my 15 years of experience as a teacher, I have seen shining examples of them all and I wish each could be acknowledged with a scholarship competition.
Look at #4…the physical giftedness….. Every university in the country that has a football team is giving out scholarships for that one! No SATs or ACTs required. So, just because a person is physically gifted, they should be offered a scholarship?
My daughter is musically gifted: she plays piano, sings, plays in the percussion pit of the second best marching band in the state, is the soprano section leader of one of the premier Illinois High School Choirs, as well as section leader of her soprano Madrigal singers, too…(and she’s just a junior.) She is in honors and AP classes and thinks she’s a…failure. Why? Because she can’t keep up more than a 3.20 average due to her OCD/ADD.
We can’t afford her college schooling and have told her she will have to take out student loans. She wants to go into music education and is highly recommended by her HS music faculty. BUT….her SAT’s and ACT’s are not nearly as high as most schools want because of her OCD. (We have never requested accommodations because she was too embarassed.) So, we don’t have a shot at the those big sports or acedemic scholarships.
Soooo….here’s the big question…Why do we give scholarships to kids who are great running backs, even though they have very little hope of doing anything with their education, but
we can’t give scholarships to kids who are great musicians, or mathemeticians, or writers, etc…kids who have much greater hopes of achieving wonderful things at school but can’t hit those high ACT scores either because of LD’s?
I am the Community Scholarship Administrator for the LEAD (Learning and Educating About Disabilities)Foundation. As our mission is to support and educate individuals and families dealing with learning disabilities and AD/HD, it is only natural that we should choose to offer scholarships to students in Colorado with learning disabilities. These students often receive little or no recognition for tremendous amounts of hard work.
There is a long list of successful adults with learning disabilities who have graduated from college and gone on to meaningful professions; including doctors, lawyers, teachers, politicians, business administrators, and so on. They have overcome the obstacles of a “traditional” learning environment” and should be applauded.
There are many scholarships available to a variety of people who have overcome obstacles…..epilepsy, cancer survivors, the hearing and visually impaired. LD is another obstacle that needs to be recognized, and those people who have learned to overcome their LD through self-knowledge, self advocacy and hard work and have been a role model to others with learning disabilities, also deserve recognition. Students with LD and AD/HD often test poorly on college entrance exams, but are still intelligent, hard working and deserving students.
There needs to be more scholarships that look past test scores. Any non-profit that is willing to provide funds for a scholarship for an LD student will expect appropriate documentation of a disability.
Any high school senior who is a Colorado resident with a documented learning disability or AD/HD may find an application for the LEAD Foundation Community Scholarship at
www.leadcolorado.org. I very much wish we could provide more scholarships for students with LD and AD/HD across the country.
Salle: how do you choose between all the people who apply? What are the criteria for awarding a scholarship?
The ideal candidate for the LEAD Foundation community scholarship is a student who has faced the challenges of having a learning disability, understands the importance of self-advocacy and self-knowledge in overcoming these challenges, works to educate and help others understand the challenges of having a learning disability, and will serve as a role model for others with learning disabilities. Letters of recommendation from teachers and/or other appropriate professionals, answers to essay questions, and documentation of a disability help us determine the most qualified candidate. We look at G.P.A’s but not at college entrance exam scores.
The criteria is based on students who have gone through the LEAD (Learning and Educating About Disabilities) program at a local high school. LEAD is a four year accredited class that teaches self-knowledge and self advocacy to students with learning disabilities and AD/HD. LEAD students mentor younger students at elementary schools who have learning disabilities. They also travel across the state and the country giving formal presentations on the social, academic and emotional aspects of having a learning disability. They have presented at LDA conferences in New York, Washington D.C., Denver, Atlanta and Florida as well as schools in California and North Carolina. LEAD students are exempt from this particular scholarship as we hope to reward a hard working student who does not have the advantages of LEAD.
My son attends community college with a 100% scholarship (includes books) from the Florida Vocational Rehab. He has ADHD, plus LD in Math and Language, plus another disability called Dysgraphia. He’s bright and makes average grades in low classes. We own our own business and on paper we look pretty wealthy, but truly live on a very tight budget. I have a 5-year old car and discount shop for anything we need. If it weren’t for the FL Voc Rehab, our sons college would be very difficult for us. He has no idea of what he wants to do in the future, is good with mechanics and computers, but refuses to consider these as careers. It’s frustrating as the parent to see free college and him with no direction. I wish for all of you students to get the big picture and attain your goals. A clear goal makes hard work more tolerable when you have a dream to reach for.
My daughter is attending a Community College at this time and will be transfering to a 4 year University in the Fall of 2007. We need information on scholarships available for students with epilepsy. She has had epilepsy since age 12 and does really well with it. Please let me know what is available to apply for. Donnie Ricketts
Donnie:
Pfizer offers a one year, $3000.00 scholarship to 25 students with epilepsy. Go to
www.epilepsy-scholarship.com/
Good Luck.
Scholarships to college are primarily based on GPA and SAT scores. Students with disabilities often have an obvious disadvantage in meeting the standards set to receive college scholarships. Does this mean then in addition to the academic struggle to succeed they should also have a built-in financial struggle? Many students with disabilities are already discouraged enough to end their education after High School. We as a society can not afford not to encourage learning disabled thinkers to share their ideas and vision . We reward althetes…We have no shortage of them on college campuses receiving college scholarships.
I’m a 40 year old mother of 3 4.0 GPA teenagers. My parents are both college professors, my bro a famous musician, a former TAG student. Ok, get this. I have recently diagnosed ADHD. Only after many severe car accidents, bombing out of college 2 times, a life time of high-risk behavior, frustration, anxiety, divorce.
Not being able to retain information, I could never really learn any skill. I have the H (hyperactivity) which I used to work, work, work. Cleaning, painting, as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t retain or stick w/learning. I alienated much of my family & friends. Not until I was pennyless could I recieve help. Counseling, (the diaganosis at 40) Concerta. I’ve been reborn! I CAN & WANT to be a Physical Therapy Assistant! Need $. I’m a 4.O student too! Do you see? My life had to fall apart to get this. I have a lifetime of learning to make up for, but have to take care of my kids working a non-skilled job.
Do you think I deserve help? Hey many ADHD kids grow up and end up in prison, killed in car recks, HIV, depression.
Help is out there. Help is prevention. Help is money. No one wants to fail.
Laura, I saw this online and it may be of interest to you. It’s aid specifically for adults with AD/HD: www.lifewithadhd.com There’s info on a scholarship from Eli Lilly.
Why are colleges for dyslexic adults or (LD)students with financial aid or scholarships or grants so hard to find?
hi?I’m Uyanga.I’m from in Mongolia.I’m a junior.I’m 18.So i want to study in USA scholarship.what should i do first?pelease tell me!I want to learn more.
I was stunned at the comment that asking for a scholarship is fishy?
If a scholarship request for a LD person is fishy then expecting one for being able to throw a football isn’t? An LD person has expensive technology needs etc. It is not unreasonable to reward a person who is motivated and ernest to achieve. LD persons have had to struggle through most of the educational process. Ones attempting to go to college are hard working. They have to be. Studies have shown that LD students are more likely to work hard. I would be thrilled see funds go to a C average student who is going to work hard. Too many people treat college and university as a 2-4 yr party. LD persons can’t.
Well, I’m the person who made the remark and I stand by it. I’m not saying that no person with a learning disability should get a scholarship, I’m saying that having a learning disability should not be the sole reason for making a scholarship award.
I don’t like the way many athletic scholarships are awarded either so I’m not just singling out people with LD.
The idea is to allow the great football player who could otherwise not afford to go to college a way to go, not just award tuition money to a great football player who otherwise has the recources to pay the tuition.
Same with the person with a learning disability: just being LD isn’t enough in my mind, there also ought to be financial need. Not all people who are LD can’t afford to go to college.
The other related isssue is admissions requirements and I’ve not heard of scholarships changing those things. If a person with LD can’t meet Yale’s admissions requirements and also can’t afford to go, how is giving them a scholarship going to help? They can now afford to go to a school they can’t get into, and, if allowed, in, may not make it through.
My point is that just tossing money at folks who are LD or black or great athletes solely because of their one, distinquishiing characteristic isn’t a great idea.
And, folks with LD can and do party and flunk out of school, just like folks without LD.
i have a huge issue with that comment! that was a very bold statement, needless to say you probably dont have a dissability, well let me tell you that I have ADD, ADHA, bipolar depression, OCD, And an autoimmune disease called lupus. I have recieved no scholorships and no grats there fore I will never be able to attend college. You try and do it!
Angela and Erika: Actually, I do have a disability, a learning disability. If you browse around this web site you’ll find that most of the personal essays written about having a learning disability were written by me. If you browse around the web in general you’ll find my name all over the place, generally on articles dealing with learning disabilities. I’ve been consulting in this area for well over 20 years.
The statement I made is a bold statement and not a popular one. But, I think there is an epidemic, in and outside of the LD community of something that Richard LaVoie calls “learned helplessness” and which I call “professional victimhood.” Whether or not you or people you know abuse the label “LD,” it is abused and used to get accommodations and support where it isn’t needed.
There is a difference between academic support and financial support. If one can’t get into college for academic reasons, tossing money at the situation doesn’t help that. If one needs financial aid, that’s a different matter and both scholarships and loans can make that happen.
I can easily see using a learning disability to waive a Spanish class or get support to pay for a tutor or a note-taker, but I can’t see where having a learning disability alone qualifies one for a financial aid-type scholarship.
I am a mother of a son with Dysgraphia who will be graduating this year. It is not so much that I think “we” have a right to scholarship funds but that it would be a great relief to have funds available. Because of my son’s learning disability we have paid countless tutors while in public school and eventually in high school had to resort to costly small private institutions. On top of private schooling and tutoring there is the costs incurred with testing for learning disabilities and getting it diagnosed so you know how to proceed with your child’s education. Whether it was SYLVAN LEARNING CENTERS or lap tops for class assignments there have been many expenses incurred over the years and will most likely continue through college. Now, my son, Tyler has been a mentor, a role model and other things to his schools but never an over achiever in academics, so what makes it fair “just because” some kids have an easier time of it learning in high school to be HANDED a scholarship, verses someone like my son who has contributed in other ways not to be eligible to even apply for some form of scholarship. When a child receives a scholarship it is the word that brings satisfaction to the family. The parents because it is financial aid of some form and to the kid it is the word scholarship that brings them a feeling of worth to some degree…even if it is a learning disability scholarship. They feel better about wanting to go to college after all the expenses that have incurred on their behalf over the years.
There are many reasons folks get help, why not encourage those who might not continue to struggle academically and possibly financially because of the academics to move forward in the education process. Maybe guideline expectations for scholarships should be rewritten so that they are more accessible by all who work hard, instead of such intense worth being put on a GPA! It is a discrimination in “my book”, one that we have lived with for years now in the education process. If I ran a college I would much rather accept a hard working student with a learning disability scholarship that was a role model in the high school years than some kid with an over achiever scholarship whose character may be questionable. Again, there are so many reasons out there that woman and men alike get scholarships, some because they are in pageants and they win on beauty and go to college, some because they are of a certain ethnic background, why, why not give a scholarship for someone working hard at education. Maybe they can be a teacher one day and work with kids with disabilities or like my son, become a Pastor and give back a little of what they have been given! If politicians can get countless dollars in funding to run for office, if we can give aid to foreign countries, if we can pay movie stars incredible amounts of money to act in a movie…than for god sakes what is so wrong with a fund or two to help folks make their goals attainable! Thanks for listening.
Michelle,
I agree with almost everything you say. But, having a learning disability doesn’t mean that one is a hard worker. I’d award a scholarship in a minute to someone who had a learning disability AND was a hard worker AND who could handle college-level work AND who showed a need for support.
My argument is that having a learning disability alone ought not qualify one for a scholarship. And, having a learning disability AND working hard isn’t enough either. One has to be able to handle the college-level work at the school one wants to get into as well and this is not always the case.
So what if I get a scholarship to to go a school that’s too hard for me and doesn’t have adequate support services to keep me enrolled. I’ll flunk out in my first year.
Richard,
The problem with your argument is you are categorizing the Learning Disabled into a single group of those whom are failing. There are such cases however which a LD is defined as a deficit of one attribute of intelligence while another may be gifted. For instance, you may have a person with LD whom learns information more slowly than others, however once they have learned that information or process are much more adept at applying it.
Case in point, intelligence can not be measured purely by academics and testing. The real proof is in the certain areas which one thrives. If an LD child whom thrives on computational sciences but lacks in all other areas (because of difficiencies in reading or writing) gets a scholarship in the cooresponding science field, than I think the right scholarship has gone to the right candidate.
Chris: I agree with your statement about people with LD being multi-faceted; weak in some areas and strong in others. What I’m not clear on is what that has to do with getting scholarships. Are you saying that a person with LD might receive a scholarship based on academic merit in his or her strong area? If so, of course, that’s what I’m arguing for. That’s the way many academic scholarships are given. Let me know if I’m misunderstanding you. Thanks.
Richard, Thank you for your reply. I guess what I can say here is that when you have a disability it is good to know and work within your limits. By being realistic my son has chosen a very small and again private institution. My son realizes that a college like Baylor or University of Texas would not be be a wise choice for his success. He is not willing to start of his higher education by setting himself up for failure. We have also been very honest with the school administration about his disability and possible accommodations.
I agree with you, just because one has a disability does not mean they are a hard worker. However “if” they show the grades and work to get into a college of any sort then it would be nice for scholarship options to be available for merits other than GPA or SAT achievement
Richard, there are a lot of students without learning disabilities that attempt college and find out that they are unable to handle it, some with scholarships. The thought here is having resources in place to make the goals attainable and then it is up to the student to attain them.
It may be a risk for “ANY” student any way you look at it. It is not up to society to prejudge who will rise to the challenge but up to society to have whatever resources that can be created in place to help “all’ those eager to attempt the challenge! =)
Thanks again for listening!
Michelle,
Well said. Society ought not pre-judge kids with LD as unable to achieve in college. But, I would also argue that society ought not pre-judge these same kids in any other way, including that they can do well in college if just allowed in.
Here’s another stab at what makes me uncomfortable with this:
I’m LD but I would never want my LD to be my defining characteristic, even in an academic context. If I were in a position to get a scholarship, I’d want the award for my creativity or originality, not a label given to an aspect of my learning profile that has traditionally been called a disability.
If you think of a scholarship as an award given for outstanding achievement, it’s the achievement, not the fact that the person was LD that gets the award. Yes, it’s meaningful that that a person with LD achieved something but singling out “LD” as the reason for the scholarship seems to leave out the achievement.
As you say, LD AND hard work = scholarship.
But then we go back to splitting hairs on how to define hard work and one person’s hard work is another person’s easy work. Of course, for people with LD most kinds of academic work are hard so when we actually do the work, it’s an achievement. But, somehow this rings false to me as a reason for an award.
