If you (or your offspring) are going to be attending college and staying in a dorm, there's some help for you! Having a room mate means weird smells, annoying sounds, light pollution and bed vibrations if you have to have a bunk. Most colleges will accept a letter from a therapist and psych that you have SPD and require a single dorm room (no roommates) for optimal college performance. If you are registered with their disability services, they may even provide you with a single room at the same rate as a multiple occupancy room, or sometimes even a room with private bathroom facilities. For being overwhelmed in the giant lecture halls, they sometimes offer a note-taking or lecture recording service, and may also be able to offer private or smaller test-taking rooms. Sometimes they require that you check in with the disability office on a regular basis for 'progress reports' but it's well worth it! Look into what the college offers, and speak to the disability services!

I receive accommodations in college for my mix of SPD, autism, severe anxiety, learning difficulties, ADHD, and Tourette Syndrome.

If you need a single room in order to function because of your disability, then by law, the college has to accommodate you and provide you a single room at no additional charge. This requires going through the proper request channels, which includes making a request through the college's disability services office, filling out paperwork, and having a doctor send a letter or paper work showing proof of your disability and proof that you need a single room. It's not always based on the name of the condition. The paperwork needs to show how the condition impacts your day to day life and major life activities, and how the accomodation you are requesting is directly related to the effects of your disability.

My college doesn't offer regular singles. So what happens is I get a regular two person dorm room, but without a roommate. They reserve a certain number of rooms as medical singles, so I'm not taking anyone's place in the dorm by having space that would general be occupied my two people.

For in class accommodations, I have either a note taker, and/or I have permission to record the lectures so I can replay them and take notes on my own time. I have difficulty organizing notes and picking out the important details due to my learning difficulties. I also will sometimes forget what I writing part way through as I try and keep up with what a professor is saying. I also have permission to leave the classroom if in case of sensory overload, panic attack, or tic attack. I have permission to use a fidget (not noisy, and under my desk) in class and during tests because of ADHD. I have permission to use color tinted reading overlays during class and tests. I have a reduced distraction test environment due to ADHD, in a private room so I don't disturb others with my tics, and extended test time due to ADHD and a slow reading and processing speed. And this coming semester I hope tthat get a accommodations to wear sunglasses and hat during class and tests as needed for visual overload.

I think that's most of the accommodations if not all, that I receive. It's SO helpful to have a good working relationship with disability services, for guidance and adjustments in accommodations as new situations arise and as needs change.

Also, it's a good idea to explain your disability and your needs to your professors and resident director and resident assistants. Disclosing your disability makes it so much easier to get help when you need it. Believe me, I speak from experience.

Also, if you're sound sensitive like me, it would be a good idea to invest in a good pair of noise canceling headphones or industrial earmuffs, or both. Sound travels, and even generally calm and quiet dorms are never always quiet, even with a single room.