Transcript 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 Law
LSAC: ASP Conference
Leah Christensen
Associate Professor of Law
Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego
O.J. Salinas
Clinical Assistant Professor of Law
University 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 Disabilities
A 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 Terminology
 The 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 Categories
The DSM-IV categorizes learning disabilities into four parts:
1. Reading Disorder
Example: Dyslexia - Impairment of the ability to
recognize/comprehend written words.
2.
Mathematics Disorder
Example: Dyscalculia - Impairment of the ability to solve mathematical
problems.
3.
Disorder of Written Expression
Example: Dysgraphia - Impairment of the ability to write.
4.
Learning Disorder Not Otherwise Specified
Example: 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 hyperactivityimpulsivity 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:




Notetaking
Tape Recording
Front Row Seating
Reduced Courseload
In Exams:
 Additional Time
 Private or Semi-Private Rooms
Accommodations: Not
Typically Granted
 Requests to Avoid Participating Orally in Class
 More Time on Writing Assignments
Thank you!