If I ever got recognition for academic work, I’d want to get it relative to my peers, not because I achieved more than some think is possible for someone with LD. Like with Stephen Hawking, I want the disability to be an afterthought, not my defining characteristic.
Thank you for posting and listening. It’s a fascinating discussion that I’ve been having for many years, here and elsewhere.
ARKANSAS – Consider this. I have a Daughter that qualified and received an ARKANSAS ACADEMIC CHALLENGE SCHOLARSHIP (AACS) to attend the University of Arkansas. This $1300.00 per semester was based on our family income and her High School academic performance. This was a great relief to know that a small protion of her continuing education would be covered (about 1/5th of the costs).
The problem with this type scholarship is they do not take into consideration young people with LD’s. My Daughter suffers from ADHD and has to put more than twice as much time into a “B” as a non LD student would to get the same grade. The ARKANSAS CATCH – To continue receiveing the scholarship, the student must complete 30 credit hours each year (15 per semester) AND maintain a 2.75.
My Daughter sucessfully juggled lightweight courses with hard courses and was able to maintain the 2.75 until the last semester of her sopohomore year. Her couses increased in difficulty and she ended up with a 2.65. For this effort, she lost her support.
I believe the biggest system flaw is there is no relief for financially based scholarships if the LD student cannot keep up with the expectations of the non-LD students. There just seems to be something wrong with that formula.
We were not looking for a free ride for our Daughter. We were just looking for some assistance. I do know my Daughter does have something to offer this world in the future. Many LD students have doors closed in their face. They can succeed, just not at the level of many non-LD students.
We are VERY GRATEFUL for the finiancial assistance my daughter received from the State of Arkansas. We are obviously disappointed the State does not see the difference. If she were allowed to take 12 hours per semester she would have had no problem keeping the State award. It comes down to UNDERSTANDING and RECOGNIZING the students with LD’s have something to offer, but they are fighting a HUGE uphill battle.
We will not let her down. We will find a way to cover the costs. Maybe someday, those controlling the awards will recognize the playing field is not level. ARKANSAS (of all State) needs its youth to continue their education. They are the future of our State.
Reggie: Thanks for posting this, it’s exactly the kind of situation I’m trying to put into sharper relief.
It seems to me that you are saying that students with learning disabilities who apply for scholarships and are competing with non-LD students need to have their LD taken into account in the award process.
How would this work, exactly? Is there a formula to determine how fewer classes your daughter would need to take to make up for her ADD? This is where I think this entire area is a slippery slope as all people with learning issues, classifiable or not, are different. Some might not benefit at all from fewer classes and more time.
There is one thing that seems to be missing from this debate. It seems that most of the argument centers around how hard people work, or how deserving they are. What make you think that universities grant scholarships based on either of these. A commenter recently noted scholarships fro those that are athletically gifted. They don’t give these scholarships because the students “deserve’ them )although they might, nor because they work hare (although they most likely do). Universities give these and other scholarships because it benefits the university in some way. All the arguments about adults having to work, or putting in more time are meaningless. That is not what decides scholarships. Also, before anyone attacks me on the basis of my personal experience, I have two LD kids. The oldest just graduated from law school. I got my education as a working adult, and yes it was hard, both financially and in terms of time for family and other things. As long as the argument is focused on what students “deserve”, it will go nowhere. Shift the discussion to how LD students will benefit the university, and you might make some progress.
My son is a rising senior who achieved a 1480 SAT and a 3.6 weighted GPA (3.5 unweighted. from a very academically stringent private school.) He is an athlete who has played sports all 3 seasons throughout highschool and hopes to run track in college. He works as an Aid helping learning diabled students in religous school, and is ceritfied as a class 8 soccer coach. He spends inordinate amounts of time on homework, as he has dysgraphia and ADD, and some social anxiety as well. My son works very hard on his studies and his grades, which, while good are not great. He has never been recognized for his efforts in his very academic private school. He has never received a prize or aard for his achievemnt or hard work. Most colleges which require SATs in the 1480 range also want 3.8 to 5.0 weighted GPAs. We believe he would do well in an Ivy League environment, as he is quite intellectual and motivated. The question is whether he should include in h is application the fact that he has had to work twice as hard as the other brillant kids in his grade to get a GPA, which doesn’t reflect the level of understanding he has in his courses or the time and effort he expended. Is there any college admissions officer out there who could shed light on whether he should explain just how difficult it is to achieve all that he has achieved, despite that his GPA isn’t quite high enough. We don’t want him to appear as he is making excuses for himself and using his disability as a crutch. Yet explaining his disability would explain why he hasn’t excelled in school academically( Not that a B+ average is bad.) and socillay (He has avoided school clubs or activities which rely in part upon social skills. Clearly, he will be accepted to college, but we don’t want to damage his chances at a 1st or 2nd tier college which may not want a LD student using up their resources. I can’t help but believe that there are some enlighted admissions officers who would embrace a student, like my son, if they only knew what it took to achieve all that he has. Perhaps the colleges don’t want to announce it, as they might be bombarded with sobb stories and loads of excuses for poor grades and board scores. Anyone out there have the inside scoop?
I am a High schooler with A.D.H.D and my G.p.a is really low because of it which Eliminate most scholarships for me because of my learning disability I learn Much differently but many high schools don’t recognize that mine sure doesn’t
I don’t believe there is anything wrong with getting any monetary support for college if you have a LD. My husband has had LDS all his life. Yes his mother could have received disability monies for him as a child but she refused to get it and also did not want him to be stigmatized. She also refused to put him in special ed because of the same reason. He did receive speech therapy up until his freshman yr in High School, but then it stopped because they said he was fine. All through High school he struggled and the education system didn’t help they just passed him through. After High School he tried to go into the army but he couldn’t passed the test. He even took the test 3 times. When He entered into college, he got f’s and D’s and then decided to quit because he was so fustrated. It wasn’t until last year that he finally decided to be tested for any LDs and finally received any help through the student service department. He now is doing better, even though he still struggles. It is getting to the point where he won’t be able to work because the class load is going to require too much time. We are now faced with trying to make it financially because he has already cut back tremendously from his 9 dollar an hour paying job.
I think that there should be some grants and awards out there to help students such as my husband. I mean, I see soo many college students get soo much money just because their parents don’t make enough or they are children of immigrants or because their family consist of more than 2 people. I also couldn’t believe that EOPS
(a program at our community college to help educationally challenged and low income students) deny my husband any benefits when he is at an educational disadvantage. I see students who are immigrants from all countries and students who have had drug addictions get to be qualified for EOPS and grants so why shouldn’t my husband and students in the same situation not be considered for monetary help. Not to mention that he was working 37 hrs a week plus taking 3 classes(10units) last spring semester, and then financial aid awarded him work study. Why should he have to work more on top of his already many work hours and go to school full time with him having learning disabilities?
If you (the writer of this topic above)
have learning disabilities why wouldn’t you want help? As someone else said in there response, if a someone is gifted(academic or sports) they have a chance to earn a free ride to college, why should they have better privilages?Because they are so called “Smarter.”
The reason I came across this webpage was because I did a search for “scholarships for students with learning disabilities. I think there is a gray line to cross regarding money for students with disabilites. It is called short-term memory processing deficit. This was diagnosed late in his Sophmore year of high school. Therefore, his grade point average is not high enough for most scholarships. He needs extra accommodations and assistance which many colleges do not offer. My son wants to be an engineer. WE have found a school that can accommodate everything he needs and has smaller class sizes. The problem we are having is that it is $38,000 a year compared to the Public University at $11,500 per year. So, my point is that there should be some kind of assistance when it comes to services not being offered. Or, all colleges should be required to offer services for students with disabilities. This would mean that they would have to cover every disability out there. So, why wouldn’t there be more scholarships out there based on the well-rounded individiual. Did I mention, my son made Eagle Scout at age 15 without any accommodations. He’s also a 3rd year Camp Counselor. So, although he does not have a great grade point average, he is a great person who deserves a chance to go to a good college that can accommodate him. We cannot afford his tuition at the best college for him. So, I hope we can find help somewhere. He also student teaches at his high school for engineering classes. What a great kid.
Michele, great that you found the right school. Do they offer financial aide for your son and you? If you quality for financial aid you should be able to get it in spite of his disability.
Ironically enough I have come upon this discussion while searching for scholarships related to my learning disabilities. I understand why at first glance monetary support for students with learning disabilities may not make logical sence.
However, most scholarships I have found are awarded to students on the bases of their merit with respect to their learning disabilities. There are trials of self advocasy, internalized/institutional/interpersonal discrimination, and self image that deserve to be comended. There is a characteristic experience of hopelessness that is typical to both LD students and minorities. I am a hispanic women in the sciences with dislexia and ADD. I would go so far as to say that I am more deserving of a scholarship because of my LD status than my gender or ethnicity. I have never cried because of my gender or ethnicity. While they will inevitably affect my success, the impact they have on individuals is recognized. There are stronger programs in place (however faulty) to adress their importance. Society would frown on someone telling me that my gender and ethnicity are not real. As an LD student people with no background knowledge or experience feel entitled to explain my disorder to me -a feat that I still don’t pretend to have mastered. This in turn affects policy decisions and creates internal confussion.
I want to tranfer to an institution where I can focus more on my studies and less on self advocacy. As a student I don’t think it is too much to ask for a scholarship that will allow me to get the support I need to narrow the gap between my potential and my actual performance. I’ve always assumed that was the purpose of scholarships.
Cristina: Are you talking about financial aid or a scholarship?
Look up “scholarship” in the dictionary. Here’s how my dictionary defines it:
“a grant or payment made to support a student’s education, awarded on the basis of academic or other achievement.”
Are you saying that folks with LD are all deserving of scholarships because they have LD? If so, in what way does that fit the idea that scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic achievement?
Anyone can apply for financial aid to help them pay for school. However, even if they got the financial aid, that doesn’t mean they can get in and stay in. A scholarship awarded for academic achievement has built into it the notion that the student getting it can get into that college and probably say in.
If the college you want to go to to support your LD and ADD is too expensive but you do have the grades to get in and the skills to say in, it would seem to me that financial aid is what is needed.
Some of the worlds greatest minds are that of those inflicted with LD’s exp Einstein,newton just to name a few.For a person to be classified with a learning disability they must have at least an average IQ. Scientific research has shown that infact most people with LD’s have a higher percentage of having an above average IQ compared to people who dont have an LD.Why dont you ponder that for a while.
Jesse: Okay, now that I’ve pondered it, what does it have to do with scholarships for students with learning disabilities?
A high IQ does not equal success in college (or life).
First of all I am a student in college getting my degree in Special Education because I have special needs( LD and ADHD) and I was so discouraged by the way the school systems treated me! I feel that scholarships would encourage children who probably would not go to college to at least try. I also think it would boost some self esteem in these children beacuse they have a lot of difficulty exceling at academics,if they were to recieve a scholarship it would allow them to feel more like their peers and motivate them to go to college. I also would like to say I think it would be great for some one like me who has had 19 hours of zero level courses, these classes are not free I just don’t get any credit for them! This has been a lot of money out of my pocket because the school systems didn’t feel that my disability was a big deal and because kids like me don’t go to college. I do not feel that scholarships should just be handed out though based on diagnosis!
Brandi, thank you for taking the time to comment here. I appreciate your support of my idea.
I think it undermines those of us who have worked hard in spite of our LD and have had to overcome obstacles to have the label alone open doors.
The label is one part of the equation, the other part is doing the work and being ready and capable of doing the work in college. Sounds like you’ve done the work, are capable, and need support to go the last mile. I hope you get it.
Let’s be serious here, Richard. People looking for scholarships are not people whose parents can easily afford $40,000 in tuition. It’s the flat out truth. People look for scholarships because they need them, or it would at least really help them.
Applying for scholarships itself requires a lot of time and hard work, which no rich kid would endure just for the fun of it. People who seek scholarships usually need them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t look for them.
I agree to some extent, that people shouldn’t just get money because they have an LD label. But I don’t think that’s an issue. I resent the fact that you assume scholarship-seeking LD students (or many of them) just want easy cash even if they don’t deserve it.
I believe there is a wider problem, characterized by your statements, going on here. I’ve been the victim of people like you, Richard, who think I just special treatment. It’s insulting.
I think there is an epidemic of disrespect and disregard for those with learning disabilities. You should spend your time worrying about actual problems that face LD students, instead of whining about what you think they don’t deserve.
Katie,
Sorry to make you mad, it was not my intention.
I’m an LD adult and have consulted in this area for over 25 years.
“I agree to some extent, that people shouldn’t just get money because they have an LD label. But I don’t think that’s an issue”
I do.
That’s my entire point. The label alone does not get you the scholarship.
I’m not against scholarships for folks with LD, I’m against scholarships for folks who’s sole purpose for thinking they deserve one is the label.
I’m not victimizing you at all, just expressing my opinion.
“You should spend your time worrying about actual problems that face LD students, instead of whining about what you think they don’t deserve.”
I think learned helplessness and people who turn themselves into victims is a legit social issue that bears discussion. It’s part of the larger disabilities culture and surely part of the LD culture.
I host this web site, have done it for over ten years, have consulted with hundreds of schools all over the world, and am a respected and admired and successful LD adult who has changed the lives of thousands of other LD students and adults.
I doubt anyone who knows me would say that I disrespect LD students or adults or hasn’t contributed more than most to make the lives of all LD students and adults better.
You say ‘What is it about having a learning disability qualifies you for a free ride to college?’
I dont see it as a ‘Free ride’ as you put it, it is mearly a way to enable ALL peaople with disabilities including LD to compete on an equail par and have the same oppunities as the non disabled.
How does giving scholarship money solely on the basis of disability level the playing field? If I as a non-disabled person in the same financial situation as a dyslexic student, do not qualify, how is that leveling the field?
Isn’t it just tilting it in another direction?
If someone, some company wants to designate a restricted gift for the college education of a hard-working deserving person with dyslexia I have no problem with that. In fact that’d be pretty cool, but I really disagree with the assumption of entitlement based on disability.
Thanks Sandy, you made my point better than I did.
The idea of using social engineering to make a more heterogeneous environment in a particular college (as in Affirmative Action) is well intended but it doesn’t work unless the student is capable of doing college level work. An African American student who gets into college because of quotas still needs to do the work once he or she is admitted.
The same holds true of people with learning disabilities. If a college wants a more heterogeneous mix of learning styles I applaud them for wanting this and for bending to make it happen. But the students they admit have to be able to do the work.
Going back to your point, admitting someone on the basis of disability alone, or even as the top of a list of attributes does not insure that the person will be able to handle the work at the school.
So, social engineering with the good intentions of building a more heterogeneous student body is problematic.
Mixing the money issue into all of this seems odd to me and goes back to your point of entitlement based on disability, I just don’t see it.
