Over the past three weeks, I described some of the basic characteristics of Dyslexia, ADHD, and ASD, respectively. This week, I thought I would share some information about some of the other disabilities students have registered with at Student Accessibility Services.
Currently, there are a little over 250 students registered with Student Accessibility Services. There are three disability groups under which most of these students are classified: learning disability (which includes Dyslexia), ADHD, and mental health conditions. There is a good percentage of overlap, meaning many students fall into two and even three of these categories. There are less than a dozen students at the College registered with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Specific Learning Disorder
When it comes to learning disabilities, the largest number of our students have Dyslexia (more formally known as Specific Learning Disorder, Impairment in Reading, and also sometimes more informally referred to as a “language-based learning disability”). There are two other types of Specific Learning Disorders.
Dyscalculia (Specific Learning Disorder, Impairment in Mathematics)
Dyscalculia is an impairment in making sense of numbers and math concepts. This means that these students lack an intuitive understanding of how numbers work and how to compare two numbers. Dyscalculia is not talked about as much as Dyslexia, however some researchers believe it is equally as common.
Dysgraphia (Specific Learning Disorder, Impairment in Written Expression)
Dysgraphia is an impairment in writing, which can range from writing legibly to struggling to get thoughts down on paper. This can also be referred to as a “disorder of written expression.” This disorder can have symptoms that include visual-spatial difficulties, fine motor difficulties, language processing issues, spelling/handwriting challenges, grammar and usage problems, and difficulty in organizing written language. This disorder can often go hand-in-hand with Dyslexia.
Other Learning Disabilities
Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD)
NVLD is a learning disability that does not affect reading or written language, but affects understanding non-verbal communications, such as body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions. These students have strong language skills but may have weakness in abstract thinking, distinguishing details from the big picture, and may be overly literal. They can also struggle with social cues and making friends.
Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)
This is not the same thing as a hearing impairment. Individuals with Auditory Processing Disorder have normal hearing, but there is a disconnect between what the ear hears and the brain processes. Unlike ADHD or ASD where students can struggle to understand the meaning of what they hear, with APD it is the sounds that the student struggles to understand. Background noise can make this even more difficult. This disorder can affect acquiring reading and writing skills since learning letter sounds can be very difficult. These students do much better when they have information presented to them in writing, not just orally.
Visual Processing Disorder (VPD)
This is not a sensory impairment in vision, but rather an impairment in how the brain processes visual information. Difficulties can include figure-ground discrimination, visual-motor processing, visual memory, and visual-spatial issues. Students might be overwhelmed by too much visual information presented at once, struggle to copy notes off the board, skip lines when reading, and have trouble recognizing when they’ve seen something before. This condition can often overlap with Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and Dyscalculia.
Chronic Health Impairments
Approximately 15% of students are registered with a chronic health condition (short term conditions – those lasting or estimated to last less than six months – do not qualify as a “disability”). Most of our students who are registered with a chronic health condition are registered with allergies, asthma, and/or digestive disorders such as Crohn’s Disease or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. There are also a few individuals with Lyme Disease and with arthritis.
Sensory Impairments
These include vision and hearing impairments. At present, we do not have any students registered with us who are blind or deaf, but we do have individuals who have significantly impacted vision or hearing.
Mental Health Conditions
A large percentage of students are registered with SAS with a mental health condition, with Anxiety and Depression the most common. We also see registration with Bipolar Disorder (formerly called Manic Depression), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A discussion about the impact of mental health conditions on the college student will be saved for a later time as that is an in-depth topic.
I hope this provides a basic idea of the variety of disabilities that exist on our campus. If you are interested in learning more about how learning disabilities impact students in the classroom, you can watch the full video, How Difficult Can This Be? F.A.T. City, that was shown in my Camp Teach & Learn workshop “What Is It Like to Have a Learning Disability?” by clicking here. [Tip: Use Chrome as a browser to view]. While it is dated and geared toward K-12, it is by far the best resource I’ve found to help educators understand what it is like for the learning disabled student in the classroom.
This blog will continue at the beginning of the Spring semester! Have a wonderful winter break!
