Ilomessina.org | Industrial Liason Office Messina http://www.ilomessina.org Assisting College Students With Disabilities to Succeed Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:38:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Does Having A Disability Prevent You From Succeeding In College? http://www.ilomessina.org/does-having-a-disability-prevent-you-from-succeeding-in-college/ http://www.ilomessina.org/does-having-a-disability-prevent-you-from-succeeding-in-college/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 07:03:37 +0000 marshie http://www.ilomessina.org/?p=59 A learning disability is also known as a learning disorder in which students find it difficult to concentrate efficiently. The sad thing is, most students with a disability often fail in their academic life because of several hindrances to learning effectively. But the good news is, a learning difficulty can be lessened through ways which are proven to be effective. Does having a disability prevent you from succeeding in college? Read on for you to find out.

The Right Learning Approach Is The Key

Teaching students with special needs requires the appropriate approach of the professional educators. It is indeed a great challenge on their part to patiently teach the necessary lessons to students who have learning disabilities. However, every disability is different from another, which is why a certain strategy might work for a certain student but might not work for another one. A student who lacks skills in auditory processing or language use must be given the appropriate strategy in order to learn effectively. Indeed, this type of learning requires the utmost patience and time from the educators. However, it must be understood that teaching students with a disability is more of an opportunity rather than a challenge. Yes, you can say it’s a challenge but it’s a great opportunity to let the students feel they are normal and nothing is wrong with them.

Effective Strategies and Activities

These students require specialized instructional strategies in order to learn in an effective manner. Below is the list of strategies educators can use for students with learning disabilities.

1. When discussing a particular topic, as much as possible, make use of verbal and written teaching aids. Today, educators make use of Interactive whiteboards. These are effective tools in making all lessons more interactive through the incorporation of videos, sound, and internet resources into the lessons.

2. Make a series of activities that are short but concise, as much as possible, so that students won’t have a hard time comprehending something. Students with a disability usually have a tough time focusing on a particular task for a lengthy period of time.

3. During any lesson, students should be provided with objects they can see, touch, or hear in order for them to learn fast and effectively. Feedback may also be useful after each lesson for a teacher to assess the student’s comprehension.

How The Internet Can Help

Apart from being a good source of information, the internet can help a student who has a learning disability. For students who have a hard time traveling from home to school, there are a lot of reliable online schools for disabled students. This type of education provides easy access to course materials which the students can download online, anytime and anywhere.

So, with the question: Does Having A Disability Prevent You From Succeeding In College? The answer is definitely: No, it doesn’t. Education is for everyone. Regardless of ethnicity, age, social status, or learning differences, a person has the right to an education. With the right assistance from teachers and parents as well as the willingness of students with disabilities, a disability doesn’t prevent anybody from succeeding in college.

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]]> http://www.ilomessina.org/does-having-a-disability-prevent-you-from-succeeding-in-college/feed/ 0 Behaviors to avoid when dealing with college students with disabilities http://www.ilomessina.org/behaviors-to-avoid-when-dealing-with-college-students-with-disabilities/ http://www.ilomessina.org/behaviors-to-avoid-when-dealing-with-college-students-with-disabilities/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 06:51:52 +0000 marshie http://www.ilomessina.org/?p=57 Mercifully, the days when disabled people were hidden away by families or put in institutions simply because of their disability have long since passed. Nowadays, disabled people are actively encouraged to take their place in society and live as normal a life as possible so most college students are going to come across disabled students during their time at college. But many people feel somewhat uncomfortable when dealing with people with obvious disabilities and are unsure of how to behave. And a lot of people automatically assume that people with physical disabilities, especially disabilities that affect muscle control, are also mentally challenged.

The word ‘disabled’ is generally accepted as the best word to use to describe a wide range of conditions. A person can be said to suffer from a learning disability which could mean a number of things, for example that the person is dyslexic. This type of disability is often not obvious in normal, everyday conversation or activity so such a person may not have too many problems with discriminatory behavior.

On the other hand, a student with a physical disability can often be very obvious – the student may be in a wheelchair, using crutches, or have difficulty maintaining posture and such students are the ones who will most likely encounter discriminatory behavior.

It is difficult to understand why students should react differently to their disabled fellow-students than they do to able-bodied people. It may be rooted in our evolutionary past when early human society is likely to have abandoned those who were not fully able. Whatever the reason, it is something students should try and avoid, and it is not too difficult to do this.

