“Just when I’ve mastered the IEP process, here comes college.”
If you’re a parent of a student with a disability who has an IEP or 504 or you’re a professional who works with them, you probably know the K-12 landscape well.
But the college environment holds important changes:
- shifts in prevailing laws result in a disability accommodation system that works very differently and places fewer demands on colleges than on K-12 schools
- academic demands increase
- at the same time, some of the supports students have used in high school won’t be available
The good news is that research shows that the proper preparation can help students make a smooth college transition. But the planning needs to be rooted in a thorough, accurate understanding of the changes they’ll encounter in the college environment. Too many families and professionals assume they know what students can expect at college, but research shows that the gaps in their knowledge result in students having transition experiences that are harder than they need to be.
In this essential guide, college learning disabilities specialist Elizabeth C. Hamblet builds a foundation of knowledge step-by-step and answers your urgent questions, including how:
- students access accommodations, which ones commonly are and aren’t approved, and what documentation they may need to request them
- parents and professionals can help students develop the key personal and academic skills needed for self-management at college
- students can find colleges that are a good fit in all of the important ways and what admissions directors want them to know about the application process
This third edition has been greatly revised to make it equally helpful to parents and professionals. It includes updated research and interviews, and new in this edition is corrections to common myths readers may have heard. More than 3500 copies have been sold – get yours now! (See purchase options below.)
Use code RLEGEN20 on this page to get 20% off. (Discount only valid for direct purchase from the publisher.)
Click here to direct your purchase to give a sale to an independent bookseller. Elizabeth hopes you’ll choose Ida’s Bookshop, a Black woman-owned store, to fulfill your order.
Book resources
View a detailed table of contents.
Download a reading guide with questions to help you engage with the text.
Praise for Seven Steps to College Success from Parenting and Education Experts
(See reader reviews on Amazon)
Hamblet’s Seven Steps to College Success: A Pathway for Students with Disabilities is a must-read resource, chock full of vital information, behind the scenes insights, and spot-on advice for parents whose kids need more help, but crave independence no less, for success in college and developing successful, independent lives.
Ned Johnson, president, PrepMatters, and The Self-Driven Child and What Do You Say? How to Talk with Kids to Build Motivation, Stress Tolerance, and a Happy Home
Seven Steps to College Success should be required reading for any family raising differently wired kids looking for practical information and insights on navigating the transition to college. Elizabeth brings deep research with school administrators, years of experience working as a university learning disabilities specialist, and breadth of knowledge of the complex systems students and families have to engage with. Seven Steps is incredibly generous and thorough, providing the answers to parents’ biggest questions, including how to know if a school will support a student’s neurodivergence, what support on campus actually looks like, and how we can prepare our kids to self-advocate and be successful on campus. I’m so grateful for this resource!
Debbie Reber, founder & CEO, Tilt Parenting, author, Differently Wired
This book is awesome!
Planning for college and yet you have an IEP or a Section 504 Plan? You and your parents MUST read this book! Whether you are just “thinking” about going to college or it is a definite plan, familiarize yourself with the “Seven Steps” and do it BEFORE making any important decisions. Hamblet’s Seven Steps will help ensure that you select the right college and obtain the appropriate accommodations for a successful college experience.
You will learn that the “disability services” and the applicable laws in higher education are quite different from what you experienced at the secondary school level. Hamblet has worked with students with special needs for more than 25 years, and, as prolific author, speaker, and trainer, she IS the national expert about higher ed transition issues for the student with special needs.
Peter W.D. Wright, Esq., co-founder of Wrightslaw
In Seven Steps to College Success, Hamblet gives parents a practical guide to usher their children to adulthood. When your child learns and thinks differently, it is scary to send them off to college without the supports they’ve had in the past. This book equips parents with the tools necessary to foster independence and encourage self-advocacy in their college-bound children.
Emily Kircher-Morris, creator/host of The Neurodiversity Podcast and author of Teaching Twice-Exceptional Learners in Today’s Classroom