Nearly 25 years of special education law have enabled many qualified students with disabilities to graduate from college preparatory high school programs and enter institutes of higher education. The Americans with Disabilities Act enacted by Congress in 1990, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1975, and Section 504 of the Rehabilition Act of 1973 all mandate special education services for students with disabilities. A parallel nationwide rise is being reported in the numbers of students with disabilities on college campuses. The greatest increase is seen in students with so-called hidden disabilities such as learning disabilities, ADHD, and psychiatric disabilities. These students face a number of obstacles once they are admitted to college. Many factors, some intrinsic to the student and others extrinsic to the campus, moderate success in higher education. Overlapping or multiple diagnoses, psychological distress, poor social and interpersonal skills, persisting cognitive deficits (especially in the area of executive functioning), and alcohol abuse are important factors that must be understood as institutions of higher education strive to promote access and provide effective support services on their campuses.

College Students with ADHD and Other Hidden Disabilities

The research described here is part of a larger longitudinal project tracing the lives of a group of individuals with learning disabilities who attended the Frostig Center more than 20 years ago. The purpose of the larger project has been to identify variables that predict successful outcomes for adults with learning disabilities. This article focuses on the qualitative findings obtained using an ethnographic approach to analyzing in-depth interviews with participants. Six previously identified “success attributes” (self-awareness, proactivity, perseverance, appropriate goal setting, effective use of social support systems, and emotional stability/emotional coping strategies) were further defined. Using qualitative analysis, significant components of the success attributes that differentiated the successful from unsuccessful groups were identified, and changes over time were revealed. In addition, the following new themes were identified: (1) the learning disability exerted a critical influence across the entire lifespan; (2) there were differences in participants' family functioning; and (3) there were differences in participants' social relationships. Support for the salience of the success attributes and the additional themes to the participants is given in the form of direct quotations from the corpus of interview transcripts. Qualitative methodologies are stressed throughout the study for the purpose of obtaining an “insider's view” of LD.

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Predictors of Success in Individuals with Learning Disabilities: A Qualitative Analysis of a 20‐Year Longitudinal Study

This article uses the concepts of risk and resiliency to frame our understanding of how having a learning disability affects nonacademic outcomes such as emotional adjustment, family functioning, adolescent problems of school dropout, substance abuse and juvenile delinquency, and adult adaptation. The presence of a learning disability is viewed as a risk factor that, in and of itself, does not predict positive or negative outcomes. Rather, other risk and protective factors, as highlighted in the literature, interact with the presence of a learning disability to facilitate or impede adjustment. These risk and protective factors may be internal characteristics of the individual or external characteristics of the family, school and community environments. Implications for the development of proactive interventions and areas for future research are discussed.

Risk, Resilience, and Adjustment of Individuals with Learning Disabilities

The research described in this article is part of a larger longitudinal project tracing the lives of a group of individuals with learning disabilities who attended the Frostig Center 20 years ago; this article focuses on the quantitative results of the follow-up study. Data were gathered through case records, public records, current testing, and in-depth interviews. First, changes in independent variables (e.g., socioeconomic status, IQ, life stressors, academic achievement) and dependent variables (e.g., employment status, educational attainment, living arrangements) across data points are described. Second, comparisons between successful and unsuccessful individuals on independent and dependent variables are discussed. Last, three possible predictors of success are identified: IQ, achievement, and "success attributes" (e.g., self-awareness, perseverance, proactivity, emotional stability, goal setting, and social support systems). The composite score on the six success attributes best predicted success a...

http://frostig.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/20-Yr-Quantitative-1999-Raskind-et-al.pdf

Patterns of Change and Predictors of Success in Individuals With Learning Disabilities: Results From a Twenty-Year Longitudinal Study

This article focuses on the four primary issues that directly affect service delivery to students with learning disabilities in postsecondary settings, including (a) How are high school and post-secondary settings different? (b) How are eligibility and access determined? (c) How are reasonable accommodations determined? and (d) How can the independence level of college students with learning disabilities be fostered? Each of these issues will be discussed within the context of the student's transition from high school, where Public Law 94-142 is in effect, to college, where Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 applies.

Promoting Access, Accommodations, and Independence for College Students with Learning Disabilities

The results of a needs assessment of learning disabled adults based on surveys of the perceptions of learning disabled adults, providers of services to learning disabled adults, and consumers or advocates for learning disabilities are presented. The results of the survey of the learning disabled adults, service providers, and consumers indicate that learning disabled adults have major academic, social, personal, and vocational needs that must be addressed if they are to attain adult competence. A comparison across all need areas indicated that service providers and consumers identified vocational needs involving securing an appropriate job and vocational rehabilitation services as the most critical need area of learning disabled adults, with a second need area involving learning disabled adults' poor self-concept, lack of self-understanding, and lack of self-acceptance. Recommendations are made for services in academics, secondary and post-secondary vocational training, social skills, and counseling and p...

Deborah P. Baker

Papers

Needs of Learning Disabled Adults