Learning to learn: Learning therapy in a college classroom

Abstract

This paper describes the structure and rationale of the Language and Learning Seminar, a college course that grapples with learned helplessness issues that are frequently associated with LD. Peer~mentors play a vital role in its dynamic oral, written, and electronic communications. Elements of the course work synergistically to bypass longstanding emotional and linguistic barriers to learning. Yalom's classification of therapeutic elements in group therapy serves as a context in which to explain the learning therapy provided by York University since 1987.People talk about "being good" or "being bad" at subjects such as English or at skills such as reading or speaking a foreign language, as if this is just the way things must always be (Miller 1996).Vogel and Adelman (1992) describe written language deficits as a hallmark of college students with learning disabilities (LD). A search for the etiology of these deficits has permeated special education research for several decades and there is now a substantial body of literature that describes cognitive and linguistic causes of language disability. One of the most academically debilitating aspects of LD is, however, the widely documented link between the

“For a Long Time Our Voices have been Hushed”: Using Student Perspectives to Develop Supports for Neurodiverse College Students

“…Our findings build upon a small body of work, suggesting that social skills training can be helpful for autistic adults ( Spain and Blainey, 2015 ) and college students with other disabilities (e.g., Bat-Hayim, 1997 ) by suggesting that a Universal Design approach to social skills training is beneficial for college students with diverse disabilities, including autism. However, a number of students with and without autism who participated in our mentorship program indicated that they had not needed further supports to develop social skills prior to participating.…”

“…However, the specific curricular focus of programming for autistic college students and other students with disabilities may be less important than the opportunities to engage with peers that group programming provides. Indeed, it is impossible to rule out the possibility that apparent benefits of programming designed for neurodiverse students reported in the current study and in prior literature have been entirely attributable to the opportunities to engage with peers that such programming provides as all (to the best of our knowledge) of the extant published research examining supports for autistic college students and college students with other disabilities has been quasi-experimental (e.g., Bat-Hayim, 1997 ; Parker et al, 2011 ; Harrison et al, 2012 ; Mytkowicz and Goss, 2012 ; Getzel, 2014 ; Pugliese and White, 2014 ; White et al, 2014 ; Prevatt and Yelland, 2015 ; Schindler et al, 2015 ; Ames et al, 2016 ). Indeed, many students in the current study reported that their favorite part of the mentorship program remained the opportunities it provided to socialize with peers in an environment where differences were respected, irrespective of the curricular topic.…”

“…Social challenges are apparent among college students with a range of disabilities, including autism, learning disabilities (LD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Bat-Hayim, 1997 ; Prevatt and Yelland, 2015 ; Van Hees et al, 2015 ). Given that social difficulties are a core aspect of the diagnostic criteria for ASD, it is likely that autistic students face particularly pronounced challenges adapting to the complex social environments they encounter in college.…”

“…Although students on the autism spectrum often require support to help them develop the social, self-advocacy, and executive functioning skills that they need to succeed in college, they are not alone in needing help developing these skills. Indeed, a growing body of research examines supports to help college students with the most commonly reported disabilities on college campuses, LD and/or ADHD ( Newman et al, 2011 ), develop social, self-advocacy and executive functioning skills ( Bat-Hayim, 1997 ; Parker and Boutelle, 2009 ; Brown et al, 2010 ; Parker et al, 2011 ; Harrison et al, 2012 ; Mytkowicz and Goss, 2012 ; Getzel, 2014 ; White et al, 2014 ; Prevatt and Yelland, 2015 ). Like the much smaller body of research evaluating supports for autistic college students (e.g., Pugliese and White, 2014 ; Schindler et al, 2015 ; Ames et al, 2016 ), the aforementioned evaluations of supports for college students with LD and/or ADHD were all quasi-experimental.…”