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ABSTRACT:
Increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities are entering post-secondary education. While in high school, students with a learning disability are assured services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This legislation, however, does not apply to colleges and universities. This qualitative study applied psychosocial theorist Arthur Chickering's (1969) vectors of student development theory to examine how traditional-age, 1st-year college students with learning disabilities adjusted to academic expectations as they moved from a sheltered secondary environment to a less monitored collegiate environment. The importance of students with learning disabilities self-advocating with their professors and the importance of their professors' support of their academic needs were major findings of this study.
Increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities are entering colleges and universities (Heiman & Precel, 2003), and developmental educators may find students with learning disabilities-identified or not-in their college classes. The legislations that protect students with learning disabilities, however, are different for kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) than higher education and, consequently, require different behavior for postsecondary students adjusting to their learning disabilities. Students move from a K-12 environment, where the responsibility for student success is often perceived to lie with educators, to a college environment, where the responsibility for success lies with the students. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) set expectations for colleges and universities to provide reasonable modifications, accommodations, or auxiliary aids which will enable qualified students to have access to, participate in, and benefit from the full range of educational programs and activities which are offered to all students on campus. Therefore, high school students with learning disabilities transitioning to college must develop specific competencies, respond appropriately to their new environment, and develop independence (Hadley, Twale, & Evans, 2003). Students with learning disabilities who do not self-advocate have a very difficult time adjusting to college life (Heiman & Precel, 2003). The purpose of this study is to examine how traditional-age, 1st-year students with specific learning disabilities make the transition and access the collegiate environment.
Review of Related Literature
Background Information
Very little research exists identifying the experiences and feelings of college students with learning disabilities from the voice of the students themselves (Janiga & Costenbader, 2002). According...