When I graduated high school you could have tossed a full scholarship to Harvard at me but I still would have flunked out. It wasn’t the money, it was my readiness to do college level work. Had I been ready and gotten into Harvard on my grades and personality (joke) I can’t see how my learning disability entitled me to a scholarship. I would have needed financial aid to go there, but so do many Harvard students and those who qualify get it.
Thanks Sandy.
Rich,
“Had I been ready and gotten into Harvard on my grades and personality (joke) I can’t see how my learning disability entitled me to a scholarship.”
Exactly.
When I’ve read through some of the comments in this thread (by people with learning disabilities) one of the things that makes sense to me or at least what I hear as an unstated theme, is people want some recognition of having worked so damn hard to get to where they’ve gotten. I would guess that some feel they’ve had to work harder than others because of their reading and writing challenges. Probably true and it probably would feel pretty good to get some recognition (if deserved) for the obstacles overcome. Being a person with the somewhat “hidden disability” might bring about those feelings (and a whole lot other stronger ones!
Recognition yes, automatic money, no. Like I said before, if some benevolent person or group wants to donate money only for a dyslexic student, excellent and that’s their right.
When you think about that scenario though, the deciders of who gets the scholarship would then look at other factors (hopefully including who would be able to handle the school in question successfully).
My son, Robert E. Agerton is attending The Baptist College of Flordia and studeing to become a Youth Pastor. We, his parents are seeking scholarship money for him to do so. Robert’s father has lost his job due to his health and the little job he is able to do is not enough needed to help see Robert’s dream come true. We borrowed from Sallie Mae for the Winter Term but need help for next school year and years to come. We need any and all advice you can give. Robert was put in the LD program in grammar school when he was in second grade.
Thank you for you time and help.
I work as a Secretary at Bay Minette Intermediate School.
Deborah C. Agerton
Bay Minette, Alabama
But yet, we will give scholarships and financial aid to foreign people. Yes, I think there is nothing wrong with giving a person who had or has a LD money, better to give out money to OUR OWN people. We give a foreign person money just because they are foreign. Then they take our jobs. God, Americans are so stupid.
Collette: I’m not sure that schools give any more scholarships to foreign students than then to do American students. Do you have a source for that statistic?
Scholarships are awards, generally given for exhibiting academic excellence. My guess is that students who get such awards have demonstrated as much.
The point of this post was and still is, should being LD be the sole or most important criteria in awarding a scholarship. I think not.
I have struggled for the last 10 years trying to find a school just to teach my son. Being dyslexic and in a small town with little choices, I placed him in private schools. I have paid dearly for this service. When he started high school my troubles truly began, he is no where near he needs to be in his academics to be prepared for college. His dream has been to go to Wyotech for Diesel-Auto Mechanic training in which he can succeed. He has already a strong start in the subject. The problem lies within his high school. He may not have enough help from the school to even graduate. If he doesn’t then he may not be given the chance to apply for grants for this school. I have worked double shifts for most of his life to keep him in these private schools to get the help he needs and now is seems it has been for nothing. My job will not even touch the tuition at Wyotech and his dreams will go up in smoke.
I was just viewing the questions and comments on college admissions,acceptance and resources and scholarships and I’m on both ends of the spectrum wwhen it comes to LD.I Great news for all those parents,spouses educators and siblings. Please purchase THE PRINCETON REVIEW book-”The K&W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities or ADHD.This book will help you find the right college/universities for your love ones, it will also tell you which ones accept GED’s and which ones do not.What I may tell you is that one may look for a Ivy League education right away. In New York we have a wonderful educational system called CUNY and SUNY.One may chose to go to a community college in order to boost up their Grade point average,obtain full financial aide and LD support. then transfer to The ivy league other colleges of your choice.Check which community colleges have a partnership/Alliance with other universities/colleges this will make the transition smooth.this I find is very crucial the community college I’ve graduated from has a partnership with all of the Ivy League schools in the US and abroad.Did you know that Harvard,Columbia,NYU and the others have a LD division in their campus’s! there hop for all who needs it.
Richard,
There are so many scholarships out there for so many reasons. The one my job offers is only beneficiary for majors that enable me to promote myself at work, so that will not work. I study every day, have perfect attendance at my community college, and almost never go out. Because I have ADD, my grades are low.I have been to the tutor to receive help, but most of those tutors do not understand calc. based physics or take too much time trying to figure out how to work the problems. I have little time on my hands because it takes me forever to actually sit down to do homework and read my books. My comprehension is terrible and it is hard to focus for me, so I am usually at school most of the time to study where there are no distractions. I need a scholarship, but how can I ever receive one with the burden I carry of having ADD. I have much less time to volunteer, join a club, be recognized as a leader, like other people. There are hardly any scholarships out there for me, and why?- because I work my butt off every day? You think it is right for people to earn a scholarship because of the brain they were born with? Why not have scholarships for those who work hard and put the effort?
TJ: If you got a full scholarship to any school you wanted to attend, in what way would that help you do the reading or the math to stay in school?
I’m not sure what a scholarship has to do with the difficulty you’re having with school. Please explain.
If you have to ask this question, you have obviously never had a child who has struggled 6 times harder his whole life, than everyone else, just to get a “C”. My son has ADD and has been in a private collage for 4 years. We hope he will be a senior next year. The only reason he is in a private collage out of state, is that they don’t teach fashion design, in any Arizona collages, and he wanted to go to an accreted 4 year collage. Also due to the stigma that goes with having a learning disability, and his absolute aversion to taking any kind of drugs, he has made it this far with out any extra help, and without anyone knowing about his ADD. He is the first person in my family to even graduate from high school, let alone go to collage. This is not because we are stupid or lazy, but due to health and financial reasons. And believe me this has not been a free ride for him, when he graduates, he will be in debt for years. He is unable to work and go to school full time. Because of the ridicules amounts of work this school assigns, and the students have to sign a contract, stating they will work no more than 5 hours a week. But with his learning disability, he more often than not stays up all night doing homework. He has no social life and he is away from his family. I am a 2 time cancer survivor (cervical and thyroid) and have just finished going through a very difficult divorce. Since my son’s stepfather is no longer willing to cosign any student loans, and I have been out of work dealing with my health issues, I can not cosign for him either. I lost both of my parents to cancer when I was in my early 20’s, and my only other child is in the navy, currently stationed in Italy. So there is no one else to help. We have checked into several other accredited colleges, both in the United States and in Europe, to see if we can find a way he can financially finish his senior year, and get his degree. But I’m sure you know that his GPA is not going to get him any of the traditional competive scholarships or grants, we need to peruse other means of financial aid. I can actually refer you all the way back, from his kindergarten teacher to teachers at his current school, that will tell you that he is the hardest working student they have ever had. And he is respectful, well mannered and well liked. I don’t mean for this to sound like a sob story, I just wanted for you to understand the realities, of life with a learning disability or the heartbreak of seeing your child work so very hard, with so very little of the traditional accolades. These kids do face very different challenges, and it takes a lot for them to have the courage, and be willing to put in all of the extra work it takes, to willingly peruse a higher education. So maybe you can understand, why it would be so heartbreaking for him to have put in all of this work and not be able to finish his senior year, and get that degree he’s worked so hard for. I think that if you had the chance to meet him in person, you would better understand. Thank you for listening to me. And if this helps you decide, to help my son or maybe another student, it will be worth it.
Sincerely
Ann Ochenreider
Anne,
I have a learning disability. I know better than most people what it’s like to live with it as I went through school long before there was special ed or any public law. I know stigma, I know hurt, I know humiliation, and I know hard work to get a D.
I know all of that.
What does it have to do with getting a scholarship?
Read this, it will give you some background:
www.ldresources.org/?p=63
It has nothing to do with improving my success in school. That is not my point.
Because I have ADD, I have less of an opportunity to earn a scholarship. I mentioned that before and the reasons associating with that. Scholarships for those who have a mental disorder are to give them an opportunity they don’t have like the rest. They fill in the gap for the less fortunate.
TJ: Sorry, I wasn’t clear.
If you got a scholarship and got into a school you could not afford and/or, not get into academically otherwise, how would the scholarship help keep you in school besides paying the bills? The scholarship doesn’t do the school work for you.
My problem with many of the posts in this long thread is that they are about having the opportunity to go to schools that are out of reach not just financially, but also academically.
I can tell you without a doubt that if I got a scholarship to go to MIT or Harvard, two places I could never afford nor get into, it would in no way stop me from flunking out.
Some people who have commented here confuse “scholarships” with financial aid. They are different things.
Financial aid can be low interest loans or even gifts to help with financial (not academic) difficulty. Financial aid is available to anyone who qualifies for it and having any kind of disability doesn’t affect this.
Scholarships are generally awarded for academic achievement (although not exclusively) and are generally given to students who could get into a school otherwise. Notable exceptions and abuses are many athletic scholarships where the athlete is wanted by the school and is propped up academically so that he or she can play.
My question is, what is it about having a learning disability qualifies you for a scholarship?
If you would have a hard time getting into a school, having a scholarship won’t help with that. If you would have a hard time staying in school once admitted, having a scholarship won’t help with that.
What is it that you expect the scholarship to do?
In order for a parent to get a child through school who has an LD, lots of money must be spent on tutors, time must be missed from a parent’s job t o deal with the IEPs, teachers, and the school system. If I did not spend $400+ a month on tutors, special computer programs, special summer camps, etc, SURE… I’d have $$ for my daughter’s $33k LD college in Florida. It is a catch 22. If I did not spend the time and money for the past 12 years to get her to BE eligible for college, then I’d have $$ for the college that she would have never been eligible for. I think if LD a student works hard and achieves above his/her IQ/potential he/she deserves a scholarship to assist with the finanical side. Not all LD kids achieve above their potential. As a micro example let’s look at my daughter’s 8th grade special ed class and how they progressed through high school. 10 students started HS together. By what should be senior year for this group, 4 have already dropped out, 3 switched to “night school” with the deliquent kids and not graduating on time, 3 are graduating on time from the original High School they all started in. 1 of the three graduating students, my daughter,qualified for, applied for and obtain entrance in to college. That should be rewarded. An athelete gets rewarded for extrodinary effort… shouldn’t a kid who has an LD and is interested AND elgible for college? There are scholarships for the blinds, deaf, left handed, daughters of the civil war, those going into nursing, etc. Let me tell you something, the high school IEP board wanted to stick my daughter and her 10 peers in trades classes(plumber, electrician, beautitian). I had to fight like hell and my daughter had to fight like hell to be placed in college prep-level classes. Then she had to spend hours and hours per night keeping up with her classes. About 50% of her teachers OR less were helpful and followed the accomodations in her IEP with out being FORCED.
An LD student who has no interest, motivation or inclination towards college doesn’t just “deserve a scholarship.” BUT a LD student who does what it takes to get into college should not be punished by fact the parents were unable to save for college due to the outrageous tutoring bill. I agree with the person who was discussing all of the expensive 0-level classes. Every LD program out there has an “extra cost” above normal tuition. Help is not OWED to these kids just as “children of Irish decent” are not “owed.” There are less than 3 LD scholarships out there that are not associated with a particular school. So, trust me, this group is not breaking the scholarship bank. I would like to some day, when my daughter is through school, start a scholarship fund for the hard working LD kids out there. If you are an LD kid in college you are a hardworker and have beaten the odds. Congrats! I am just grateful that my daughter wasn’t one of the drop outs. I would have been so easy for her to go down that well worn path that her peers went down.
A scholaship makes it POSSIBLE to attend a more expensive private college that has and good LD program. It would help with these extra costs. With out a scholarship, it might not be possible for the student to attend. Some of these programs are really really good and are the only opputunity the LD student has at achieving a college degree. Many colleges say they have free services, but upon investigation, they are subpar and student gets completely lost in the shuffle. Banking organizations put out scholarships for accounting degrees. Who cares if 3 groups put out 3 small LD scholarships??? Really?? Have some compassion. Richard, you claim to be LD. I am too. Being in a program more tailor maded for my disablities would have really helped me and made life easier. These program right now cost extra money. Why should these students be FORCED to pay more. A blind student doesn’t, why should a LD student?
Monica: I’m still not sure you know the difference between a scholarship and financial aid. There is one.
Your case is all about money and it’s a good one. Most schools offer financial aid, what’s wrong with that?
I’m not quite sure where you’re getting the fact that people who are blind don’t pay college tuition.
But, I think you miss my point so let me make it another way.
My point is, someone’s learning disability should not be the deciding factor. Everyone who goes to Landmark college (one of the schools you may be talking about) has a learning disability. Everyone. So, should Landmark give them all scholarships? If you use LD alone as the criteria that should be the case, right?
Landmark already offers financial aid to some applicants so that’s one option.
So, how might Landmark, or any expensive LD school award scholarships? How about the way most other schools do it: academic and extracurricular achievement. We’re talking all LD applicants here but LD alone isn’t being used to determine a scholarship because everyone who is applying is LD.
So, what might sort one LD student out from another, besides financial need?
Do you get it now?
By your definition, I know of no finanical aid based LD. There are just a few scholarships. The college I am referring to is Beacon in Leesburg. All of the kids are LD. So, I get your point about Beacon not being able to offer finacial aid. However, since my state does not offer an LD college or any colleges with decent LD services beyond “go to the tutoring & test center,” why couldn’t the state provide some sort of aid? Either way, there is not much help in etiher finanical aid or scholarship for 2.5 GPA students. Thre are just a lot of scholarhips out there for the blind and deaf. That is why I mentioned it.
Monica: I’m not sure you know what financial aid is. Most colleges offer some financial aid and the federal government offers it too. Financial aid has nothing to do with LD, nothing to do with GPA, it has to do with financial need. If a student can get into a school but can’t pay for it, he or she can apply for financial aid which might be a low interest student loan, a lowering of tuition (a grant) or yes, even sometimes a scholarship.
You need to parse out the various issues here:
If a student can’t meet the academic requirements to get into college, all the financial aid in the world, including a free ride, won’t help.
If a student can get into Beacon college but can’t pay for it, go to Beacon’s financial aid office and find out what they offer. If all the students at Beacon are LD then I doubt they offer scholarships based on LD but they might offer financial aid based on financial need.
What any of this has to do with blind and deaf people I have no idea.
Some colleges and universities are addressing LD needs. My oldest son found that within his program, business school, management information systems, he can be considered a full time student with all benefits (mainly getting to live in the dorm, insurance, and meal plan) while only carrying 20 hours an academic year – two semesters. This has really taken the strain off scanning textbooks for TtS and writing papers using VR. He is now looking to grad school to see if they will allow fewer hours to be recognized as a full time student. He goes to MSU. He did get a scholarship – small – but it did get him a summer internship that was highly competitive.
Walter: This is great for your son. The academic waivers are not what this question is about but it’s great that he got them and yes, many schools offer academic support and waivers for otherwise qualified students with LD.
Did this program give him a scholarship solely because of his LD or for some other reason?