Try and maintain as natural a behavior as you can when meeting with disabled students. Look at and listen to the person, not the disability. Think of Tanya who wrote that great essay rather than Tanya, the girl in the wheelchair. When you meet a disabled student, do not ask his or her companion questions like “Is he tired?” Speak directly to the disabled student.

Just because a student is physically disabled does not mean they are deaf or mentally slow. Do not shout at them. Speak in a normal tone of voice. Do not patronize the disabled student. The student is at college and so has reached the same level of academic achievement as able students. The disabled student may well have faced additional challenges in getting to that level, but now is the academic equal of any other student and should be treated accordingly.

Do not try and pretend the student’s disability does not exist. Do not be afraid to discuss the disability with the disabled student, but try and do it in a non-intrusive and sensitive way. The more acquainted with the person you become the more familiar you can become. Its perfectly alright to ask a disabled student you hardly know a question like “How long have you been in a wheelchair” but you should wait until you have become firm friends before you start prying into the disability on a more personal level.

 

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]]> http://www.ilomessina.org/behaviors-to-avoid-when-dealing-with-college-students-with-disabilities/feed/ 0 Helping College Students with Disabilities to Write Great Essays http://www.ilomessina.org/helping-college-students-with-disabilities-to-write-great-essays/ http://www.ilomessina.org/helping-college-students-with-disabilities-to-write-great-essays/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 06:21:34 +0000 marshie http://www.ilomessina.org/?p=54 It is usually said that all of us are equal. This I truly believe but some people just need to be told that a little more often. I am speaking about dyslexic students. These are students who usually have some sort of difficulty in learning otherwise known as LD. They are mostly misunderstood but when they are given the attention that they require, they can achieve wonders. Their main problem is organization. This makes it particularly hard when it comes to essay writing. I am going to focus on helping college students with disabilities to organize their thoughts so that in the end they have a coherent essay.
First thing you should do is to draw a mind map. Your diagram should begin with a circle in the middle of a sheet of paper. Inside the circle, write the topics name. Draw an appropriate number of lines out into the page from your circle. Ensure that the lines are spread out. Draw other circles at the end of each of the lines that you have drawn. You know where I am going, right? In the first circle, you put the topic and now in these other circles put sub topics or the main points that you want to make. You should follow a procedure in that if you want to argue out a point, write the main arguments and if you are describing a process, write the necessary steps that are to be followed. Again, draw other lines and circles from these main points. In each of these circles, write the information that supports the main points. Clearly when this is done, you have the basic idea of what your essay will entail.
Now let us move to the introductory paragraphs. When you look at the first part of this article, you will see that an introductory paragraph tells you what the whole article is about. The same applies for your essay. The reader should know what the essay entails by just reading the first paragraph. Remember the diagram you drew? Now look at it and decide what the main point you will be making is. The first part of the introductory paragraph states the topic whereas the second part states the point of the essay. The introduction should attract the reader’s attention so that he wants to read the whole essay. To get attention, you can use an attention grabber like a fact you think is interesting, an anecdote and so on.
Let us look at how to go about the body. Use the ideas in the circles that are outside to write each paragraph. The paragraphs should be five or more sentences. Each point you write, should be written in such a way that it seems you are talking to a person. You should point out the opposite viewpoint and not just your own. This way, you will look like you have considered other arguments and viewpoints as well.
The conclusion should sum up all of your points and you should state your stance in the conclusion. Finally, after writing the conclusion you should revise your essay so that you can correct any mistakes that you come across.
In short, writing an essay all starts with a picture. You get the picture right, you get the essay right.

 

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]]> http://www.ilomessina.org/helping-college-students-with-disabilities-to-write-great-essays/feed/ 0 The benefits of telling your college professors about your disability http://www.ilomessina.org/the-benefits-of-telling-your-college-professors-about-your-disability/ http://www.ilomessina.org/the-benefits-of-telling-your-college-professors-about-your-disability/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 06:14:55 +0000 marshie http://www.ilomessina.org/?p=52 There are many benefits to telling your professors about your disability in college. In an ideal world, you would have informed the college even before you applied about your disability so that the college could have been prepared to assist you by giving you advance information on its disability policies. Virtually all colleges nowadays have a disability policy to facilitate the education of people with both physical and mental disabilities and also those with learning difficulties but your college cannot help you if you do not make them aware of your disability.

