Can I decline work-study for my autistic student and convert it to grants or loans?

same thing happened to my son last semester except he has ADHD not autism but same issue with work study. college told us we can reject the work study but it doesnt automatically convert to anything else. they just take it away basically

You have a few options here. First, you can officially decline the work-study in writing to the financial aid office. However, declining doesn't automatically convert it to anything else - work-study is a unique funding category. That said, you should immediately request a professional judgment review based on your daughter's disability. The financial aid office has authority to make adjustments based on special circumstances. Bring documentation of her autism and explain why work-study isn't feasible. Also, many schools have modified work-study positions specifically for students with disabilities - positions with minimal social interaction like data entry, research assistance, or behind-the-scenes library work. Worth asking about!

have u treid looking at non-traditional work studys?? my roommate has anxiety and she got a work study job doing data entry in the basement of admissions office. no customers, no phones, just spreadshets all day. she loves it!!

The whole system is RIGGED against disabled students!!! My nephew had almost the exact same situation - autism, can't handle traditional jobs, and financial aid completely ignored his documented disability. They cut his grants and gave him work-study knowing full well he couldn't use it. Then they had the NERVE to tell us he wasn't "taking advantage of all available aid" when we appealed! It's discrimination, plain and simple.

I work in disability services at a university, so let me provide some concrete help. The key is to work with BOTH the financial aid office AND the disability services office simultaneously. Here's what you need to do: 1. File for a SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress) appeal with financial aid, specifically citing disability accommodation needs. 2. Have disability services provide formal documentation that standard work-study would be an unreasonable expectation given her documented disability. 3. Request a professional judgment review that takes her disability into account when calculating her financial need. 4. Ask specifically about remote work-study positions that might accommodate her needs. Many schools have work-study positions that are specifically designed for students with social disabilities - data entry, digitization projects, individual research assistance. These positions often have minimal human interaction requirements.

Have you tried calling Federal Student Aid directly? I was having horrible issues getting through to them about a similar situation with my daughter's reduced aid package, but I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real person at FSA in about 10 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The FSA agent was actually super helpful and explained that we qualified for a special circumstance review based on my daughter's documented disability. They guided us through the exact paperwork we needed and who to submit it to at her school. Made a huge difference.

Just a quick tip - my daughter is also on the spectrum and qualified for a "modified work-study" position where she does website accessibility testing for the IT department. She works independently checking university webpages for screen reader compatibility. Perfect for her because she's detail-oriented and doesn't need much social interaction. Many schools have these positions but don't advertise them well. Ask specifically about positions for students with documented disabilities.

One important thing to add based on the comments so far: make sure you submit a formal Special Circumstances Appeal rather than just declining the work-study. Financial aid packages are not typically readjusted automatically when you decline a component, but a formal appeal process triggers a review of the entire package. You'll want to specifically reference Section 479A of the Higher Education Act which grants financial aid administrators authority to make adjustments based on special circumstances including disability accommodations.

I'm dealing with a very similar situation with my son who has autism and severe social anxiety. What worked for us was requesting a meeting with both financial aid AND disability services at the same time - don't handle these separately. We brought his neuropsychological evaluation and a letter from his therapist explaining why traditional work-study would be detrimental to his mental health. The key was framing it as a reasonable accommodation request rather than just declining aid. They ended up finding him a position in the library's back office doing inventory scanning - completely solo work with minimal human interaction. He actually loves it now because it's structured and predictable. Also, document everything in writing. Email follow-ups after every phone call or meeting. Some schools drag their feet on these requests, but having a paper trail helps push things along.

I'm new here but going through something very similar with my daughter who also has autism. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea there were so many options available! One thing I wanted to add that might help: when we were struggling with a similar situation last year, our state's disability advocacy organization provided free guidance on navigating college accommodations. They actually helped us draft the accommodation request letter and knew exactly which laws to reference. Many states have these organizations and they're often more familiar with the financial aid accommodation process than I expected. Also, if your daughter is already registered with disability services at her school, they should have documentation on file that you can reference in your appeal. That saved us a lot of time versus getting new evaluations. Best of luck - it sounds like you have a solid plan now with all the great advice here!