Richard, Please clarify…. there is no other reason besides low income that qualifies a student for finacial aid. Correct?
-Monica
Monica: I can’t speak for every reason folks ask for financial aid, but it’s generally given to students who meet all the requirements of going to a college except that they can’t fully pay for it. And, their parents have to qualify: show that they can’t afford the cost otherwise. Financial aid can include lowering tuition costs and low interest loans.
Each school has its own financial aid and then there’s financial aid outside the school from organizations, the federal government, etc.
A scholarship is an award that includes financial aid. Most scholarships are given for merit: athletics, academics, etc.
The distinction between these two, folding in LD is confusing many in this long “discussion.”
There is no reason why a person with a learning disability might not qualify for and receive a full scholarship to a college, but the fact that they are LD would not play a big part in the award, it would be based on their achievement in a particular area: math, art, track, etc.
Also, there is no reason why a person with a learning disability who got into a college but who’s parents could not afford the tuition could not apply for financial aid.
I hope that helps.
Ok. I understand a little better. Given this information, I still believe that an LD student who is eligible for college (which is an HUGE achievement for a LD student), should be able to use their LD as a reason to apply for finanical aid based on the fact that in order to be come eligible lots of money had to be spent on tutors, special classes, software programs etc over the years for the child to over come barriors so that college eligiblity could be achieved. (Long — run on sentence there… sorry) The extra outflow of money on the part of the LD student’s parents should be factored in on the FASFA form. It could be part of the calculationâ€â€a check box (with back up documentation). Some monetary value could be assigned to this LD “check box.” Then when the parent’s finacial resources are taken into consideration, this becomes a variable in the equation. IF it is calculated that these parents fit the criteria of “parents could not afford the tuition could not apply for financial aid, then let them have finanical aid. “ Many parents on the surface with the mainstream calculation, do not qualify. Just as there children were probably not in mainstream classrooms, the parents may need a non-mainstream variable in their FASFA calculation. You were a LD student and adult. I don’t know how old you are. Are you of the age where you were given educational accomodations through an IEP? Have you parented a LD child? I am not being nosey or rude, I am just trying to understand your perspective on a parent paying for a LD student’s college after a HUGE outflow of money for 12 years. I literally spent on average $7000 a year on my daughter. At times, I had to get a part time job in addition to my full time job. Our family took 1 vacation about ever 4 years as apposed to every year like many families. So we are looking at $84,000 over 12 years of school. That is our daughter’s degree right there. My husband and I both have master’s degrees and are computer programmers. We are not considered “low†or probably even “middle†income. So, no finanical aid for us. Also, LDs run in families, so 2 of our 5 children have LDs, so our number is doubled. Some how, someway, this finanical burden should get factored in. I won’t even discuss the amount of counceling the children had to have as a result of low self esteem,etc. It was costly. So, do you see any better why someone like my daughter might need finanical aid when the FASFA says she doesn’t???
Do you see how LD presents an extra burden on parents (through no fault of their own or their child)??
Do you see how LD presents an extra burden on the student to work and achieve above their peers just to be equal to their peers who are college eligible??
Should LD kids who don’t qualify for college get financial aid? NO
Should a rich set of parents with a LD student get finanical aid? NO
So, I believe that LD fits the criteria of a finanical burden on the parents causing them to not be able to pay for college after being rung dry by tutors, testing, etc. A parent of a LD student WILL NEED financial aid unless they are seriously rich. The costs are too significant over 12 years of school whereas other parents of public school children without LD do not incur the same costs.
This cost should be quantified and factored in for calculating financial aid. It does not have to be a “big part” nor should EVERY LD student get financial aid, however, it should be a distinct variable on the FASFA. Most lower, middle and even slightly above middle income families will need financial aid to pay for their LD child’s education.
Richard,
This is a comment you made a while back.
“Don’t forget, I’m LD too and struggled with high school and college, worked my way through, took many extra years, etc. but I never had the feeling that because I was LD I deserved money? Extra time, yes. A tutor, yes. Various accomodations, absolutely. Tuition help? Why? I don’t see the connection at all.”
No one is giving you money directly to put in your pocket and buy a car. You are given money to allow you access to an education which you can not necessary afford. Colleges shouldn’t get 6 + years of your money or my money because they don’t have a system that can educate you or my daughter or me in 4-5 year because of LD issues. They are getting extra money because you have a disability that you can not help. Do the colleges DESERVE the extra money because YOU have a LD?? Do they really deserve 2-3 extra years of tuition??
The fact that you had to pay for extra years of college purely because your LD caused you to take a longer amount of time IS a reason to give you financial aid. Through no fault of your own, you did not graduate in the allotted 4-5 years of college. Colleges are designed to allow a student to achieve a bachelor’s degree in a certain amount of years (4-5 years). If your LD was the primary cause for you paying for more years, shouldn’t you get some financial aid? If you were lazy or skipped class or drank too much and then took 6+ years to graduate… TOO BAD… but if your LD caused you to take few classes per semester, take summer school, retake failed classes or core classes where you got a “D”, hire tutors, then I think this is significant enough to deserve SOME sort of consideration on your FASFA form. You have a disability and we have a system in American that assists those with disabilities. I think those WITH disabilities who are trying to achieve and not be “taken down” by their disability should be provided with this aid.
I have mentioned my daughter’s LD peers in previous postings. Of the 10 kids she started with in the 9th grades, I mentioned several did not graduate and several had to go to night school and graduate late. Only 3 are graduating with their class. How many of these children do you think are going to be on welfare for part or all of their life time?? How devastating will their lack of education be to them? Their future life? Their future family? Why not save that welfare money by better helping these kids become college eligible?? Then once they are eligible, a little financial aid to get a degree could potentially save a life time of welfare, poverty and dysfunction for these kids AND SOCIETY. You, my daughter, myself, the other LD students and LD adults who posted here should get financial aid consideration for their LD. LD should be a factor in an overall calculation of MANY factors on the FASFA. Right now there is NO consideration in the FASFA calculation.
Monica: I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this matter. I wish you the best of luck with your daughter’s education.
Monica,
All the money one spends in a given year on those ld-related services (tutorials, etc) can be factored in. They’re expenses pure and simple. They carry no more or less weight than any other medical expense for example.
So, as far as FASFSA is concerned, the ld issue is simply an expense that can be factored into the overall financial picture used to determine their sense of what a family is entitled to. Believe me I’m no fan of FAFSA’s logic or process in general but in this regard, I agree.
So, we’re back to the central question: Why does having a learning disability entitle you to money?
I thought my very verbose responses addressed that question.
I’ll try one more time… A parent’s income is severely depleted over 12 years of schooling and tutoring of a LD child. Just as parents of children who are in a wheel chair spend an unusual amount of money on wheel chairs, special beds, bathroom enhancements, and many different other devices and expenses. The expenses that stem from my daughter’s and son’s LDs are just as costly and devastating to my family as if my husband lost his job, or as if I was single parent or a minority or as if some other situation occurred to a lower income applicant.
The playing field is not equal or fair financially between the parents of a LD student and the parents of a non-LD student. I have never met a parent who faked or tried to get an LD label for their child for SATs. As a matter of fact I have only seen children suffer because of their parent’s unwillingness to let their child be labeled LD when they should be and NEED help. Nor, have I ever seen a child in my children’s special ed classes that didn’t need to be there. Parents of LD children are exhausted mentally, emotionally, and often feel like the public school system could care less about their child. Every phone call from the school is bad news of some sort. Driving to tutors, have meeting after meeting with IEP boards (with no real improvement), dragging your child to counselors, explaining your child to teachers, dealing with uncompassionate and rude teachers, and fighting to get your child to do the most basic homework done IS NOT easy. No parent puts themselves or their child through this for a few financial aid bucks at age 18. Really. The LD kids HATE being labeled. They hate having their own classes or someone helping them in a co-taught class. If a child goes through 12 years and grows and improves and works hard and GETS INTO college, the need for financial aid is just as real as the more traditional reasons for financial aid.
I am not sure how else to explain it.
P.S. I have also worked with some very wonderful teachers who taught my children and have helped them blossom and achieve. There just have been a few terrible ones that left their mark. I think teachers work very hard… so don’t misunderstand my frustrated remarks above.
.
Monica, we’re back again to the difference between financial aid and scholarship. I suggest you re-read my post above on the difference.
No one would ever deny a parent financial aid who qualifies for it, but, that qualification is based on financial need, not the label on a child.
As far as scholarships or merit based academic awards go, I’ve never heard of anyone describing their LD as meritorious. One might describe one’s academic work as meritorious, but not one’s LD. Do people with LD have to work harder to get the same grades. Absolutely. I know this from personal experience but that extra work to get to the same place everybody else is at, while commendable, is not a basis for a merit award or financial aid. Nor is the fact that my parents had a rough time bringing me up. They did. So do many parents. This has nothing to do with my academic achievement or how hard I worked.
Some parents fake an LD diagnosis to get extra time on the SAT for their non-LD children. I’ve seen it. Sandy has seen it. My wife sees it. It exists.
I am all for scholarships for people with disibilities. Just look around for scholarships and you will see lots of money going to single moms and all types of minority groups. The ones I like the best are sometype of minority single mom. Nothing for single dads though. I am not against someone that is of a minority to get to college.
As a parent of a child who is now an adult with a disibility my wife and I have paid for lots of counciling and other care for years. I read one comment that if parents have done this then there is probably no money to pay for college for the child. I can agree with this with everything I have. My wife and I are not rich and this has been a taxing problem.
You have to understand how scholarship work. We have friends that have very wealthy friends who wanted to pay for their daughter’s college. Don’t ask me why, I never really understood that one. When my friend told me about this I explained to him that his wealthy friends needed to set up a scholarship fund specifically for their daughter through the school she wanted to go to and they would received a great tax benefit for it. Now you know the reason for so many strange scholarships that are out there and I would say many of them never are awarded to anyone. If I am wrong then I challenge anyone to prove me incorrect.
I say if this sort of thing is actually going on and money is being set up just for tax purposes for the rich then I want some of it to go to my son to help him get a better start to his adult life than he had as a kid.
If anyone has a problem with that so what.
I also read a comment that if a person has great academics money is thrown at him or her regardless of how much money their parents have. Obviously there are the rich that never pay anything for college and there are very poor deserving people that can only get loans and pay for the rest of their lives or for many years in order to get the same opportunity.
Life is not always fair but all I am asking is for a little flattening of the road at the front end. The rest will be up to my son to exercise some of the grit that I hope I put into him.
What do you think about that!
David: I’m sure there are instances of wealthy people gaming the system for tax breaks but I’m quite sure that few if any schools facilitate this.
Like others, you have a misconception about what a scholarship is. It is not financial aid, it is awarded on merit. A student has to achieve something to receive one. What you are correct about is that this achievement is independent of the financial situation of the parents, as it should be.
One thing you have right is that some people with resources (wealth) have the means to investigate all of this stuff and find out how to make it work for them. Their wealth doesn’t give them an advantage in getting the scholarships, just learning how the system works and using it to their advantage, when they can.
Anyone can do this, all it takes is a bit of work to gain the understanding.
Good luck.
At last I have read some great insight on student’s with an LD. My own son has an LD that was diagnosed when he was 11. He is now 17 and will be getting ready for college soon. I went searching to see what information would help us out. Many of these posts seem to be about $$$ just because a student has a LD. Sorry but just because someone is learning disabled doesn’t mean they should get $$$. My son has worked his a** off for the past seven years just to make sure he has good grades. It has been a combined family effort to help him with organization skills and study skills; to say nothing of how difficult it is for him to do a project. We pay over $6000.00 a year for private high school that offers a program for his LD. His SAT grades are a nightmare and we are all wondering how an honor student will get into college with his SAT grades! I don’t feel that he should be given money just because he has a learning disability since most colleges have programs that are there to help the student’s succeed.
Any money that is given to these student’s should be based on what they have accomplished over their four years in high school. Even people with an LD can contribute some time to a school-based or community-based service and they can participate in almost any of the clubs and organizations at school. Sports are open too. There are schlorships available that are not just academically based.
Eileen: Thank you for taking the time to think this through and share your thoughts here.
The good news for you and your son is that many colleges and universities aren’t making as big a deal of SAT scores because it’s been proven that these scores are not a good predictor of how students (LD or otherwise) will do in college.
The College Board says that these scores can’t be influenced by preparation courses but in fact, they can and because of this people who can afford and/or know about such courses and take them routinely do better. In fact, many of these students do not do well in the colleges they get into with those scores because they can’t handle the work.
So, some colleges are putting these scores lower on the list of things they are looking at. GPA, the type of courses a student takes, community service, extra-curricular participation (sports) the essay (ugh) and the interview are all at least as if not more important than SAT or ACT scores.
A well rounded student (LD or not) who has accomplished a lot would certainly qualify for numerous merit scholarships, whether or not his or her SAT scores were up to snuff.
I have a son who has recently graduated from high school. He was a phenomeum player who won some awards on the state level. The only problem is he has a learning disability. I wouldn’t let him play at first because of his disability. All the coaches who have seen him play says he really good and should pursue his dreams but it has been a struggle trying to find a school that will accept him because of this.It has not only been tough for me, but for him also.He really wants to play basketball and I do also. I feel it will make him feel that he can have a dream just like everyone else. I just need someone to direct me in showing me what to do.I don’t want to loose my son because he felt like everyone has given up on him and want give him a chance.
Maria: Many students with learning disabilities excel at sports or other extracurricular activities and there’s a delicate balance between enough time spent on the tough stuff: reading, writing, and math, and practice and all of the related activities that come with sports.
Few colleges will except a student (LD or not) who can’t complete the minimum academic requirements for a degree at that school, sports prodigy or not. There are exceptions to this but they’re rare. So, the issue is, how prepared is your son to do the parts of colleges that will be hard for him?
Have you looked into community colleges? I spent my first college yera out of high school in one and it allowed me a bit more time to grow up, learn how to be a better student, and figure out what I wanted to do with college. When I finally transferred to a four year college I was more prepared for the work there. Still, it wasn’t easy for me, but the workload wasn’t a total shock.
Look into community colleges, they can help with the transition and they’re a lot less money than four year schools.
Yes, financial assistance can help to make learning happen. For a lot of adults with add and ld work has been a struggle since being out on our own. Hard to keep jobs, advance, get raises, and work for someone in this situation can cause emotional, mental and social struggles that are very hard to deal with…its common for us to have a “one thing at a time” mind and it makes supporting yourself pretty hard…
Am I saying others without LD don’t work hard and that work doesn’t make them feel stress or other problems? Of course not. But its a totally different struggle. When you feel like a total screw-up on a daily basis and get in trouble, get yelled at, treated like a child, and other things we are all familair with, those are stresses on top of stresses “normal people” don’t face nearly as much or as often.
