Learning Disabled College Students: Identification, Assessment, and Outcomes

Abstract

Provision of support services for learning disabled (LD) college students is a relatively new endeavour for many postsecondary institutions. In the 1970s, a handful of comprehensive college programs for LD students were initiated which opened the doors of higher education to LD students whose high school grades and college entrance examination scores would have ordinarily led to their rejection. Pressure from parents, professionals, and LD adults themselves, and fiscal instability because of declining enrolment provided additional impetus and made more institutions receptive to students with a history of learning disabilities. However, the most persuasive “argument” for offering support services to LD college students was the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, sometimes called the civil rights statute of the disabled. The section states that: “No otherwise qualified handicapped individual shall, solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” Section 504 means that most institutions of higher education are now required to ensure the right of qualified handicapped students to enter colleges and universities and to participate fully in all programs.