When Imy Wax’s daughter was born with multiple learning disabilities, the prognosis was so grim that professionals told her it was doubtful she would ever finish high school, much less go to college.
Wax, however, was not about to let a few roadblocks get in the way of her dreams. “When you’re about to be challenged, you want something that gives you a sense of hope rather than hopelessness,” she said. “That way, when the road gets tough, you have a reason to keep on going. My reason was college . . . as long as I could keep that hope alive for myself, I could keep it alive for my daughter as well.”
Like other children with learning disabilities, Debrah was as intelligent as her peers, but struggled to keep up. For that reason, Wax was not desperate, but determined. Her daughter would come out of school with more than a no-frills education and a ticket to a dead-end job, she vowed. But she didn’t know exactly how to make this happen until 1987, when she met Marybeth Kravets, a college consultant at Deerfield High School.
At the time, Debrah was in 7th grade at a nearby private school. Her mother volunteered at Deerfield, so she could “get a crack at Marybeth’s files” and immerse herself in which colleges would best accommodate Debrah’s language deficit, which affected reading comprehension and written expression.
For her part, Kravets was “knocked out by this woman who would stop at nothing” to help her child succeed. “Together, I knew we could change things for the better,” said Kravets, who also serves as president of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors.
Indeed, their meeting turned out to be fortuitous–not just for Debrah, but for the 2 million students nationwide who have similar neurobiological disorders that can affect everything from spelling to the ability to organize information.
Over the next few years, these two high-octane women criss-crossed the country, visiting hundreds of college campuses, faithfully documenting what the schools would do “for our kids.” From this heartfelt collaboration emerged “The K&W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder.” (Random House, $28). Now in its fifth edition, the guide is regarded as the authoritative resource for kids whose brains are wired differently.
Each profile of the 300-plus schools listed in the book provides detailed information on everything from admission requirements to special services. Typical accommodations may include extended time for exams, books on tape, a computer (with spell-checker) to write an in-class essay or even an aide to take notes.
The landscape is vastly improved compared with the late 1980s, when Kravets and Wax first started collecting their data. Back then, many administrators were in the dark about any disabilities, from dyslexia to dysgraphia (difficulty expressing thoughts on paper). But two innovations would dramatically expand the possibilities: The passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975, which was updated in 1997, and more refined psychological testing, which made it possible to target neurological deficits with greater accuracy.
“It wasn’t until the mid-1980s that administrators started feeling comfortable that students who learn differently could be successful in a college environment,” said Wax, a psychotherapist and educational consultant, currently in private practice helping adolescents and their families navigate academia.
Added Kravets: “When we started, there was nothing out there. Colleges offered two flavors–chocolate or vanilla–and if you didn’t fit in, you were out of luck. When the laws changed, schools started scrambling to be in compliance.”
Of course, such accommodations have not been without controversy. The landmark legislation guaranteed all disabled children the right to a free and “appropriate public education” through high school and some consideration by the colleges, but the word “appropriate” has become a point of contention. Some skeptics see disabilities as a way for students–especially those at highly competitive high schools and colleges–to gain an unfair edge. Not surprisingly, the authors chafe at the suggestion.
“It’s that old mind-set that says, `If I can’t see the disability, it must not be there,’ ” says Kravets, an educator for more than 25 years.
But nothing could match the thrill when Debrah graduated–with honors, no less–from New England College in New Hampshire in 1997. Debrah, 25, is working in film preservation in Chicago and is living independently. She is quick to credit her success to her mother.
“I always knew I would go to college because she told me so,” Debrah says. “She always believed that I could do anything–even though it took me a lot longer than other kids. If she told me that I was going to the moon, I’d say, `When do I start packing?’ “
DAUGHTER TRUMPETS EFFORT
Despite her learning disability, which makes it difficult to process the written word, Debrah Wax graduated from college in 1997. She agreed to let the Tribune print this shortened but otherwise unedited letter she wrote to her mother, telling of her attempt to get her mother on Oprah Winfrey’s television show.
Dear Mom,
This is the letter that I was working on to Opera Wimphry.
Dear Ms. Wimphry,
I am a young adult of 25 and have a Learning Disability. I have had a very difficult childhood do to my LD. I have been teased, made fun of, and wasmade to look like a fool infront of peers because I was not like them. If it ws not for my mom, Imy Wax, I could have not have not have gone to a great college that gave me the help that I needed to scusseed. I am now working in a motion picture lab in Chicago and am planing to go to grad school.
She has been there through the tuff times that were often and talked to all my teachers to find out how to make my academic years as painless as possible. I was put in a lot of special ed. classes. Even thoughthat separated me from othersI did get help in how to learn and I am glad that I went to Cove school. Cove school is a school that is for all chidren who have LD. They showe me what my problems were and showed me how to deal with them. . . .
Please consider talking to my mom, Imy Wax, and see how important it is to people like me who need guidens to help them cope with their LD.
Thank You