I have struggled with ADD, social anxiety and OCD for a long time, and I’m a 27 year old who is exactly where I was when I was first getting out of high school. I’ve climbed little bits and fell right back here a whole lot…So I started college as a depressed, last-ditch attempt at success. I was surprised to find that I thrived in that environment. The support of agencies on campus instead of employers thinking you are a moron, a step-by-step structed environment, and the possibility of actual success have all motivated me. Unfortunately, I was on a medication I was unfamiliar with (adderall) and had a bad “crash” during my evening math class (and before anyone mentions, I know adderall isn’t supposed to do that, but it does for me) and I failed it. I got an A in my other three classes…but I still lost my financial aid because you’re supposed to meet progress requirements. This would be one very acceptable reason to award people a scholarship based on LD. Another reason is that since working and school are both an added struggle for people with ADD and other LD, people often wind up only being able to do one. If someone has to do class time, studying, work and family-life, they are likely to not do well or drop out. I don’t think it is wrong at all for someone to give as much of their focus as possible instead of spreading it too thin and not finishing school. There are different degrees of severity of LD too. Some people may not have issues with earning and saving money. Its a good thougt that telling someone, “work harder” to earn tuition money could help, but it isn’t realistic. Most of us have had people telling that to us for years, and we try, but it doesn’t pan out. I lived in a camper for a few years (miserable!) because I just couldn’t keep it together. I couldn’d manage money, the job I had made it hard to afford my medication, which made work nearly impossible, my attendance at work wasn’t that great and I wound up homeless and jobless. Not for lack or trying. I gave it all I had. I just needed some help. I needed my meds…I needed financial aid for school and living expenses. I needed tutors. I needed advocates to help me learn to be organized. I needed therapy to learn coping skills for anxiety and behavioral symptoms. Without the help out of the “doing ok and falling on my butt” cycle of life, I think it would have been that way until I died. And giving someone who struggles a little more financial assistance so they can actually stay in school and succeed isn’t fishy.
WIth today’s crappy economy, I would encourage ANYONE to get any help they can for educational expenses. (When you are a fulltime student, living expenses are included as a cost of attendance. Its hard enough as it is for a LOT of people without these struggles to work and go to school. If anyone has the option to spend the time they would normally be working studying for all those super-hard tests, they should take it!) There are tons of specific reasons companies hand out scholarships. They want to have it be known they are helping someone with how expensive school is (tuition, books, computers, supplies, housing, meals, transportation have all gone up an insane amount!) and they are the ones to decide. Some of them are just personal reasons. Whoever got to make the decicion where their company’s scholarship money may have just sat down and thought, “Who would I like to hand a big, fat check to?” It doesn’t mean someone with a LD accepting a scholarship thinks they are special and deserving just because they have a LD. It means they need the help. And someone else obviously thought so too, since they do hand them out. There are scholarships for children of divorced parents because it may be harder for them to get assistance from parents (and yes, there are many of us who will get no assistance from family, but there are many whose parents set aside money for their kids’ educations…it levels the playing-field when someone offers money for school to those who may not have as easy a time of getting it) , there are scholarships for people with fibromyalgia, there are shcolarships for people who like to play golf, there are scholarships for people who hold a world record in silly events…so there are tons of reasons for people to hand out finincial assistance to help with school… Sometimes its to help out people who aren’t eligible for loans, sometimes its a prize, sometimes its for single parents who go to school who needed more money for daycare and a bigger apartment during school, and sometimes people just want to look like heroes by slapping a check into the hand of someone “handicapped” and if there are those who want to public pat-on-the-back for doing that, I think its stupid not to take the help if you can get it!
Brandy: Wow, thanks for your detailed comment. It seems that you too are confusing financial aid with scholarships.
I’m not sure how you taking medication and failing a course because of it relates to a scholarship, or financial aid for that matter. Things like that happen and it’s unfortunate but we have to go on and try again.
Your second reason, that adults who work, go to school, manage families and manage their LD are entitled to support because the pressure is too high isn’t a reason for a scholarship, but it is a very legitimate reason for financial aid, which can allow a student to stop working while going to school to take some of the pressure off.
“And giving someone who struggles a little more financial assistance so they can actually stay in school and succeed isn’t fishy.”
I agree and I don’t think it is. Financial assistance is different from a scholarship which is a merit award. Financial aid can be in the form of a loan or an outright gift which doesn’t get paid back, but it’s not a scholarship.
“there are scholarships for people with fibromyalgia, there are shcolarships for people who like to play golf, there are scholarships for people who hold a world record in silly events”
My guess is, and I don’t know for sure, that the scholarships for people who like to play golf are given to people who not only like to play, but who excel at it. Same with people who hold world records in “silly events.” I can’t speak to the scholarships for fibromyalgia, those I don’t know about but if there are such things, how would they be awarded? Severity of fibromyalgia?
There are a lot of people with ADD on medication, with families and jobs who can’t afford college and need financial help. How would the scholarship granting agency sort out who should get one if 1000 people applied?
Again, all of these people no doubt qualify for financial aid and I recommend that they work on getting it. If the paperwork is too much get help filling it out. But I’m not convinced that every person with ADD having a hard time financially qualifies for a scholarship.
Hi! Boy, I am glad I ran onto this website. I am a mother of 2 G/T children. My oldest child has ADD and takes a med for the same. After 14 years on anti-depressants, I was “finally” diagnosed with ADD, too, and now takes a med for that and am feeling “normal”. I am glad to hear that Eli Lilly has given scholarships to those who take their little pills. I will check into that myself as I am planning to return to grad. school in the fall to pick up where I left off when my children came along and were little. Raising children with LDs, ADD, etc. is a full-time job!
Here’s a somewhat new approach to this same old issue that has been hashed over on this blog for the past few years. Those of us with LDs, ADD, etc. need to get hold of a good school counselor to be aptitude tested for potential fields of talent/interest. Then apply for scholarships in those fields. Then you may be deemed “scholarship worthy” either by financial need and/or potential prowess in your particular field. Also, once you get into a particular field of study at a particular school, do not quit inquiring about scholarships. Oftentimes, alumni donate money toward scholarships for students in a particular school of study. There’s nothing like already having proven your dedication and/or talent at the school that awards you. I kind of don’t like the idea of getting money thrown at you just because you show up with a disability. color of skin, type of religion, etc. Show me what you can do! Many people with LDs, ADD, etc. excel once they are encouraged into the right profession for the particular way their mind learns and processes information.
AND…….Finally, when someone is encouraged to excel in a particular field of study that they are truly committed to, WE ALL ARE WINNERS. That person may become the insightful teacher of your children, the pastor of your church, the mayor of your city, the soldier next to you in combat, your friend, your doctor……….
How many of you out there know that good old Helen Keller had a BA from Radcliffe College? Seeing her potential, a Standard Oil magnate paid for her higher education. However, she was 24 years old when she finished with her degree. From there she went on to write several books, campaigned for womens’ suffrage, and was a proponent of socialism (this due to her own experiences as well as witnessing the suffering of the disabled and impoverished of her era). Helen Keller got her “free ride” so to speak, but it was an investment in all of us from her insightful benefactor.
So……my fellow “disabled”, stand up for yourselves and shine! Dig down deep into yourselves (as well as finding someone to help you) discover where your talents lie. Then apply yourself in that/those direction(s). The money is there……..but you have to show people why you are deserving. Try being more specific in your searches. Don’t be afraid to ask your college instructors if they know of any departmental scholarships.
Linda
Linda: Great comment, thanks for posting it and helping me make my point.
Helen Keller didn’t get sponsored to college because she was blind. She got sponsored because she was blind and excelled academically.
I’m not sure how I feel about Eli Lilly giving scholarship money to people JUST because they take Lilly medications… hopefully there’s more to it than that.
Thanks for posting Linda.
I am a teacher. I am also the mother of a highly gifted daugther (perfect SAT scores) and a son with ADD. Neither of my children received any financial aid at all and I don’t make much money needless to say. In fact, there is very little money available for ANY student. Student loans are essential for almost all students who attend college.
If you are certain that you can be successful and you are driven to succeed – then take out the loans and invest in yourself and your future. However, to succeed students must be prepared to work very hard to fund their education and graduate. That said, college is NOT for every student and it may be a very poor investment for many. Many students – including many of the students described on this site – would be better served in professional training programs at community colleges or working as apprentices or investing in quality career testing and counseling.
College demands high level and advanced cognitive and writing ability. Period! The attrition rate for non disabled students is very high never mind for students who struggle with higher order thinking, reading, and writing. Beware that there are many private colleges ready to take your money. There are many more “for profit} and unscrupulous private colleges that will sell you false hope.
What you will end up with in the end is a large debt and a degree that does not guarantee you much of anything. At this juncture it is very important for parents and students to be brutally realistic with themselves regarding their potential for success in college or in a highly competitive post college workforce.
All types of “Gardner’s Intelligences” do not succeed in college. Success in college requires a great deal of a “traditional” type of intelligence with versatility in abstract thinking and “paper/pencil” expression of advanced concepts and constructs. Activating many different kinds of intelligences is essential to give all students the in elementary and secondary school the chance to achieve at least the minimal literacy neceessary for productive citizenship.
However, college goes well beyond minimal literacy acquisition rarely using multi-sensory strategies. College is reading and writing and arithmetic and presumes at least 12th grade equivalency in these areas. Writtne expression is the primary tool of assessment evidencing mastery of content.
At the outset, college demands a certain level of accomplishment relative to traditional intellectual talent as a starting point for upper level study. This is true whether or not your area of “intelligence” lends itself to the advanced study of music or economics.
My daughter graduated at 19 from an Ivy League law school at the top of her class. My son earned a masters from the 3rd best accountancy program in the country. Both enjoy successful careers. Why? Because they are exceptional intellects. No disability masks an exceptional intellect although I do not argue there are more barriers and challenges for those with a disability.
That said, please consider that the greatest obstacle you face may be an uwillingness to assess your own potential realistically. American Idol is a good example of young people, and their parents, overestimating their talents. Of the tens of thousands who audition – only a very small handful are successful. That is also true of college never mind that so many have a sense of limitless possiblity. Be careful what you wish for – you may get only more disappointment, debt, and discouragement.
I always want to “vote” for the Idol contestant who had the most difficult life – some have literally come to the audition while living in a car. However, neither hard times or hard work – nor “wanting it” more than anyone else – is sufficient. You have it or you don’t.
If you struggled to get through high school, can’t take tests, don’t have time for extracurriculars then college may not be a good match for you. It is more of the same…academic talent is one kind of talent that not all students learning disability possess.
For that matter lots of average kids with no learning disability do not possess the pre-requisites for college success. Do you really need a Simon to point that out to you? If, on the other hand, you are so good and so sure of yoru talent – take out a loan and don’t let anyone stop you!
PS The lack of inherent “logic” (e.g. deductive and inductive reasoning skills) evidenced in this discussion suggests few – if any – participants are really college “ready”. Richard was not just “baiting” you – he was informally “testing” your reasoning skills. Lacking basic reasoning skills – never mind basic literacy skills -you will most likely fail in college scholarship or no scholarship.
Wow DrPatty, that’s quite a spectacular comment. While I take slight issue with some of your reasoning I think you’re pretty much right on the money and I thank you for the last paragraph. I’m not trying to be a jerk or a bad guy, just trying to sort out the attitude that having a disability might “earn” someone a scholarship. And, even if one got a scholarship or a full ride to college, that in no way means one could survive in college. Thanks for helping me make those points.
The only piece of your comment that I take slight exception to is this: I am not classically intelligent like your two older children and my learning style is not really well suited for college. However, once I discovered the art and architecture school at the University of Oregon I did very well. The rise in my confidence from doing well in studio art classes helped me better tackle the classes that were a lot tougher for me. Again, I was no stellar student but I made my university experience work for me and went on to get an MFA and a university teaching job. Only later in my life did I really become fully literate and only much later was I really fully (classically) prepared to go to college. So, yes, that sort of proves a piece of your idea that many LD students are not academically (or socially) mature enough to go to college. But, I think if the right school and program is found they (we) can survive and some of us will do well.
That said, you make a very important point that students with LD and their parents need to be realistic about what is involved in going to college: getting in, hard academic work, paying for it, staying in through graduation. For any number of reasons, college is not for everyone.
Thanks.
Thank you, Richard, for a very articulate discussion regarding scholarships and financial aid. My primary point was that a scholarship – or lack thereof – is really not the issue. The issue is readiness and realistic reach. Like you, my ADD son was not classically ready for university study in the same way that my daughter was ready. He took six years to graduate (younger sister took 2!) and did not do very well until he discovered accounting courses. You discovered your intelligence was linked to art and architecture – he discovered his intelligence was numeric. Those discoveries made all the difference! However, both he and you are clearly higher order thinkers able to analyze and synthesize, and generalize and appreciate, reasoned nuance. There is not enough evidence of that level of cognitive interaction in this discussion for me to encourage the college pursuit at this juncture for many who responded. So I encourage all of the responders to work toward achieving your level of thinking and discourse first. Your prompt to do so is their first lesson in college success. While not great readers or writers or speakers – they must be at least clear and advanced thinkers. There are many ways to prepare for success in college before you go such as this critical dialogue. If you believe you can do suceed in college and you find a passionate goal to make all the obstacles easier to bear than take out that loan today! Invest in yourself like 95% of the other college students. Don’t let lack of funds be your excuse not to try anymore than you would let your disability be your excuse not to try. Richard, you are a remarkable role model for all who enter here. Your communication is thoughtful, reasoned, honest and valuable. Thanks to you I think there is important and real learning occurring here – borne of critical self insight and scrupulous logic – for those whose goal is not just “college” but life long learning and growth no matter the barriers. You do the students and the parents on this board a great service with your patient, focused, and probing inquiry. You must be a wonderful college Professor!
DrPatty: Wow, you’re really making me feel great, thank you and keep it up!
I was a good college professor, both in the art world and in the LD/tech world, but not such a great high school teacher of LD students. I don’t do well with classroom behavior problems. What I did best was my long career as a technology consultant/presenter where I taught teachers about computers and LD.
Doing that combined many of my skills: teaching, performance, storytelling, explainer of technical things, and attempting to use my personal experience as a model. It worked well, I did thousands of talks the world over.
Burnout and 9/11 ended that career and now I’m staying closer to home teaching people how to take pictures with DSLRs and trying to share my experience via numerous blogs and web sites. My wife is happier and so am I.
Richard,
I read up to comment 18 then skipped down a few then a few more, and more. Obviously this is a hot topic but I have ADD and haven’t the patience (or time) to read all 133 responses. I had’t seen that this issue was ‘resolved’ so I’d like to add my two cents worth. Richard, I don’t know exactly what your experiences were but here goes:
I agree with Nancy in comment 12. There are scholarships awarded based on such varied (and odd) things that have nothing to do with academic excellence like whether a student is left-handed, or maybe their grandparents emigrated from some specific country, what religion they are, whether they won the spelling bee in the third grade… I believe there should/could be one for students with LDs and don’t know why you seem to be getting so argumentative about having been asked if such a monetary award exists. Fishy? Nothing fishy about being asked this question. Nothing fishy about anyone trying to find financial help with college.
