Using Winter Break to Plan Ahead

Students with physical disabilities and health conditions have lots of things to manage in their lives. In many cases, high school students receive assistance from their families. Whether it’s support with daily living needs (dressing/bathing), assistance with packing a lunch, or a reminder from a parent to take a medication, these are all things that students will need to be able to manage independently when they are in college. Working with students to build skills and identify systems takes time and patience. Students can start to build these skills while they are in high school. This can also be a big adjustment for parents who are used to providing support and oversight for their student. Parents sometimes need to learn to take a step back and work with the student to identify spaces where the student can start to take on increased responsibility. Here are some tips for students and families to use to promote greater independence, skill building, and problem solving skills for students prior to going college:

1. Identify Needs: Think about the students whole day from waking up to going to bed, and create a list. What things are the student is currently getting support with? What things can the student start to learn to do by themselves? Parents should consider the “shadow work” that they may do for the student, such as: refilling prescriptions, making lunches, doing the laundry, laying out clothes, etc. 

2. Create Measurable Goals: What will the student and/or parent be working on? What steps do students or parents need to take to get there? It can help to write out these goals and identify times to check in on progress. 

3. It’s a Team Effort: Parents and students need to work together. Sometimes, it can take a student time to come around to the idea that they will have to do these things or manage these processes independently and it can take the parent time to let go. It’s a lot! Starting these conversations early can be helpful. 

4. Space to Learn: It can be hard for parents to give their student space to learn, especially if the stakes are high. For example, parents might be afraid of the student missing medication, or missing the bus because they couldn’t get dressed in time. Most of these concerns can be mitigated with checks and balances. Providing space for mistakes and adding debriefs, check-in’s, and accountability can help. 

Families should get started on building skills as early as possible. Accessible College supports students and families in working towards building independent living skills through coaching. Reach out for a free 30 minute consultation and check out our services. 

Our online course, “Preparing Students with Physical Disabilities and Health Conditions for College” was designed as an essential starting point for parents, educators, and healthcare providers to gain insights to work with students on understanding the how college is different from high school and to start getting prepared! 

Read other pieces on skill building:
Skill Building with Students Over the Summer
When Students with Health Conditions Transition to College
How Students With Disabilities, and Their Parents, Need To Prepare for College

Join our Facebook Group! College Success: Physical Disabilities, Chronic Health and Mental Health. It’s a great resource for students, families, healthcare providers, educators, counselors and IECs.