For families of students with ADHD heading to college

1. The IEP or 504 plan ends at graduation

It does not transfer. Colleges provide accommodations under different laws, and only after the student registers with the college's disability services office — themselves, with their own documentation. Parents cannot register for them, and the college will not reach out first. Registration commonly takes several weeks, and accommodations start when approved, not retroactively.

2. FERPA moves the conversation to your student

Once enrolled, your student's grades and records belong to them. Professors will not discuss grades with parents, and portal access is the student's to share or not. Families that handle this well decide on a rhythm together before drop-off: what the student shares, how often, and what counts as "call home" territory.

The three weeks before drop-off

• Student emails the college's disability services office to start registration. One short email; today beats August.
• Locate the most recent psychoeducational evaluation and a copy of the IEP/504. Request records from the high school now — offices thin out over the summer.
• If medication is part of the picture, plan the prescriber handoff: refills, a local pharmacy, and who prescribes at school.
• Decide together whether the student will sign any records release, and agree on the check-in rhythm either way.
• Have the student send the emails themselves. The skill being practiced is initiating the ask, and it transfers.