The type of help available will depend on the type of disability you have. If you suffer from dyslexia, for example, your teachers may provide you with printouts of material that would normally be shown only on the whiteboard or by projection so that you are not under pressure to make notes during the lecture. Obviously, they cannot do this if they are not aware of your problem.

You need to decide if you intend to keep your disability hidden from your fellow students. Your first instinct might be to do this maybe because you suffered bullying and mockery at school because of it. But college students tend to be umpteen times more mature and are unlikely to give you a hard time. They may in fact get behind you with encouragement and support if they are aware of your disability.

When you go to college you will be allocated a personal tutor. As the name implies, this person has the task of helping you deal with all personal issues affecting you. You can discuss your disability in confidence with your personal tutor who will advise you on what he or she thinks is best for you. If you decide that you want only academic staff and not fellow students to know of your disability, then your personal tutor can act as an intermediary.

When it comes to assessments or exams, doing assignments and projects or submitting course work, it is clearly to your advantage if your teachers are aware of any problems you may have in completing any of these. You can rest assured that all your tutors will have experience in dealing with your disability and will know how best to assist you. Knowing that your tutors know will also help your confidence and free you to concentrate on the important things rather than having the emphasis on trying to hide and compensate for your disability.

If you suffer from any kind of disability and are intending to study at a college where you will be living in, it may also be advantageous to let the admissions office know in advance before your dorm is allocated. This allows them to possibly group you with others with the same or similar problems. For example, if you suffer from a sleep disorder and want to use nights for study then it is obviously helpful if you are rooming with others who will not have a problem with lights on at night.

 

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]]> http://www.ilomessina.org/the-benefits-of-telling-your-college-professors-about-your-disability/feed/ 0 Types Of Disabilities That College Students May Have http://www.ilomessina.org/types-of-disabilities-that-college-students-may-have/ http://www.ilomessina.org/types-of-disabilities-that-college-students-may-have/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 06:09:51 +0000 marshie http://www.ilomessina.org/?p=50 For learning to be effective, educators need to be aware of the types of disabilities that college students may have. A particular student’s disability might be different from that of others. With this, the type of approach that a teacher should do must vary from one student to another.

The following is a list of the types of disabilities that college students may have:

1. Visual Impairment or Blindness

Students who are totally blind can be taught through Braille scripts or with audio books, which are gaining popularity among students who are visually impaired. On the other hand, for students with low vision, teachers need to provide learning materials with huge fonts to make the lesson clearer.

2. Speech and Language Disabilities

In most cases, students with celebral palsy or a hearing impairment are the ones who have speech disabilities. With this, patience is the key tool of the teacher because he or she has to spend enough time for the student to speak or communicate. This type of disability includes difficulty to express ideas, such as chronic hoarseness, stuttering or stammering.

3.  Hearing Impairment

Listening is very essential for better learning. These students have a different requirement when it comes to learning. So for students with hearing impairments, it is very crucial to make use of hearing aids, lip reading, and sign language for better communication. The teachers must maintain eye to eye contact whenever possible, specifically when he or she is trying to communicate with a certain learner.

4. Mental Health Conditions

Students with mental conditions have a lack of concentration or short-term memory loss or disruptiveness. A great amount of time must be given to such students. Plus, they must be given extra time during exams or class exercises. For this type of student, the teacher must break a task into smaller ones so that the student is able to absorb and fulfill each given task.

5. Learning Disabilities

These are neurologically-based disabilities that have to do with speaking, writing, reading, and other skills. Students with learning difficulties have short-term memory and a hard time interpreting social cues. Proper assistance and guidance must be given by the teachers because these students have a tough time following directions and concentrating. Teachers can make use of visual aids and projectors in order to make the discussion more enhanced. Interactive whiteboards are a great choice as well.

The type of instructional activities and exercises given by the teachers must be different among students with varying learning disabilities. For instance, a student who is visually-impaired should be given test papers with big fonts, large enough to enable clear reading. Perhaps, the teacher can make use of audio books for such types of learners for better learning. Indeed, teachers play a vital role in the students’ learning. Regardless of the types of disabilities that college students may have, it is the role of their educators and parents to provide them the necessary assistance they need in order to succeed in college.

