Learning Disabilities
A Learning Disability is defined by the California Community College system as a persistent condition of neurological dysfunction which may also exist with other disabling conditions. This dysfunction continues despite instruction in a standard classroom situation. Learning disabled adults, a heterogeneous group, have these common attributes:
- Average to above average intellectual ability
- Processing deficits
- Aptitude achievement discrepancies
- Measured achievement in an instructional or employment setting
Characteristics
A student with learning disabilities may exhibit any or all of the following:
- Slow reading rate and/or difficulty with comprehension and retention
- Ability to grasp material verbally, but does poorly on exams
- Difficulty with sentence structure, spelling, poor grammar, omitted words, and composition organization
- Poorly-formed handwriting
- Trouble listening to a lecture and taking notes at the same time
- Distracted by background noise or visual stimulation
- Need for reliance on a calculator
- Confusion or reversal of numbers, number sequences or symbols
- Difficulty following directions
- Poor organization and time management
- Problems interpreting subtle messages
- Disorganization in space and time
Accommodations
- Use of calculator when mathematical disability is severe
- Use of a dictionary/spell-checker for essay exams
- Specialized tutoring
- Digital recording of lectures
- High Tech Center resources
- Books on e-text
- Extended time on exams
- Exams taken in a distraction-free environment
- Exams read to the student by a proctor when appropriate
- Exams written by a scribe or done on a computer, if necessary