Self-Advocacy for our Struggling Learners - What Does That Look Like in the College Classroom?

Students who struggle academically in high school, typically struggle with executive functioning skills. This is particularly the case for students who are identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and with mental health struggles like depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Many struggling learners typically who struggle with executive functioning in general, specifically struggle with self-advocacy, flexibility, and planning, and follow through skills. And these students also often carry with them these struggles from the high school experience into the college experience. This presentation has two objectives: 1) To describe the importance of fostering self-advocacy with struggling learners, and 2) to explore together, as a group of college professionals who attend this presentation, ideas on how self-advocacy could be fostered in the college classroom (taking into account the clear differences between the high school classroom and the college setting).