Help for learning-disabled students

Kim Claussen

Attending college is a challenge for almost everyone. For students with learning disabilities, it can be even more trying.

College students with learning disabilities are the fastest-growing population of students with disabilities in the nation said Gwen Woodward, learning disability specialist for the Disability Resource Center (DRC), located in Room 117 of Pearson Hall.

“We define a learning disability as the difference between a student’s potential to learn and their academic achievement,” she said. “The most- common type is reading, followed closely by comprehension, written language and math.”

Lack of education and awareness are two of the biggest problems in combating the stereotypes that are associated with learning disabilities, Woodward said. Typically 5 to 10 percent of the population has some sort of disability, but there are only 255 ISU students currently seeking help from the DRC.

“We need to increase awareness,” Woodward said. “Many students just don’t realize that they have a problem.”

The university has a variety of resources available to students who have or think they might have a learning disability, said Zora Zimmerman, Liberal Arts and Sciences liaison. The DRC offers workshops and can help students find the note-takers, readers, test accommodations and disabled-user service computers they need.

Woodward said the DRC serves three basic functions: meeting with students on a one-on-one basis, writing letters of accommodation and reviewing documentation on the university’s stance on disabilities.

“We discuss any problems that they have and help them to get the accommodations that they need,” Woodward said. “It is important to note that you can only get the accommodations that are available to you with your disability.”

Iowa State bases its disability resources on the rules stated in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

These two pieces of legislation state that instructors are required to make adjustments for students with disabilities without offering them advantages over other students, Zimmerman said.

“It is important for the university to make accommodations because they need to meet the requirements of the law,” Woodward said. “But from the student’s perspective, all students should have an equal opportunity at the education experience.”

Anne Gotschall, junior in biology, said she suffers from both physical and learning disabilities.

“I have rheumatoid arthritis and problems with reading and comprehension,” she said.

Gotschall said her disabilities present her with a lot of challenges that are difficult for other people to understand.

“When I have an arthritis attack, it is hard for me to even move. I suffer from chronic fatigue [syndrome], and that makes it hard to keep up,” she said. “The problem is that my disabilities are not visible, so when I go to class, people think that I am making it up.”

One of Gotschall’s biggest problems with her disabilities is adapting to them, she said.

“I am starting to get past the stigmas and learning how to learn with them. The hardest thing is to get over the fears of it,” she said. “You have to admit it, accept it and ask for help. When you finally accept it, your life starts to get easier.”