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]]> http://www.ilomessina.org/types-of-disabilities-that-college-students-may-have/feed/ 0 Financial Resources For College Students http://www.ilomessina.org/financial-resources-for-college-students/ http://www.ilomessina.org/financial-resources-for-college-students/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 06:03:35 +0000 marshie http://www.ilomessina.org/?p=48 Anyone can attend college as long as you meet the necessary conditions. Even students with disabilities can as nowadays there are resources for college students with disabilities. Here, let us look at the financial resources.
The first that I will talk about is Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Plan for Achieving Self Support (PASS). Supplemental security income is a program that pays monthly benefits to people with disabilities. Apart from that, it also pays benefits to people with low incomes, people with limited assets and are sixty five years and above and even children can qualify. Just as the name suggests, this program supplements a person’s income up to a certain level. The levels are not constant as they vary from state to state and they also depend on the cost of living. For you to be eligible for SSI, you have to have been approved by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Remember PASS? SSA may approve it as long as a student is able to put aside some income and resources that are set for a certain goal which could be college tuition. If you are a student with a disability, you can apply for this and without doubt, your eligibility will be considered.
Of course you are not planning to stay in college forever. You may be disabled and you are now looking for employment. Every state has a Vocational Rehabilitation Service. This helps people with disabilities prepare for, obtain and retain employment. These services understand that not all people are alike and for this reason, their programs are designed in such a way as to suit each individual. There are certain conditions that you should meet before you become eligible for these services. Your disability must be verified by the VR counselor. This is done by looking at your medical records or by simply testing you on the spot. This is to truly determine whether you are physically or mentally disabled. Another condition is that you also have to require VR services to keep or get a job that is in line with your strengths, priorities, concerns, resources, abilities, capabilities, choices, and interests. As you can see, Vocational Rehabilitation Services mainly focus on support services.
Another financial resource can be general scholarships and awards. Such provide monetary gifts based on a student’s achievements, interests, background, or other criteria as a specific award program deems eligible. You can easily find one that supports students with disabilities provided you research well. Do not just choose the first one as some require that you achieve certain goals first before application.
If you are an ardent follower of politics, you will remember Obama saying, “Yes, we can” and truly yes we can. It does not matter how you look, where you are from or what you are suffering from. With a little determination, wonders can be achieved.

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]]> http://www.ilomessina.org/financial-resources-for-college-students/feed/ 0 Interactive Whiteboards To Help Students with Disabilities http://www.ilomessina.org/interactive-whiteboards-to-help-students-with-disabilities/ http://www.ilomessina.org/interactive-whiteboards-to-help-students-with-disabilities/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 05:51:15 +0000 marshie http://www.ilomessina.org/?p=45 Students with disabilities, most of the time, find it hard to learn fast and easy. With this, they could hardly achieve success in their academic life. However, there are specialized instructional strategies and effective tools in order to make their learning effective and easy. With the advent of technology, learning is made easy and convenient despite the learning disabilities among students through the use of interactive whiteboards. Today, educators and educational institutions are promoting the use of interactive whiteboards to help students with disabilities.

The Benefits of Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards are used by teachers for students with learning disabilities due to several advantages:

1.   It Enhances Content Presentation

Teachers can enhance content presentation through the use of images, figures, music, or even videos. With this, it gathers more attention from the students. Since most students are visual and auditory learners, learning is enhanced with the use of interactive whiteboards. The teachers are given a wide range of online reference materials to be used during each discussion.

2. It Encourages Motivation and Participation from the Students

Students interact more with the lesson since the learning is more fun rather than traditional methods of learning where students may feel nervous about participating. Those students who are reluctant to stand in front or those physically unable can participate from their seat.

3. All Presentations or Lessons Can be Saved and Reviewed

Teachers can save all lessons into a notebook file. With this, students can review the lessons when needed. Reviewing of previous lessons, as part of the student assessment, is made easy.

How Do They Work?

Since the use of interactive whiteboards to help students with disabilities is being promoted, teachers and students need to have ample knowledge on how the whole thing works.

