{"id":371,"date":"2020-09-22T15:34:51","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T15:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/developmenttwo.marymount.edu\/academics\/?page_id=371"},"modified":"2023-10-26T12:39:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T16:39:43","slug":"letter-to-parents","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/services-resources\/student-academic-hub\/student-access-services\/behavioral-disabilities\/letter-to-parents\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to Parents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Parent,<\/p>\n

Congratulations to both you and your college student, for reaching this point!\u00a0\u00a0Students with disabilities survive and thrive on college campuses across the country, and we are looking forward to partnering with them here at Marymount!<\/p>\n

You as a parent have likely been very involved in the educational programming and planning that your son or daughter received during their years in the K-12 school system.\u00a0\u00a0By law, the school needed to engage you and receive permission from you before moving forward on anything regarding your son or daughter\u2019s disability.\u00a0\u00a0You may have sat through IEP meetings over the years, and been insistent on certain issues of academic support when necessary.\u00a0\u00a0Now, as your son or daughter is preparing to enter college, the role of you being their academic advocate transitions from you to your college student. With this hand-off in mind, you can still play a vital role in this transition.<\/p>\n

It is time to begin thinking of your son or daughter as a college student.\u00a0\u00a0You should begin to step back and allow\/encourage\/gently nudge your student with a disability (SWD) to assume significant independent responsibility for their own lives, both academically and personally.\u00a0\u00a0We are well aware that this shift in perspective may be new for you and your college student.\u00a0\u00a0It is important that they take on the role of being a SWD, which requires them to share information and partner with our office, Student Access Services (SAS).\u00a0\u00a0They have to be the one to convey crucial information for a number of reasons.\u00a0\u00a0Colleges and universities provide services and supports to SWD under very different laws than the K-12 system does.\u00a0\u00a0To learn about the differences between disability services in high school and college please visit the Marymount web page about Disabilities Services in High School & College<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The services and supports available to SWD may be very different than what was provided in high school.\u00a0 Marymount University, like all colleges and universities, is not obligated to continue to provide the exact services given in high school or to adhere to the recommendations of an outside diagnostician.\u00a0\u00a0Marymount, like other colleges and universities, complies\u00a0with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Sect. 504”) and with Title III of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and its 2008 Amendments (ADA\/AA).<\/p>\n

Marymount University\u2019s Office of Student Access Services (SAS) makes a determination of what services and supports to offer based on the documentation of disability, interview with your college student, and available resources.\u00a0\u00a0There are no IEP\u2019s in college, and no place to sign off with your parental approval.\u00a0\u00a0Your college student is responsible for their own destiny, and we are excited to support them.<\/p>\n

While you may be well-equipped to convey important disability-related information, it is now your college student\u2019s first chance to convey that information all by him or herself.\u00a0 It is important for them to, independently, learn more about Marymount, the campus and resources available to them, and to become familiar with communicating and interacting with campus staff members.\u00a0\u00a0We will speak directly to your college student, and welcome you to join our conversation if\u00a0they<\/strong>\u00a0invite you!<\/p>\n

Tips for parents:<\/p>\n