Problems associated with academic success are varied.
Special needs' refers specifically to those disabilities as identified in the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as applicable to the College setting. These disabilities or exceptionalities are mirrored in what was Bill 82 before it was embedded into the Education Act. They are typically disabilities for which specific accommodations are required to compensate for the debilitating effects with which such students live and for whom accommodation is the only way the effects of the disability may be minimized. The philosophy behind this is not to provide such students with an unfair advantage, but to equalize their opportunities to demonstrate competence.