Interactive whiteboards can be connected to a computer and a projector. Then the teacher can display lessons or files from the computer to the interactive whiteboard. Teachers can project images, highlight a text, open files, or draw figures. The fun part is, teachers can incorporate a lesson with videos or music which makes the lesson easier to be absorbed by students with learning difficulties. The students or teachers need to write on the interactive whiteboard with a stylus pen. A dry-erase marker or the student’s finger can also be used since it has a touchscreen display. Anything that has been written is registered on the computer screen as well.
Assistive Technology

Assistive technology or adaptive technology is a term used when a method or product is used in order to assist individuals with learning difficulty. With the incorporation of sounds, videos, graphics, and colors, students with learning difficulty are able to easily absorb the lessons. The use of interactive whiteboards to help students with disabilities further improves what assistive technology is.

Indeed, the use of interactive whiteboards to help students with disabilities has brought more fun, excitement, and interactive way of learning. Students with disabilities are given the right assistance they need. Interactive whiteboards definitely offer conveniences to the disabled students and their teachers. With promises of more interactive and convenient learning, interactive whiteboards are truly a gift of technology.

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]]> http://www.ilomessina.org/interactive-whiteboards-to-help-students-with-disabilities/feed/ 0 How The Internet Can Assist College Students with Disabilities http://www.ilomessina.org/how-the-internet-can-assist-college-students-with-disabilities/ http://www.ilomessina.org/how-the-internet-can-assist-college-students-with-disabilities/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 05:34:51 +0000 marshie http://www.ilomessina.org/?p=43 With the advent of modern technology, everything is made easy now through the internet. Even students with learning disabilities are provided with a list of great conveniences, especially when it comes to education. Read on and see how the internet can assist college students with disabilities.

What is E-Learning?

Traditional types of learning can be extremely challenging for students with disabilities. This is definitely one of the reasons E-Learning was born. E-Learning is the unanimity of the internet and learning; the use of technology to make the learning process possible between the students and teachers. With E-learning, you will see how the internet can assist college students with disabilities.

Reasons Why Disabled Students Opt for Online Education

Generally speaking, students with disabilities opt for online education because of the convenience it brings. Students who are physically disabled can fully benefit from such types of education because they do not have to travel just to take their classes. A student who is confined to a wheelchair, for example, doesn’t have to worry about finding comfortable transportation. Also, taking online classes is actually less expensive than traditional classes. Some colleges and universities even offer disability scholarships.

The Benefits of Online Education for Students with Disabilities

1. Students need not to leave the house in order to attain their classes. The great thing about online education is the benefit of taking classes from the comfort of their homes. Disabled students can attend their classes according to their own convenience. They may take their online classes whenever and wherever they want so long as they feel comfortable about the schedule of classes.

2. Students with learning disabilities do not need to worry about where to get their course materials as they take their classes online. Online colleges or universities are able to provide these materials, which can be downloaded online, for the students during the whole course.

3. If the disabled student is financially unable to enroll for an online education, there are online colleges or organizations that offer disability scholarships. The great thing about these scholarships, is that they offer full coverage including disability allowance, tuition, and book expenses. Regardless of the type of disability a student has, there are reputable colleges or educational institutions who offer scholarships that can be found online.

How About the Visually-Impaired Students?

Students who are visually-impaired may have difficulties with learning online. However, online audio books can come to the rescue! Today, audio books are becoming popular among students who are visually-impaired. The good thing about these audio books is that they are very convenient and handy. There are copious sources of audio books online that can be downloaded by the students. There has been an increase in the demand for audio books because the students can listen to the proper pronunciation of the words, which can improve their vocabulary too.

It is pretty amazing how the internet can assist college students with disabilities. With the conveniences it offers, students with learning disabilities can live a normal life and be successful in college.

