Selecting a College

Choosing a college is a high-stakes decision for any student, but for dyslexic students it carries an additional layer of complexity: the quality of disability support services varies enormously from institution to institution. A college with a strong, well-resourced disability services office can make the difference between a successful college experience and a crushing one. Evaluating disability services should be a primary criterion in the college selection process, not an afterthought.

Evaluating Disability Services

Not all college disability offices are equal. Some are small, understaffed operations that process accommodation paperwork without providing meaningful support. Others are fully developed service centers with specialists in learning disabilities, tutoring programs, assistive technology labs, and advocates who help students navigate the academic system.

Questions to ask when evaluating a college’s disability services:

• Is there a specialist in the office who works specifically with students who have learning disabilities or dyslexia — not just physical disabilities?
• How many students with learning disabilities does the office serve?
• What documentation is required to receive accommodations, and is it available to you?
• What accommodations are routinely provided to students with dyslexia? (Extended time, text-to-speech access, note-taking support, alternative exam formats?)
• Are there academic support services specifically for students with learning disabilities, such as tutoring, writing support, or skills workshops?
• How does the office communicate with faculty on behalf of students?
• Are there peer support groups or communities for students with dyslexia?

The Campus Visit

The campus visit for a dyslexic student should include a specific meeting with the disability services office — not just a group information session but an individual appointment. During this meeting, the student and family can ask the questions above and get a direct sense of how knowledgeable and welcoming the staff are. A disability services coordinator who speaks fluently about dyslexia, phonological processing, and the specific challenges of college reading loads is a very different resource from one who primarily handles parking permits and wheelchair accommodations.

Shaywitz also recommends that students visit the office without their parents at some point during the process, to assess how they personally feel asking for help and interacting with the staff.

Disclosure in Applications

Whether and how to disclose dyslexia in a college application is a personal decision. Shaywitz’s guidance is nuanced:

Potential advantages of disclosure: The college essay is an opportunity to describe how a student has grappled with and overcome significant challenges. A well-written essay about living with dyslexia — focusing on self-knowledge, resilience, the strategies developed, and the strengths gained — can be genuinely compelling and distinctive. It can also explain a transcript that shows strong academic ability alongside grades that may not fully reflect that ability.

Potential concerns about disclosure: Some students worry about stigma or that disclosure will harm their application. At highly selective institutions, this concern is not entirely unfounded, though it is difficult to assess. Students who prefer not to disclose in their main application can still list accommodations received in high school in the supplemental materials section, which signals the disability to the disability services office without making it the focus of the application.

Legal Protections

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act extend to higher education, requiring colleges and universities that receive federal funding to provide reasonable accommodations to students with documented disabilities. However, higher education is different from K–12 in one important respect: colleges are not required to identify students who need support. The student must self-identify, provide documentation, and request accommodations. This means proactive engagement with the disability services office is essential — no one will come looking for students who are struggling silently.

Based on “Overcoming Dyslexia” by Sally Shaywitz, M.D. (2020 edition)