In fact, I really don’t understand what the big deal is. Students who want to attend college today face rising costs in all areas of living/studying and everyone is looking for a little help, not just students with a LD. If a college accepts a student, then who’s to say that they don’t deserve to get a financial aid scholarship no matter what the reason for the scholarship?
Richard, just because you say you “struggled with high school and college, worked my way through, took many extra years, etc. but I never had the feeling that because I was LD I deserved money” does that mean that students now should not be able to take advange of scholarships that probably didn’t exist back then? I haven’t seen anyone in the previous postings write that they feel they deserve funding because they have a LD.
You finished school by working very hard, and I congratulate you, but others may want some help even though they work just as hard as you did. Others may need some help in order to accomplish what you have. It seems as though you are basing everyone else’s needs/wants based on your own and I don’t believe that is fair. We’re all different and I’m sure you know that.
I’ll give you two cases of people who would apply for financial assistance based on ADD/ADHD/LD if we could find it (yes, we are looking elsewhere for financial aid too):
Me. I am 45 and have just been diagnosed with ADD. Like you, I also worked really hard for my good grades all through school… except I didn’t attend college. I had been accepted into four very good universities because of my GPA. I was one of the few who received an academic scholarship ($300) from the hs school PTA to put toward college which tuition alone was going to cost $4000+/yr (this was if I chose the one near home so I didn’t have to worry about paying rent or food).
My parents earned just enough so that I didn’t qualify for financial aid but not enough to pay tuition. Neither of my parents had the opportunity to go to college so they didn’t know how to go about getting the info needed for the money I needed to attend college (this was before the internet), the counselor in high school wasn’t any help either… a loan for an 18 yr old worth $16k+ in 1981 seemed huge and scary since I had only minimum wage pay experience to think about how long it would take me to pay it off.
I have worked since I was 13 and saved ALL my after-school work earnings to pay for my college costs. I worked full time after graduating from high school so that I could attend college classes part time after work. I couldn’t do it. It was too overwhelming. NOW I know it was the ADD that gave me a hard time.
From a previous marriage, I now have custody of my special needs son (ornithine transcarbamalse deficiency – a serious liver condition which has caused brain damage and may do so in the future). His insurance is now through my work but that doesn’t cover all of his med costs now, so what happens when I become a full time student?
I had the GPA for acceptance even though I had an undiagnosed LD (like so many females because we were quiet instead of disruptive), I didn’t get the tutoring, extra time to take tests and complete assignments, or the help of a prescribed medication to keep me focused. I had the college acceptance letters because I earned every one of those grades.
Who has the right to tell me that I don’t deserve the opportunity to attend college now? That I shouldn’t be able to ask someone if they’ve ever heard of financial aid for someone who wants to attend college in order to better their circumstances? Who cares that it’s based on whether someone has an LD? Financial aid is financial aid.
Another case:
My husband. He has ADHD and another LD that I’m not certain of. He is now 42 but was diagnosed when he was in elementary school. His parents died when he was 22 and he used his very small inheritance to attend community college for two years. He was too afraid to continue college at that point because he’d had such trouble earning his 4.0 Dean’s List grades (!) and he’d run out of college money and didn’t understand how to get money for college (be it loan or scholarship). After earning his AA he worked for 15 years in a number of jobs that paid his rent but didn’t suit his skills or make him happy. Since he felt he had no ‘safety net’ having no family to ask for help, he has always been a great saver.
We married four years ago and he has since been laid off because of the economy. Even after his unemployment income ran out, he still hadn’t found work. He had once told me that someday he hoped to be able to return to college to finish his degree. I strongly suggested he should go back then since his options for work seemed limited. He was accepted into a nearby college a year ago and I see how hard he works for his Dean’s List grades! Harder than I ever worked even though he’s on medication and gets the extra time allowed for tests! He knows his best is the Dean’s List, so he works hard to do his best.
Although this first year back he has won three scholarships based on his school performance, those scholarships together won’t pay for even a full quarter of his classes.
He has this opportunity to go back to school now not because I earn enough to pay living and school expenses for the three of us (I wish!), but because he saved for all of those years that he worked full time. He is emptying his savings and his retirement funds to MAKE this opportunity. So many people don’t have this option though.
A bit of financial aid would be great since gasoline prices, rent (we don’t own a home but do own a 10+ yr old small car), and food costs are all rising so his savings won’t go as far as expected. He will be taking his GRE next weekend and I know he’ll get into at least one of the top 5 of his picks because of how hard he’s worked and because he will be able to get great recommendations from faculty at his current school. The plan is that once he’s out of grad school that I get my turn at college. By that time my son should be 18 and I hope to get some help for his care through our government somehow for his expenses so my costs might be less. I could still need financial help though as I haven’t been able to save enough to put myself through college for four years because of medical costs. Geez, if I could have afforded to go back to school before now I’d have done it too.
I am very proud that my husband has the guts and perseverance to reach for his dreams on becoming a college professor. I am positive that when able, he/we will create financial aid toward college for folks who have ADD/ADHD/LD. Sure college is a struggle, but so many like us don’t feel they can earn a degree because they need some help and can’t find it. If they have decent grades and have been accepted into a college then they should be able to get some financial help. If they have the funds for college or not, it really shouldn’t matter what the help is based on. Are you going to try to destroy the scholarship for left-handed people because you think that one is unmerited? Does getting extra time for test taking and the help of a tutor for LD make it unfair for those who are able to do well without the help?
Richard, to keep kicking all of the responses to your question to the ground because we don’t ‘convince’ you that an LD based financial aid award should exist is a waste of everyone’s time… did you post the question because you wanted to see what we thought or because you wanted to try to convince us that we’re wrong in our beliefs?
No one is asking for a free ride when they ask you if such a financial award exists… Oh, and a little more diversity when it comes to LD students in college wouldn’t be bad either. Maybe this sort of financial award is one way to help that…
Arlene, looks like I’ve hit a gusher of a nerve. Thanks for taking the time to read a bit and post. You might consider reading the half dozen comments just above yours, just for a bit of perspective. We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. Good luck with college.
Well, I’ve read through about 75 of these comments and decided to respond. Who’s business is it if a private organization chooses to encourage people with disabilities by providing them with scholarships? Or medical organizations providing scholarships to students with certain illnesses? Or Nationality groups who want to provide money for students of a particular national origin?
I had a son a few years ago who got a scholarship from the American Cancer Society for being a childhood cancer survivor. I am now looking for aid for another son who has OCD and LD. If there are groups out there with money to help, I am willing to accept it. Not because my LD student deserves it more than anyone else but because there is an organization that wants to provide the help and I’m willing to receive it.
Maybe next I’ll check out the availability of scholarships to students of Scotch/Irish descent!
I have read every comment posted and I know i am a little late to the conversation. I too found this site by looking for scholarships for students with LDs. My inquiry was not because i wanted to find money for my daughter because of her LD, but because she has worked especially hard and has been accepted into college, but there are not merit based scholarships that she qualifies for. Let me explain…..
My daughter was diagnosed with a learning disability in 4th grade. She attended a public Montessori school which previously was entirely Montessori, by the time she got there they were converting to part Montessori and part traditional and she got lost in the shuffle. When they finally diagnosed her and started her services, she was being told by her resource teacher that she was doing great and progressing vastly, all the while being told by her academic teacher that she was still far behind other students. She would, on her own accord, not attend recess so that she could continue to finish her work to keep up with the other students. When it came time to take test, she would beat her head on the desk and just cry (complete meltdown). Come to find out, the resource teacher did not have the correct materials for her grade level and was using materials on lesser level, all the while telling my child she was progressing. Needless to say I was dealing with a destroyed child. I will go all the way to say that she hated herself so much that she did not even want to be alive. When I found out what was going on and decided to take her out of Montessori and place her in traditional school, we were told that it would be detrimental to her and that there was no way she would progress.
Going against their advice we made the move anyway. I was not able to afford any outside resource assistances (counseling, Sylvan, private school or tutors). It took the love of one teacher to understand her plight and work with her. My daughter made a complete 360. Yes she still struggled every day, and still does, working 100 times harder than other students. But she has been on the Honor roll every year since Middle School, all this without paid assistance, but pure perseverance. In middle school even though being an honor roll student, without fully utilizing services, she was automatically scheduled by her counsel for a technical path in High School. During her IEP they told me that they “just assumed†that since she was under services that she hadn’t even considered college. She has wanted nothing but to attend college, so yes, we had to fight for college prep. Cut to present……
She is a well rounded student: a competitive cheerleader with 5 national titles and 2 grand national titles, a color guard and band member for 4 years, attended leadership camp every summer of her high school career, has had and held a job, has had other job offers made to her based solely on the merit of her personality and work ethic in school, she is very active in church and does community service when she can (not as much as other because of her trying to balance her school load with everything else).
She recently learned in her senior meeting that she is in the top of her class based on her GPA and was shocked. This is because she always had the perception that she was not as good as everyone else because of her disability, when in fact; it was because of this disability that she has the work ethic to succeed.
She has overcome every obstacle she has been faced with except for the test anxiety, which she still struggles with. Oh yes, I also need to mention the fact that each year she worked her way off of services, because she had the conviction to excel without them. I would go into each parent/teacher conference notifying them of her disability and they would tell me that they do not need to make the adjustments for her because of her work ethic. Her Junior year, she was taken off of full assistance but kept under advisement should she start to struggle. Her only thorn has been the ACT (standardized testing) which all or most colleges take into account when awarding scholarships. She has taken the test 3 times and the highest she can achieve is a 16. Even though all the accomplishments that she has achieved (notice I have said nothing about financial assistance, we she does need but we don’t qualify for much at all), she is very deserving of a merit scholarship. But please tell me where to find one that she qualifies for that is not based on SAT /ACT scores. Where I can find a scholarship that I can put all this down on paper and they say oh yes, she deserves one. So, yes I am looking for a scholarship for students with LD’s for this reason and this reason only. Where is the scholarship for those who have worked hard to keep up and are not proving that yes they are ready for college, but not to the measures of a standardized test. Children in general, not only LD’s students, are not standardized. They grow, learn and develop in several different ways. If we don’t look for scholarships for student with LD’s, then what criteria do we search. Isn’t this the type of students colleges profess to want? Those with the work ethic! When I was applying for school they were ok as long as you performed well your last few years of high school, but now they want students who perform well from day one.
Yes, it is sad that people take advantage of these situations, but what about the student who cheats in school his entire life and pays someone to take the standardized test for them with fake ID (it’s been done), or the one who have the grades and ACT score but is not socially advanced enough to cut in college, or those who have falsified letters of recommendation gushing about all the volunteer work they never accomplished. They all get their scholarships regardless of reality; their scholarships are based on perceived reality (the pretty picture that never existed). They get all the money they want, sometimes even a full right and piss it way because when they get there and could handle it or, even worse, in the case of the cheater ; he/she continues to cheat his/her way through college adding to the perceived reality that they actually deserved the scholarship. These folks are hired on this perceived reality and our world is no better. So in any situation (LD, athletes, academics, merits) there are person’s rightfully deserving scholarships that do not getting them and those who get them that do not deserve them. It is not for us to say if it is right or wrong based on one criteria or the other. It is for the person who is offering the scholarship to fully ensure they are awarded correctly. People taking advantage of systems can, and do, apply for scholarship all day long, but if someone is not policing those to weed out the fact from fiction, fact always loses out. This is the same for LD scholarships, if someone is not weeding out those looking for a handout from those actually deserving the scholarship, no one wins. The perception may be that they are winning, but society continues to suffer.
Sorry for the long rant, but I do appreciate you listening and look forward to any information you can offer for those in my daughter’s situation.
Saundra: It’s my guess that there is cheating and unfairness all over the place, not just in the area of academic merit scholarships but that doesn’t change the idea that your daughter ought to get a scholarship because of her achievements, not because of her learning disability.
My guess is if you keep on trying you’ll find a way to get financial aid to help her go to college if financial aid is needed. Have you looked into Americorp?
If someone has money they want to use to fund someone else’s education and they just happen to want to give it to someone who has an LD, then why not? It is their money and they can spend it however they want. People with LD’s are no less deserving than any other person in this world. I say let people use their agency to choose how they spend their money. Education, no matter whose it is, is a worthwhile investment. People are often more prone to help others who are in their family, close friends, or who have shared similar life experiences. As long as they are blessing another person’s life then it is a good investment. Are some people more deserving than others? Perhaps. Let that be for the person who has the money and is setting up the scholarship to decide.
In the case of Saundra and her daughter, Saundra clearly pointed out that it is because of the learning disability that her daughter achieved so much.
Rachel: So we agree, people with LD who achieve (no matter what “causes” the achievement) are deserving of academic scholarships based on merit.
What we don’t agree on is that people with LD who do not achieve are deserving of academic scholarships based on their LD alone.
If Saundra’s daughter had not achieved would she be just as deserving of an academic scholarship based on merit?
Of course, there are scholarships based on all sorts of things but the point I continue to struggle to make is that there are many reasons people with LD are not getting into college, money is only one of them. The other is that they (we) might not be able to handle the workload. If that’s the case, how is money going to solve the problem?
So, when you take academic achievement out of the mix you run the risk of funding a college education for someone who can’t get into or stay in college.
So, LD alone is not a good barometer of college preparedness. LD coupled with achievement is.
As a parent of an LD child (my youngest) with two other children already in college, the cost of supporting him through college is hitting us hard. We have saved all of their lives for their college funds, putting off moving into a larger home in favor of saving for their college future, and we have done all we can to support this effort. However, raising an LD child is very expensive when you factor in all the costs of OT, speech and other costs that insurance will not cover, but he needs to succeed in life and in school. Now that he has reached college age and is doing great in life and in school, we need some help with college funding. Is it fair to try for scholarship money that is geared toward those students that have been accepted to college despite the odds against them, you bet it is. If there is help out there for my son, I will go for in now, as I have his whole life. My goal as a parent is to support him toward a future that is as successful as he is capable of and attaining a college education is his best hope, as it is for everyone else. So I ask you, if there was a way for you to better yourself, and you needed that help, should you turn it down simply because you had a chance to receive it? Just because there are scholarships available, there is no promise one will get them, just the chance is there. People with LD do not become college bound without hard work and dedication and anyone who has gone to college will tell you that no one will stay in college without even more hard work and dedication.
Terry: you may not believe this but I completely agree with everything you say. It’s the folks who are leaving out the last piece, the hard work necessary to get into and stay in college that I have problems with.
Some folks are leaving out the work and simply assuming that an LD label will get them a scholarship.