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]]> http://www.ilomessina.org/how-the-internet-can-assist-college-students-with-disabilities/feed/ 0 The Advantages of Community College For Students With Disabilities http://www.ilomessina.org/the-advantages-of-community-college-for-students-with-disabilities/ http://www.ilomessina.org/the-advantages-of-community-college-for-students-with-disabilities/#comments Sun, 30 Oct 2011 05:26:56 +0000 marshie http://www.ilomessina.org/?p=41 Students may suffer from various disabilities and one of the most talked about disabilities is a learning disability. When you have a learning disability, it does not mean that once you are out of high school, you have no future in academics. It just means that you require more attention and time. This is partly the reason why I advocate for community colleges. I am sure you are beginning to wonder what the advantages of community college are for students with disabilities.
It is a common perception of students that Community College is the continuation of high school; more like the 13th grade. I have never understood this school of thought but probably it is because community college is not ranked as highly as the Ivy League colleges. The thing that people do not understand is that the teaching is generally good and sometimes better than other colleges. This is because it is not a requirement for professors to do research which means there is always time for them to interact with students. Obviously, your learning disability will be addressed. Furthermore, there are several part-time faculty members who teach classes at local universities. In the long run you are getting top notch teaching at a very reasonable price compared to the other colleges.
If you think about it clearly, community college offers a compromise. This college is not a boarding college and so you will be getting college-level work accompanied by the academic and emotional support that comes from home. Students with disabilities need this kind of support so that they can realize that they too can achieve just as much as normal students; perchance even more. Such a situation will help you if you have a disability as you will not have to take responsibility for laundry, banking, meals and other duties necessary for living away from home. You will have more time to focus on self-improvement.
Finally, there is this thing that community college students do that will be an advantage to you. Most of them tend to schedule classes before noon. In essence, by noon they are out of campus. Rarely would you see a lot of students participating in clubs located on campus. Are you seeing where I am going? You should take advantage of this. This is because, if you wanted a big position in one of the clubs, you will not face a lot of competition. You can easily hone your leadership skills that will assist you later in life as well as transfer if you want to. Apart from looking at good academic records, transfer colleges look at your participation in extra-curricular activities. Your disability will therefore not be an inability and who knows, you may easily be accepted into your dream college. Remember that since the tuition fees are lower, you should hire a tutor who will support you several days a week. This will speed up your learning process.

 

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]]> http://www.ilomessina.org/the-advantages-of-community-college-for-students-with-disabilities/feed/ 0 Planning Your College Education When You Have a Learning Disability http://www.ilomessina.org/planning-your-college-education-when-you-have-a-learning-disability/ http://www.ilomessina.org/planning-your-college-education-when-you-have-a-learning-disability/#comments Sat, 13 Aug 2011 06:31:10 +0000 marshie http://ilomessina.org/?p=30 The transition from high school to college presents many challenges for students with learning disabilities. For one thing, college represents the start of the journey toward becoming an independent adult. Parents, mentors and friends in high school may not be present as much as you want them to like before.

For another thing, many colleges and universities will not have the desired level of institutional support for students with learning disabilities. Students are almost always treated in an equal manner by the faculty and staff where education is concerned. In contrast, high schools have a better safety net as mandated by law and initiated by sympathetic administrations.

But don’t despair just yet. You can plan your college education and college life so that you will enjoy both of these aspects in this transition period. We suggest the following ways.

Do Your Research

Obviously, your first step is to look for the right college or university where you can enjoy optimal support for your learning disability. You should look at many schools as possible so as to make comparisons about their disability offices, facilities and services. You must also compare campuses in terms of their costs, quality of education and other aspects that make college life a good experience.

Your career goal must also be in place. You will then be able to choose which school will help you achieve it.

Acknowledge Your Limitations

Each one of us has his own limitations. In your case, your limitations may be more pronounced than most people but you know better than to mope over your weaknesses.

However, you must also acknowledge your limitations so that you can plan your college education according to your own strengths. If you take on more than you can handle, you are more likely to end up being stressed, frustrated and disappointed with your academic performance.

For example, if you have dyscalculia, it is a good move to limit your math course load. You will then be able to devote more time to just one single math subject instead of being spread thin over many math courses. Your GPA will be better, too.

Ask for Guidance

Freshmen college students are understandably bewildered by the newness of it all even after campus tours and student orientations have been conducted. You should not expect yourself to be any different in this regard and, thus, you are well-advised to seek for professional guidance, when necessary.

You can start by talking to the head of the students with disability office. You will find that the professionals here are helpful when giving information about your rights and responsibilities while in college. You will even be referred to sympathetic teachers.

These professionals can help in planning your course load for every semester. The aim, of course, is achievement of your educational goals within your set time frame. If you have to march to a different drummer, then so be it.

College is an achievement for any individual with or without a learning disability. But for someone who does have a learning disability, the challenges are harder but the triumph is also sweeter because of it. So, persevere with passion for success is in the horizon.

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