It’s that time of year again! Students everywhere, including students with Learning Disabilities, are gearing up to start another year of school. For many of these students, this will be their last year as high school students. It’s a year full of many emotions and uncertainty about their future. Homecoming, Homecoming Week, Prom, Senior Night, visualizing graduation ceremony, worrying about passing all their classes… and the list goes on and on of all the many activities and thoughts seniors have their last year in high school. There is simply so much to do and be a part of and so little time to do it.
If all that wasn’t enough, students with learning disabilities are inundated with all the above and all the tools and strategies they use to manage their learning difference. Let’s face it; senior year is jammed packed even for students without learning differences. How much more are students with learning differences at risk for waiting to the last minute to plan for college?
The key to students with learning disabilities being successful without being overwhelmed is to start planning for their last day of high school on the first day of high school. Here are 6 tips that will help your student experience all the joys of being a senior yet successfully planning for college without getting overwhelmed.
Tip #1 Get Organized: Organization is an arch nemesis of many students with learning differences. So balancing school work, jobs, extracurricular activities and college planning is tough, but a must. I suggest identifying organization strategies that work well for your particular student. There are a ton of tools and strategies out there. The key is finding the most effective for your student and the one he will make his own.
You can find a list of apps that assist in organization compiled by the National Center for Learning Disabilities in an article titled Apps for Students with LD: Organization and Study.
Click here for tip #2.