So, my question is, does having an LD label alone qualify one for a scholarship? I think not. It has to be coupled with some sort of academic achievement. Otherwise, how would one stay in college once accepted?
I was connected to this page by seaching google with “college+scholarships+adhd”. I haven’t looked at the Home page or the “about” page, I do not need or want to. I thought I was being sent to a site that would provide positive information on scholarships for individuals with learning disabilities, instead I wasted 30 minutes of my time reading the disgusting rants and opinions of someone who claims to have built a site to help people like me. As far as I can tell, Richard, you for some reason believe that your opinion is the only one that has any kind of validity regarding the subject. Congratulations! You have a LD! Everyone that posted on this page either has one or is personally effected by LD’s. You have no right to inform them that their opinion is right or wrong. You go as far as to accuse someone of “attacking” you when it is clear to me that almost every response you give to anyones opinion is a condescending, almost snide remark. Life, in general, can be frustrating for people with LD’s, but I’m not sure when the last time I was this frustrated or angry regarding the subject as I am reading your posts. They seem almost LD messiah like to me. Who gave you the right? Get off your horse. I strongly suggest you stop deceiving people with the name of your website.
Correy: What horse am I on, exactly? The only thing I’m attempting to do by continuing to discuss this is to shed light on a single idea: a learning disability alone ought not qualify someone for a college scholarship. It’s an idea and as such deserves to be thought about just like any other. If you disagree, fine. No reason to attack me. I’m not going to attack you.
This is obviously an unpopular opinion among some of the people who find this post because of course, the folks who find the post via search are no doubt looking for scholarships. But, almost every professional I know in the field of LD support believes, like I do, that having a learning disability alone ought not qualify one for a scholarship. One needs the academic skills to actually get into and stay in college, and the motivation. If all of these prerequisites for success in college are in place, great, hand out the scholarships.
I want more people with learning disabilities to go to college. I’m happy to donate money to scholarship programs to help such people. But, I would never want the label alone to be the determining factor.
Now, in what way have I put you down or talked condescendingly in attempting, once again, to clarity my opinion?
The typical college student taking 12+ hours of school has at least a part time job (and still has time for a social life). An LD college student taking 12+ hours and who is serious about getting good grades spends 2 to 3 times longer on any given assignment, making it next to impossible to have a job. I know this first hand. Thus, the financial pressure on a student with an LD is much greater. It seems to me that this justifies scholarship help more so than some of the other scholarships which are offered to students based solely on [you name the criteria].
Don, your description of a typical college student with LD sounds logical except I swear; every college student with LD that I know has an active social life.
Besides, financial pressure isn’t a criteria of scholarship, perhaps financial aid or grants.
I am a high school senior and I happened to stumble across this web site while looking for scholarships based on my dyslexia. I have to admit some of the posts have made me extremely disappointed in peoples understanding of learning disabilities. I have a relatively sever case of dyslexia and have struggled with it for as long as I can remember. although this has made my life difficult I haven’t let it stop me in my pursuit of higher education. One thing that saddens me deeply is people with LD’s that think that just because they made it without help means that all kids should be able to do it. I mean just because that guy with an amputated leg made it to the olympics doesn’t mean that every amputee shouldn’t be given help does it? Some people are more able to over come than others. I have just finished the application process to college and have received a few acceptances, this is not because I am dyslexic but because I worked hard and had support from my family, I took Advanced Placement classes through high school, and I feel that kids like myself, ones that worked hard and pushed themselves, should be rewarded for there hard work. We are not accepted to college because the admissions officers feel bad for us but because we deserve a spot in the school, if our families cant afford said school why should we not look for money in every avenue that its possibly available to us. Say that I get my acceptance to Yale tomorrow but I don’t get any merit scholarships because although I worked my butt off in high school my grades where Yale materiel but not Yale plus money material. JUst because my parents are a teacher and a carpenter and they cant afford the tuition to an ivy or actually college itself should I not be able to go? Also why, I ask, should we not help those kids who have worked long hard hours just to get into community college, sometimes getting into Yale is not even a thought for a kid maybe their local state school is their reach school, thats ok with me as long as that kid is working hard to stay where they are than they deserve some help. It is when the high performing learning disabled who can be the most discriminatory because we do put ourselves in the same category we just sometimes forget that not everyone can do what we do, maybe someone’s parents don’t support them (wether thats not helping them pay for school or not pushing them to do their best), or they have multiple disabilities, or there school didn’t have good LD services, or a combination of that and other things why does that make them below those of us that did concur and fight every day to stay even with, or sometimes above, our classmates.
So the original question is why should the LD get scholarships? I say because if they worked hard and got good grades in the classes they took than that deserves a pat on the back because we all now that they had to work two or more times harder than their classmate to keep up. also Maybe that money that is going to HIGHER EDUCATION will encourage some kid that doesn’t thing that they cold afford it to work harder and fulfill their potential, I don’t see the harm in that.
Margaret: You should get a scholarship to Yale. No question about it. But, you should get it because of your grades and achievement and your ability to do Yale level academic work and your financial need in addition to your learning disabilities.
Awarding a scholarship based solely on the LD label is what I’m questioning. If we did this then the person with the most severe case of dyslexia might be the most qualified for a scholarship yet the least likely to get into and/or stay in college.
Getting into and staying in college is only partly about money, it’s also about the ability to do the academic work. A scholarship does not lower admissions requirements nor does it mean that a person will automatically get a tutor or the academic support necessary to do well in college.
So, I continue to question the statement: “I’m LD, I deserve a scholarship” without the addition of financial need and academic capabilities.
“Just because my parents are a teacher and a carpenter and they cant afford the tuition to an ivy or actually college itself should I not be able to go?”
Margaret asks this good question towards the end of her post. It’s a good question, but it’s not the question in this thread.
This thread asks another really good question: Should one deserve a scholarship based solely on the fact that one is dyslexic?
Once again, the distinction between the two questions are the words “scholarship (merit-based)” and “financial aid.”
Let me ask it this way: If you have a severe physical disability, and you overcome great obstacles, does that automatically qualify you for scholarship to a college? What if you had Polio (substitute any potentially limiting condition), and in addition to everything else associated with that illness, you had to work extra hard, put in extra time, and needed to use technology to write your papers.
This (or dyslexia) might cause the admission’s decision to tilt in your favor (shifting admission’s criteria…for example, less emphasis on SAT scores).
I don’t think the disability merits the scholarship however. What I can say is a person’s response to a disability or any other significantly challenging circumstance could be considered in the application process and help with the admission’s decision.
If a person is borderline acceptable to an Ivy school (or any other type school) AND has a challenge that might help explain/mitigate certain grades or test scores, then these things (LD, psychiatric disorder, illness, poverty) can influence all sorts of decisions.
The question goes back to whether the label itself merits scholarship money. Personally I feel that just demeans the whole dyslexia community. There’s too much diversity in that category of learners to warrant it to mean automatic anything.
Well said Sandy. This is important:
“a person’s response to a disability or any other significantly challenging circumstance could be considered in the application process and help with the admission’s decision”
Scholarships are generally (although not always) based on merit or achievement. Being LD in itself is not an achievement but if someone with LD (maybe Margaret above) respond to the LD by working harder and meeting the admissions requirements for Yale, that’s quite an achievement.
Margaret folds into that circumstance that her parents can’t afford to send her to Yale (few parents can, it’s extremely expensive). However, Yale offers financial aid for students who meet its admissions requirements and can’t afford the tuition. This is something most people looking for scholarships should also be looking at. Many students at Yale, LD or not, qualify for and receive financial aid.
Margaret also might qualify for a merit scholarship because of her academic achievement and if she does, I hope she gets it. If she did get it, I would hope that it would be awarded based on her academic achievement with the fact that she’s LD being a footnote rather than primarily on the fact that she’s LD with the academic achievement being a footnote.
That may sound like splitting hairs to some but as Sandy says above, I think focusing too much on the LD label when looking at achievement demeans the LD community, and the achievement.
The reason there should be a category of scholarships offered to certain kids with learning disabilities is because these kids, more than likely will not be able to compete with the average crowd at getting scholarships based on merit. My son is dyslexic and ADD. We recently applied to ACT for extended time. We spent $1,200 on updated testing that confirmed his diagnosis. The diagnostician confirmed it and said he has a processing speed issue as well. We have also had to move him his sophomore year in high school to a school that specializes in kids with learning differences which costs us $20,000 per year. NOW, ACT has denied my son extended time!!! How is he supposed to compete for scholarships based on merit (GPA and test scores considered here)? The system is not fair for these kids with LD. He is just as capable at being successful in the world as those kids that test well and make better grades. Why shouldn’t there be a scholarship category for him too!!!!
Jeri, I know this is an emotional issue. Your child should get the same opportunities as everyone else and the playing field should be level (which it isn’t, some of the time).
But your issue it seems to me, is with the ACT, denying your son extended time. There should be no issue in getting that accommodation if the testing and report demonstrates that the issue is in part, speed related. Usually the key is in how well this is demonstrated in the report and also if he gets this accommodation (based on for example a 504 plan or an IEP) in his current school.
He should have the playing field leveled (more time, expert and appropriate instruction, etc).
One of the problems may be that he’s applying for a scholarship based significantly on his SAT or ACT scores. That may be a poor match.
Even the scholarships that are geared for students with LD and/or ADD (The Ann Ford Scholarship comes to mind); the award is not based solely on “having a learning disability.” The student must demonstrate at least a 3.0 gpa but also have have other attributes.
At a fairly high level, the student must, as I understand it, have excellent self-advocacy skills, be a risk taker, have a “broad perspective on their learning disability as well as life,” etc.
In other words, even for the few scholarships that are geared towards the LD community, the LD is simply one factor in a constellation of other attributes shown to indicate potential and success.
LD alone is far too wide a description and much too narrow a criteria to alone merit a scholarship.
Level the playing field, but keep him on the same field.
Admittedly, I have not read every single post here, only the first few and last few, but I believe the gist of this thread is whether or not dyslexia or learning disability alone should qualify one for a scholarship.
What I haven’t seen addressed (sorry if I missed it) is that scholarships (not grants or federally dispersed aid based on need) are typically awarded by private benefactors to select individuals who can meet certain established criteria ranging from nonsense to very real disadvantage. Has anyone heard of the David Letterman scholarship for “C” students? It’s legit.
I think the only scholarship offered through tax dollars is the nation-wide “Presidential Scholarship” which is always based on merit and no other factor. So, to debate the fairness of a private scholarship granted on the basis of a learning disability is actually moot; such award is just as fair as any other.
Perhaps the question should be, “Does dyslexia or learning challenge present significant disadvantage to the prospective college student that might be remedied by tuition assistance?” We’ve answered this question throughout recent history with a resounding “YES!” if we were referring to ethnic or gender minorities who have suffered direct and indirect results of discrimination, regardless of economic class. Private scholarships abound for African-American and Hispanic populations, and are becoming more numerous for women in non-traditional fields (medicine, law-enforcement). If we agree that these are a good thing, then why would we wonder if the disabled population of any diagnosis is not also deserving of the same? It may not be commonly known that Affirmative Action in employment and education is meant to include disabled persons because of the long history of discrimination in these domains.
Scholarships are meant to assist individuals but have the more global effect of correcting attitudes that have kept entire groups in the lower socioeconomic strata for centuries. Dyslexic students should be encouraged to enter fields once reserved for the academically elite, and let’s face it, money talks. If it costs too much to start, many will simply resort to the less risky option of high school to work force. Education has become far more competitive and expensive than “in my day” (60s/70s), and as much as advances in technology could have made “disability” an obsolete term, the sad truth is that we are moving in reverse in our attitudes toward those that are challenged by conditions well within our power to change. Most high schools and colleges are still clueless about adaptive technology and what constitutes “reasonable accommodations.”
I have two children, one who excelled and received numerous scholarships, and one who is dyslexic and will receive the “Mom and Dad’s Loving Faith In You” scholarship, because none others are available to him, and only because we can.
If, after reading all the posts by individuals here who are or have dyslexic students, anyone is still not convinced of the social, educational, and economic obstacles faced by learning disabled persons, then there is nothing I can offer to add to the stew. The fact that so few scholarships exist for LD students is a testament to how much they are needed.
Well said Julie and I agree. Remember, the last paragraph of my initial post that’s getting me bombarded with hate comments here says this:
There is a difference between offering a student who might not be able to enter college because of poor grades and low test scores an academic waiver and the needed academic support to keep him or her in college, and offering them financial support that doesn’t necessarily come bundled with those things.
Yes, college costs money and many need assistance to get and stay in but in the LD world, students also may need academic assistance to get and stay in. A scholarship doesn’t automatically mean academic support.
So, my meta point here is to attempt to tease out the money issue from the academic issue. This is why I’m saying (some find it harsh) that the LD label alone ought not be used to grant an academic scholarship, just like I would argue that being black or hispanic ought not be used alone to grant a scholarship or a job.
An example of where affirmative action goes wrong (in my opinion) is hiring someone based solely on a label (ethnicity, gender, etc.) who is unqualified to do the job where others might be more qualified, just to push the social engineering agenda.
This is nuanced because it may be tough in the job arena to quantify qualifications but in the academic arena it’s a bit easier because of grades and testing (which aren’t fair either but that’s a deeper issue).
Of course, if three people with equal qualifications apply for a job and one is female and I want more women in my business… but the question is, how far do I bend to diversify and at what cost to my other employees?
Schools have admissions and graduation requirements. If the person with the learning disability who now can afford to go to college because of a scholarship can’t remain in the college or requires more academic support than the college offers, problems arise.
I want more people with LD to get into and finish college and this is why I spent the last twenty years working to get admissions requirements and curricula changed to better accommodate more diverse learning styles. That includes more use of technology and offering reading materials in alternative forms.
This entire question came up years ago because of a situation that happened at Boston University where LD students were given foreign language and math waivers by the LD support staff that the University eventually felt went too far in end-running their academic requirements for graduation. Since then BU has tightened up its rules for granting academic waivers. BU is one of the most expensive universities in the country. Giving a student with learning disabilities a scholarship to attend wouldn’t mean that the student would be able to get around BU’s foreign language, math, and other requirements.
If the student with LD could meet those requirements (like any other student, with or without academic support) then of course, it makes perfect sense to grant a scholarship to help that person go to an expensive and excellent university and it does the university a great deal of good to have a more diverse population of learners.
Are there students with LD who can do this? Of course, they’re doing it right now. But, not every student, LD or not, can get into and stay in BU.
So, granting an academic scholarship based solely on a label, any label, makes me uneasy.
I meant to say “The Rehabilitation Act of 1973″ – so sorry.
Hi again Richard,
I guess I have to ask you why the uneasiness with scholarships based on a label? I assume for now that the uneasiness stems from the possibility that the label will lead to additional stereotypes and serve to segregate rather than mainstream those labeled. A very valid concern – if we look at the sentiments toward Affirmative Action legislation in recent years, we can see a lot of resentment mounting from unlabeled America toward the labeled, and we’re right to ask ourselves if the efforts which once sought to equalize have not actually had the reverse effect as far as attitudes go.
