Accommodating Students with Specific Writing Disabilities

There is one thing of which I am sure. Without reasonable accommodations, my educational and employment efforts would have failed. Even today, as a published author with several degrees and a position with major responsibilities, I would probably fail any test or task that did not allow for accommodations. All persons with LD are entitled to use reasonable accommodations designed to meet their particular needs (Young, 1996). Learning disabilities are prevalent in the United States, reaching near-epidemic proportions in U.S. colleges and universities. In 1986, the U.S. Department of Education began collecting data on students with disabilities (Vogel, 1993). In that year, 1.3 million of the 12.5 million students enrolled in postsecondary educational institutions identified themselves as disabled. Of those self-identifying, 12.2 percent indicated they had a specific learning disability (Vogel, 1993). In 1995-96, of all undergraduate students enrolled in post-secondary institutions, five percent identified themselves as disabled (U.S. Department of Education, 1997). Of those, it is estimated that nearly 50 percent have specific learning disabilities (Murphy, 1992). Experts expect the number of post-secondary students with learning disabilities to remain high (Raskind & Higgins, 1995), given that more than 100,000 students with learning disabilities are graduating from high school each year (Office of Special Education Programs, 1992) and more than half intend to continue their education (White et al., 1982). Because the proportion of university students with learning disabilities is growing, all educational programs may eventually be required to conduct a selfexamination to determine how to accommodate the students with learning disabilities who enter their programs of study. This is especially important for print media programs such as journalism, public relations, and advertising because a large part of each program's curriculum is based on effective communication through writing. This article provides some fundamental information on learning disabilities relevant to programs preparing students for print media careers. Included is a discussion of learning disabilities, particularly those specific to written expression. The legal requirements facing all university programs are examined, and a brief overview of the types of appropriate accommodations that may be made in the classroom is provided, including assistive technology and strategy instruction. The article concludes with a discussion of the potential implications that the influx of students with learning disabilities will have upon not only the media writing classroom but also the print media newsroom. What are disabilities? Definition. A learning disability, according to the 1977 Federal Register and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is a specific disorder in "one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations" (U.S. Office of Education, 1977, p. 65,083). Although learning disabilities are defined by the five criteria listed in the IDEA definition (process, language, academics, neurology, and exclusion), the identification criteria focus on a discrepancy between an individual's aptitude (measured by IQ scores) and achievement (measured bv a battery of achievement tests and subtests) (Mercer, 1997; AHEAD, 1997) that cannot be attributed to visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, mental retardation, emotional disturbances, or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage (U.S. Office of Education, 1977, p. 65,083). Many individuals with learning disabilities are identified early in their academic careers; however, research shows that although identification, intervention, and remediation may increase a student's level of achievement, specific learning disabilities are persistent deficits that can be improved but not resolved over time (Shaywitz et al. …