Manifestations of Learning Disabilities in University Students: Implications for Coping and Adjustment.

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a better understanding of students' perception of their difficulties and adjustments during university studies as compared with their past perceptions, to examine their coping and expectations, and draw some implications from the research to help students with LD in institutions of higher education. Studies of adult students mainly describe their difficulties in three domains: academic, behavioral and emotional. Following in-depth interviews with 30 students, We attempted to elicit the experience of disability from their perspective. Students described their difficulties, the ways they cope, how they view their future and their adjustments while studying in the university. Results indicated significantly fewer dependence on private lessons, improved their learning strategies, more use of special accommodations and more positive emotional functioning and reduced negative self-perception in adult students. The contribution of this study is in showing the different perception of past and present difficulties and modes of coping, suggesting that although the academic obstacles do not change over time, the students learn to adjust to academic demands by adopting effective coping strategies, developing emotional resiliency, and through self-encouragement regarding an optimist future. ********** The purpose of the current study is to increase our understanding of students with learning disabilities (LD) perception of their difficulties and adjustment to studying in the university as compared with their past perception of coping, and their expectations. The number of students with LD attending colleges and universities has increased in recent years. According to the US Department of Education Annual Report (2000) the number of freshmen entering college who reported having LD has increased since 1985 by 32 percent. In Israel, institutes of higher education reported that 1.5 to 3% of all students have LD. The definition of LD according to the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD, 1998), is based on a normal-range of intellectual ability and showing evidence of a below-average academic achievement score, including a wide range of specific difficulties in academic skills such as reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic or mathematics, difficulties in foreign language; evidence of deficits in cognitive process, including areas of perception, reasoning, symbolic representation, and memory; without any evidence of sensory impairment, mental retardation, or a primary psychiatric disorder. Students' Difficulties Studies on university students with LD (Braxton, Milem, & Sullivan, 2000; Heiman & Parcel, 2003; Winter & Yaffe, 2000) mainly analyzed difficulties in three domains: academic, behavioral and emotional. For example, students with LD described difficulties in reading; not being able to remember formulae, or to identify formulae by name, or to remember enough details to enable them to show evidence of knowledge, especially in writing. They reported on insufficient time and difficulties in organization and in managing their time; suffering from a lack of energy to address their difficulties; and mentioned memory problems. These deficiencies in academic skills may impede social adjustment and influence the individual's behavior or emotional adjustment (Barton & Fuhrman, 1994). Studies of college students with LD revealed that they had greater difficulty handling academic demands, adjusting to change, or adjusting to university life (Saracoglu, Minden, & Wilchesky, 1989). Students 'Academic and Social Perception Studies show consistent results that suggest that the academic perceptions of college students with LD are lower than peers' perceptions (Cosden & McNamara, 1997; Murray, Goldstein, Nourse, & Edgar, 2000; Vaughn, Elbaum, & Boardman, 2001). In contrast to academic perceptions, only few studies examined the social self-perception of university's students with LD. …

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