I don’t think, though, all things considered, that the label is such a bad thing. Indeed, we have reached a point at which many labeled individuals can now secure and maintain employment and educational opportunities on their own merit, that is, without the intervention of quotas (the assumption being that the merit was always there but hidden from or ignored by the institution). So, why does the preferential treatment continue?
One, we have finally made some measurable progress only by virtue of the label, which was assigned by mainstream America long, long, long before AA. Labels seem to be a fact of life. Whether perpetuated by the law or originating from archaic ideas, I fear labels aren’t going anywhere soon, so, for the benefit of all, we need to make the best of them. Two, the Supreme Court has ruled even recently that the label is still an appropriate factor in admission decisions made by universities. Although the court issued a general ruling without specifying the extent to which the label can be used, they have repeatedly made it clear that one need not prove the direct effects of past discrimination in order to benefit from the label. Economic and educational disadvantage can rightfully be assumed if one is labeled, according to the high court. Essentially, the court says that enough evidence exists to point to a possible reversal of the upward trend if those factors are not considered. Three, while opportunities for women and ethnic minorities have certainly made strides in the last four decades, such for the disabled population has not kept pace. In spite of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1973, in spite of Section 504, in spite of isolated success stories from very determined students who beat the odds, in spite of advances in technology that should make education more accessible to all learning styles, those with learning differences continue to find themselves at a disadvantage. From the rigid standards of No Child Left Behind to the articulation initiatives and general studies set forth by colleges across the country, it is clear education has upped the ante, arbitrarily so, on requirements to succeed. There is practically no such entity as the trade school these days, with community colleges having taken over training for the bulk of skilled professions and adding a host of non-applicable and exclusive academic classes to those degree programs.
So far I am discussing issues that seem to concern policies of educational accommodation rather than economic barriers to post-secondary schooling. However, I think we can all agree now that financial need exists for everyone, certainly no less the learning disabled. Who can afford college these days? When I say “we can,†I mean barely, on a six-figure income, and with my son living at home and limiting his choice of programs, and only because we were able to save a little from my daughter’s scholarships. I completely agree that we must separate the financial issues from the academic ones when advocating for adaptive technology, course substitutions, entrance requirements, etc., but why should a focus on these accommodations preclude the consideration of scholarships? I’m finding that adding accessibility makes education a far more expensive endeavor for differently-abled persons. Many have pointed out some of the reasons here, and the list goes on.
Additionally, I hope my spiel about Affirmative Action suggests that disadvantage encompasses a large grey area in which economic and educational factors cannot be separated, and that the labels, however menacing they seem, are necessary to eventually reduce that overlap. Scholarships seem to fall into that grey zone. I think we can assess our society’s attitudes toward labeled groups by examining the numerous scholarships that private donors offer to Americans at large: “they” say, effectively, We know it’s expensive, but we believe in your ability, we will invest in your success. And when all the pickins have been picked from the wishing tree, our ethnic minority students, A+ students, young women students, and a broad selection of other students who can somehow distinguish themselves with almost any kind of label will walk away with a little more self-esteem, a little more secure in their futures. It speaks volumes that there is nothing on that tree for our dyslexic young people.
P.S. “Richard, and others, I hope I have offered some food for thought, but I acknowledge that we may have to agree to disagree on the scholarship debate. Nonetheless, I have profound respect for what you do and for what you have accomplished. It couldn’t have been easy, and I hope my son follows a similar path. I’m going to spend more time scouring this excellent site for information and discussion and am so glad I found it. Blessings, and many thanks.
Julie
Julie: I love this “debate/discussion” and the points you make are well reasoned and excellent.
I’m still not sure how you expect someone with a learning disability who gets a scholarship to a college that doesn’t offer the kind of academic support they need, to stay in.
For some students with learning disabilities staying in may require a lot of academic support which also costs extra money if the school doesn’t offer it as part of their service.
My point is that there is more to getting into and staying in college than paying for it. Paying is important, but learning and graduating is too.
I think it may be short sighted to focus primarily on the money issue when so many students with LD are having a hard time finishing college even when its payed for.
All of that said, yes, I do have a hard time with labels and whether or not anyone in this comment thread uses the label “learning disabled” irresponsibly, I do think our “community” has a lot of professional victims in it and that bothers me terribly.
That doesn’t mean that everyone or even a majority of people abuse the label, but it’s done.
So, the idea of using the “LD” label solely as a reason for granting an academic scholarship bothers me.
Is there any college scholarships for fibromyalgia?
Katherine,
This is a site related to learning disabilities.
This may be slightly off topic but interesting and in some ways related:
www.good.is/post/debunking-the-myth-that-minorities-receive-more-college-scholarships/
Richard,
This pleasantly surprised me. It also reinforces the idea that there’s not a single criteria for most merit scholarships, race, LD, etc.
Exactly Sandy.
Wow how shallow some are…Saying that those people will LD’s should not be given the breaks and that they do not deserve $$$ The cost for educating these are much greater all along the education track. I had to pay $29,000.00 a year for 1st ~ 2nd and 3rd grades for a dyslexic education. With the cost of $7000.00 just to get tested to prove you need extra time on standardized test. Which has to be renewed every 3 years. Just because you make great grades you get scholarships you deserve it!! NOT Just because you are black you deserve more scholarships and lower requirements oh pooh ~ Then we should go back to if you can’t afford college then you should not go ~ hows that. That is an even playing field too right!
I have a son that has worked harder to maintain a B average with help all along the way that cost more than most pay for a 4 year college cost! Plus, he is not even to college yet. The children he has known all his life make A’s do not work like he does so just because they are smart they get a full ride? Has that proven they can work hard? Hardly….To some good grades come easy. I was offered a full ride for what I made on the ACT alone…Like how was that a reason for a free 4 year education? By time a parent has paid for 12 years of requirements for LD children there is not a large college fund left. To date I could have sent my son to Harvard for 5 years with what was spent to date. What is fair about that ~ the state is required to help with the cost well he will be retirement age before they get the paper work done. So, for a responsible parent they must pay out of pocket to get the child what is needed when it is needed. Many times legal action is required to get the school systems to give extra time on test even after it is approved. If you know the material you know it does not matter if you have an extra 20 minutes ~ if you do not know the material does matter how long you have you do not know it! You cannot pull it out of thin air…All this cost big bucks.
As, we have found many will not even look at someone who test below their required mark/number unless they are black or other undesired. Why, because the government makes them give them lower requirements. Other wise they would not have a fighting chance. They get breaks just because of skin color. Why shouldn’t they be judged on pass performance? Then children with LD’s PROVEN LD’s should have the same requirements/breaks. For every color based scholarship given one for LD should be given too. They cannot help the color they are ~ they cannot help they are LD either. If he was black he would meet the requirements and get scholarships offers. There you go… He could get a sports scholarship but he has to make a choice either good grades or sports why ~ there is not enough time to do both in his world. My travels have brought many children just like my son along my path and I know there needs to be reform in the system for these children. Maybe when they/you have a child or grandchild with a disability they will think differently.
Angela,
You’ve missed or misrepresented the thoughts and points folks here have made over time. No one’s said people with Learning Disabilities shouldn’t be given breaks. Some like me question whether the fact that one has a particular learning disability in and of itself is a reason for getting a scholarship. I’ve dedicated my life to working with and helping students with learning and other challenges for over 25 years, and I still don’t get why someone should receive a scholarship to a place that they may not be successful in, based on their disability diagnosis.
You mention the expenses you’ve had to put out ($29,000 a year for grades 1-3). That’s an unfortunate reality. But, you paid for an exceptional education (hopefully) and the fight is/should be, with local school districts who could not, did not, provide the education your child deserved.
Your comparisons to black Americans is not entirely off the mark. What comes across as your anger towards legitimate consideration of one’s background is, however. The part of the comparison that makes sense is this: Members of both groups can be marginalized, though people with learning disabilities are sometimes mistaken as being lazy, or less intelligent because of their performance. Their LD-ness is sometimes a hidden thing and somewhat invisible, and hence the misperceptions and insults thrown their way. Now, no one would accuse black people as being inferior, less intelligent, or lazy, simply based on the color of their skin, would they? Not in America, right?
Here’s the key point and what I think you are missing. Students with learning disabilities can and do have the standards and benchmarks lessened (appropriately) during the admission’s process and it’s based in law. Colleges and universities, including the Ivy Leagues, will take students with lower SAT scores for example, in consideration of their learning disability. I had a student once who got into Emory University with way less than the expected courses taken in high school. In her case, some mental illness, depression and learning differences required her going to a high school designed for kids struggling emotionally and behaviorally. They simply didn’t have the breadth of classes one might expect of an applicant to a prestigious university.
That consideration and others like it, makes sense. Scholarships based on diagnosis, no. How you respond to your obstacles, yes.
“Maybe when they/you have a child or grandchild with a disability they will think differently.”
Angela: I’m sure I’m the person you’re aiming your comment at and I think Sanford has done an excellent job of attempting to clarify the viewpoint we both share.
What you don’t seem to realize (it’s in the comments above) if that I have a learning disability, had a hard time with school, went to college (not on scholarship) and then went on to graduate school with a graduate teaching fellowship.
I believe strongly in both financial aid and academic scholarships but the idea of giving someone money to attend college based solely on disability seems very odd to me. Not everyone with a learning disability needs financial aid, some folks with learning disabilities have parents who can pay for their education and do.
So, if two people are disabled in the same way and apply for one of these scholarships based on disability, how would you decide which person to give it to? If your answer is, the person with the most financial need, then it’s not an academic or even disability related scholarship, and that need can be filled through financial aid. If your answer is, the person with the most severe disability that seems like an odd way to determine a scholarship.
How would you determine which person got the scholarship?
I don’t think your aware of how much more difficult it is to be a learning disabled person in school and in life in general. I have to work 10 times harder just to learn simple things that i should have learned when i was in kindergarten and i am now in college and still learning how to tell time and learning my months in order etc. I have a bachelors degree and working on another, but the things that i had to go through in school has been torture because i couldn’t even have jobs i just had to focus only in school and didn’t even have fun because of the amount of effort i had to put into my study! so yes scholarship for the learning disabled should not be questioned! and for me the money is just some bricks off my shoulder , because when your a learning disabled in college there is no such thing as a “free pass” trust me when i tell you that nothing really helps because in the end “I alone will have to pass”
Solange: I’m very aware of how much more difficult it is to be learning disabled in school, I started this web site so that I could share some of the things I’ve learned growing up with a learning disability.
I urge you to read comment #166 above yours, I think it spells out clearly the problem I see with mixing scholarships with financial aid and academic support. They don’t mix well in my view.
A couple of summary or clarifying points then.
1. As Richard said, he knows first-hand the difficulties and frustrations that go along with being a student with learning disabilities.
2. While I am not someone with a learning disability, I’ve raised a son with LD, and have seen the devastating effects having a learning disability in an unsupportive school and/or family setting can wreak on self-esteem. Having been an Ld specialist for many years, I’ve worked with hundreds and hundreds of children and adults with LD and do know through many of them, of the hidden scars they carry.
3. Personally, I’m not opposed to having the fact that one has a learning disability be a part of the criteria for a scholarship, so long as it’s not the only defining feature. As in the Anne Ford Scholarships, which are for students with learning disabilities, winners also have to show evidence of academic success, leadership and community service.
You can’t have the diagnosis alone create the award.
“Where I have a hard time is with the generalization that having a learning disability automatically qualifies you for a scholarship.”
Why? People like you or I could have a crap ton of money and create an endowment for whatever type of students we wished to give a scholarship to.
In fact, after obtaining my PhD and if I get a job at a university, pay off my 100,000 dollars of student debt, I then plan to create an endowment fund for students with the same characteristics as myself.
I mean, it’s a stupid argument, really. What about being black qualifies someone for a scholarship? What about being from a certain county qualifies someone for a scholarship? What about choosing a certain major qualifies someone for a scholarship,.. etc, etc, etc…I’ll tell you the answer: someone created a scholarship fund for people meeting particular characteristics. Why? Because someone thought particular characteristics gave some people a disadvantage.
Seriously dude, I couldn’t even read this whole thread because it was ridiculous and people told you the answers and you kept going and then you complained about how people were arguing with you.
What is your point?
Nobody really “deserves” anything, but people create opportunities for individuals with certain characteristics.
And at one point, you made some example about a “person A” and “person B” with similar profiles but one is less fortunate than the other. Ok, of course the student who is more poor will get the scholarship. Often times on applications, you have to supply your gross family income and number of people in household. Other times, scholarships are handled by financial aid, although they are endowment funds from others outside the university, and financial aid gives in order of need.
Seriously, learn shit before you try to start shit.
EB,
You make some good points and express them with extra mustard.
First, for the sake of clarity, most of the replies to this thread have come from Richard, the guy who started and maintained this site up till last winter. Though Richard and I see a lot of things concerning learning disabilities in a similar way, we’re not the same person- so my response is on the issues not with anything you may have directed towards any one aspect of any of his replies.
That said, where he and I agree is on the fundamental question of the original post: Does having a learning disability automatically and in and of itself qualify someone for a scholarship (not financial aid)?
You say, yes. I say no.
Your comment: “People like you or I could have a crap ton of money and create an endowment for whatever type of students we wished to give a scholarship to.” Agreed. People have the right to award or give money to anyone they like I suppose.
You add,”…if I get a job at a university, pay off my 100,000 dollars of student debt, I then plan to create an endowment fund for students with the same characteristics as myself.” Great. Good for you, seriously. Not that it really matters here, but I regularly donate monies and time to students with LDs as well.
Here’s the crux of your point in my opinion: “I mean, it’s a stupid argument, really. What about being black qualifies someone for a scholarship? What about being from a certain county qualifies someone for a scholarship? ”
EB, these are valid and good questions, though I don’t think the counter points raised previously “are stupid.” (though as you say, you didn’t/”couldn’t” read them all). Nonetheless, the restrictive categories of race or place of origin, or the like, are only the beginning of the selection process. After you’re in the hunt for qualifying for a particular scholarship based on any of such criteria, you then have to prove other definable qualities such as evidence of academic success, resilience, service, and/or a commitment to give back.
The reason those criteria exist is because in part, the selection committee wants to try and ensure that the fit between the candidate and school is a good one. In other words, we don’t want to have a young person accepted into a school where they will more likely fail, because they’re unprepared or otherwise a poor match. There’s too many examples of parents pushing kids into the elite schools or wherever, simply to have the marquee value.
I’ve learned lots of “sh-t” (your word) and became passionate and thoughtful about this “sh-t” (yours as well) long before I entered the discussion (I didn’t start it).
I get it that you and others feel you are standing up for the rights of students who’ve been unfairly treated in aspects of the school experience.
So are we.