Jennifer Grimes, Ph.D


College Students



Learning disabilities in college may affect only one subject area while others impact on several courses. Learning disabilities, however, directly affect academic skills. Some of the common characteristics of learning disabled college students are as follows:



Reading



College students with learning disabilities often read very slowly. They demonstrate poor comprehension of the material and cannot retain facts, details, and concepts. When reading aloud, they may confuse sounds or have difficulty understanding new vocabulary. They may also have difficulty understanding printed
directions.




Written Language



College students with learning disabilities have difficulty with
sentence structure and often include run-on sentences, poor grammar, or unsupported ideas when writing. They frequently have spelling errors and weak punctuation skills. They may miss the point when writing or get off the topic easily. When copying from the board, they may copy incorrectly or run out of time. On written assignments such as essays and tests, they write very slowly and often do not finish.



Oral Language Skills



College students with learning disabilities are unable to
concentrate and comprehend oral presentations. When they seem to understand a new idea in class, these students later have difficulty explaining the ideas verbally. Often they can write about the ideas but face difficulty when asked to explain them further in writing. These students also find telling stories or procedures in correct sequences quite problematic.



Adults with documented learning disabilities are entitled to the same legal protections against discrimination as individuals with physical disabilities. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits the discrimination of disabled individuals from any program receiving or benefiting from federal assistance. In college, students with learning disabilities are therefore entitled to “reasonable accommodations” to insure their academic success. These accommodations may include taped textbooks, alternative testing arrangements, extended testing time, and note taking services.Students who are concerned about their academic performance and question whether a learning disability accounts for their on-going difficulties are encouraged to contact the Disabled Students’ Program office on campus