When Average Is Not Good Enough: Students With Learning Disabilities at Selective, Private Colleges

Abstract

Adolescents with learning disabilities disproportionately come from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds, show normative deficits in academic skills, and attend 2-year, public colleges instead of 4-year institutions. However, students with learning disabilities are well represented at the United States' most expensive and selective postsecondary institutions. We examined the psychoeducational functioning of students receiving accommodations for learning disabilities at a private, selective, liberal arts college. We also determined whether students had objective evidence supporting their disability diagnoses and academic accommodations. Most students showed above-average cognitive abilities, average academic skills, and no evidence of impairment. Although nearly all students reported academic problems, most lacked objective evidence of academic difficulties prior to college as well as relative or normative deficits in broad academic skills or fluency. Results indicate a need for greater reliance on objective, multimethod/multi-informant data in the diagnostic process. Results also highlight limitations in the current professional guidelines for documentation decision making in higher education.

Myths About Foreign Language Learning and Learning Disabilities

“…Likewise, Harrison, Nichols, and Larochette () examined the documentation of students who were applying for university disability services and found that most did not meet criteria for this diagnosis. In a more recent study, Weis, Speridakos, and Ludwig () found that the documentation that was submitted to colleges by students for verification of an LD failed to support their diagnoses (also see Weis et al, in press).…”

College Students’ Access to Academic Accommodations Varies as a Function of School Type, Selectivity, and Cost

“…Moreover, the documentation submitted by students at 4-year colleges and universities to support their accommodation requests often lacks evidence that these students experience limitations that merit accommodations. In most cases, the academic functioning of these students is above average and indistinguishable from their classmates without disabilities (Lovett & Sparks, 2013;Weis, Erickson, & Till, 2017 academically rigorous and selective colleges may feel the greatest need to acquire accommodations to help them achieve academic success (Lewandowski, Lambert, Lovett, Panahon, & Sytsma, 2014;Suhr, 2016). Furthermore, students attending more affluent schools may be best able to afford disability testing to obtain documentation to support their accommodation requests (Harrison & Edwards, 2010;Harrison, Green, & Flaro, 2012).…”

Impact of the Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act on Documentation for Students With Disabilities in Transition to College: Implications for Practitioners

“…However, AHEAD’s guidance was only advisory and colleges were not bound by the guidance document’s interpretation of the ADAAA. Some critiques of the guidance note that portions of it may be problematic in practice, such as the likelihood of inaccuracies in self-reports (Lovett, Nelson, & Lindstrom, 2015; Weis, Erickson, & Till, 2017). As such, colleges may maintain documentation guidelines that are more conservative than the AHEAD guidelines, but they must follow the changes to the ADAAA described above.…”