For Students and Families

Parental Role

Transition to college is certainly an exciting time, filled with change. Yet for many individuals transitions can also be a time of great challenge. Many parents of college-aged students with disabilities have grown accustomed to advocating for their children. How can parents find the delicate balance to let their college-aged children create their own identities, make their own decisions, find their own support networks, self-advocate, and learn from their mistakes, while keeping lines of communication open? College students are at a stage of development where they are negotiating adult relationships with their parents. How can parents stay involved while allowing their children to develop independence and necessary boundaries?

When your child faces a challenge:

• Keep the lines of communication open so your child knows you are there
• Learn to trust your child to make their own choices and to learn from the consequences
• Listen and offer comfort when they are upset, and don’t minimize their concerns.
• Bring the problem up the next time you speak. Your child may have already resolved it.

At Clark University, we hope to help foster a sense of independence and self-advocacy in our students. Our relationship with your young adult is important to us. We are invested in their development and hope to become a part of the larger support network they establish for themselves. A critical part of the development of our relationship with students is a sense of independence and confidentiality. For this reason, we strongly encourage parents to talk about concerns directly with their children or to request a meeting in which we all participate.