Welcome to the Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT) blog — the mission of this blog is to provide an avenue of communication between LCIRT and educators/professionals interested in the latest research, resources, and news related to learning differences.
In my time as a high school teacher, I worked with my fair share of teenagers who engaged in … challenging behavior. But the students that concerned me the most were those who did not have at least one trusting, positive relationship with some adult in school. In these scenarios, my fear stemmed from how little we know about the emotional state of our students at such a vulnerable part of their development. It was too easy to miss signs of& serious distress and even easier to miss crucial opportunities to help them expand their abilities or sense of possibilities. Their classwork and their grades could maybe tell us what, or if, they were learning; but we had few answers to the most essential question: how are they handling the critical challenges of adolescence? That so many of us have a story about a teacher (or some other caring adult) who played a critical role in guiding us through adolescence is a testament to the power and importance of the connections we should strive to make with our students.
Although it took almost two years from initial proposal to publication, we now contemplate with satisfaction and some pride From Disability to Diversity: College Success for Students with Learning Disabilities, ADHD, and Autism Spectrum Disorder. It encompasses many of the ideas that make Landmark College an exceptional learning environment for students who learn differently, but adapts them for application at colleges that are not specialized. We wanted to “provide useful information for those working in postsecondary contexts who are not yet experts in supporting these students,” as well as a layperson’s overview of recent advances in neuro-cognitive research and social justice advocacy that undergird the approaches we promote.
One explanation for why students with learning disabilities are not successfully completing postsecondary programs is that they are not disclosing their disability to their college or university, and, therefore, are not eligible for disability-related accommodations. In fact, only 24% of students with LD inform their college or university of their disability. With this in mind, Landmark College’s Lead Education Specialist Dr. Adam Lalor and his colleagues conducted an analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) to better understand the effect of support use on the college persistence and completion of all students with LD — those who disclose their LD to their college or university and those who do not disclose.
by Ibrahim Dahlstrom-Hakki, Ph.D.
Director
Landmark College Institute for Research and Training
All too often, students with disabilities’ engagement in research is…
by Manju Banerjee, Ph.D.
Vice President for Educational Research and Innovation
Landmark College
NOTE: Components of this article are also being published as part…
