Finding a Way Through : Working with Students with Learning Disabilities

Finding a Way Through: Working with Students with

Learning Disabilities September 22, 2011

St. Mary’s University School of LawLSAC: ASP Conference

Leah ChristensenAssociate Professor of LawThomas Jefferson School of Law, San

DiegoO.J. Salinas

Clinical Assistant Professor of LawUniversity of North Carolina School of Law

Is this familiar?

"He has the ability, if he just tried harder in my Contracts class, he could do it. He chooses not to do the work."

"If she would just pay attention in Legal Writing, she would get it."

"After I give the instructions, he sits there and stares at his paper. He is not motivated."

How many students have learning disabilities?

1 in 5 people have a learning disability.

Learning DisabilitiesA learning disability, or learning disorder, is not a problem with intelligence. Caused by a difference in the brain that affects how

information is received, processed, or communicated. Students with learning disabilities have trouble

processing sensory information because they see, hear, and understand things differently. 

Depending on the particular learning disability, students may struggle with reading, writing, speaking, and mathematical problems.   

DSM-IV TerminologyThe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental

Disorders (“DSM-IV”) is the tool that psychiatrists, psychologists, and professional counselors use to diagnose mental illness and other disabilities and disorders.

Many of the reports that students will use to help establish the right to accommodations for a learning disability may be written by professionals who use the DSM-IV.Helpful to be familiar with some of the DSM-IV

language.

DSM-IV CategoriesThe DSM-IV categorizes learning disabilities into four parts:1. Reading Disorder

Example: Dyslexia - Impairment of the ability to recognize/comprehend written words.

2. Mathematics DisorderExample: Dyscalculia - Impairment of the ability to solve mathematical problems.

3. Disorder of Written ExpressionExample: Dysgraphia - Impairment of the ability to write.

4. Learning Disorder Not Otherwise SpecifiedExample: Dyspraxia - Impairment in the control of the motor system.

DSM-IV Diagnosis “Learning Disorders are diagnosed when the individual’s achievement on individually administered standardized tests in reading, mathematics, or written expression is substantially below that expected for age, schooling, and level of intelligence. The learning problems significantly interfere with academic achievement or activities of daily living that require reading, mathematical, or writing skills.”

Other Disorders that can Impact Learning

Not technically learning disabilities. They may be considered an “other health impairment” under the IDEA and the Rehabilitation Act.

Pervasive Developmental Disorders (Autistic Spectrum Disorders)

Neuro-developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior.• Autism• Asperger’s Syndrome• No clinically significant delay in cognitive

development and language.• Primarily, impaired social interaction.

Other Disorders that can Impact Learning

• ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder): Formerly Attention Deficit Disorder (“ADD”)

• Persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that is more frequently displayed and is more severe than is typically observed in individuals at comparable level of development.

• Three subtypes:• ADHD Predominantly Inattentive Type (at least 6 out of 9

inattentive symptoms)• ADHD Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type (at least 6 out

of 9 hyperactive-impulsive symptoms)• ADHD Combined Type (more than 6 symptoms from both

inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive)

Learning Disabilities v. Intellectual Disabilities

Learning disabled students DO NOT lack intellectual or cognitive ability.

There is a gap between a learning disabled student’s potential to learn and his demonstrated ability to complete a particular task, such as reading or writing.

For learning disabled students, “the condition, manner, and duration in which [they] perform[] the activity” varies from the general public. Nancy Mather et al., The Curse of High Stakes Tests and

High Abilities: Reactions to Wong v. Regents of the University of California, 13 LEARNING DISABILITIES 139, 141 (2005).

Main Laws IDEA: Provides for special education and related

services for students with disabilities who need such education and services by reason of their disabilities. The IDEA provides for a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and for an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

The Rehabilitation Act: most notably Section 504, prohibits discrimination against students with disabilities. The Rehabilitation Act applies to public and private elementary and secondary schools and colleges that receive federal funding. It also applies to employers that receive federal funding.

ADA: Prohibits discrimination against students with disabilities and applies to all public and most private schools and colleges, regardless of federal funding. Religiously controlled educational institutions are exempt from coverage.

Applies to private employers with fifteen or more employees and to state and local governments.

Are you a qualified individual with a

disability?Both the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act protect only individuals with disabilities who are otherwise qualified for the service that they seek.

The ADA defines a qualified individual with a disability as:

“an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable modifications to rules, polices, or practices, the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or the participation in programs or activities provided by a public entity.”

Under the ADA, a “disability” is:

“[A] physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment.”

A physical or mental impairment includes “specific learning disabilities” as well as physiological disorders and conditions, disfigurement, anatomical loss, and mental retardation.

However, “[m]erely having an impairment does not make one disabled for purposes of the ADA.

Claimants also need to demonstrate that the impairment limits a “major life activity.”

What are major life activities?

Learning, reading, and working, as well as more basic activities such as walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, and breathing.A disability under the ADA is an impairment that “substantially limits” one of these activities by preventing or significantly restricting an individual’s ability to perform the activity.The issue is the impairment’s effect on a specific individual’s ability to perform a major life activity, not merely the diagnosis of impairment.

Accommodations?In Class:

NotetakingTape RecordingFront Row SeatingReduced Courseload

In Exams:Additional TimePrivate or Semi-Private Rooms

Accommodations: Not Typically Granted

Requests to Avoid Participating Orally in ClassMore Time on Writing Assignments

Thank you!