Summary of the Article

            At present, the enrollment for the number of students having learning disabilities is increasing drastically; however, these students are less likely to receive the required levels of encouragement and support. Currently, about 90 percent of the two-year and four year colleges enroll students having disabilities, yet only 24 percent are capable of helping disabled students to a “major extent.” At the same time, the percentage of college students having any form of disability has increased from 9 percent in 2000 to 11 percent in 2008; however, the number of learning-related disabilities is growing relatively faster than disabilities in general. For instance, dyslexia and other language-based disabilities increased from about 5 percent to 8.9 percent during the same period (Marklein, 2011). Similarly, students with attention-deficit disorders tripled to about 19 percent, which makes attention-deficit disorders the most prevalent learning disabilities after psychiatric, psychological or emotional conditions. Other prevalent learning disabilities include mobility problems, autism spectrum disorders, and visual and hearing impairments.

The Americans with Disabilities Act stipulates that all colleges must offer accommodation to all college students. However, colleges have the liberty to decline anything they view as unreasonable. In addition, contrary to grade and high schools, which must identify, evaluate and provide help to students having disabilities, colleges are not required by law to do anything relating to the identification of a disability except when a student provides proof that he/she has a learning disability (Marklein, 2011).

Despite the growing enrollment of students with learning-related learning disabilities, colleges are not doing enough to support these students. There are a number of factors that explain this dismal state of affairs including costs, which are the core barrier towards the implementation of changes; lack of incentives for faculties in order to ensure that their coursework are easily accessible; and bureaucratic challenges in disability-services offices. In addition, students with learning disabilities fail to seek and make use of the available services. For instance, out of the 67 percent learning-disabled students who enrolled in college after high school, only 24 percent revealed their disabilities to the college students. The disclosure of such students is a fundamental step towards colleges ensuring that they provide accommodations to learning-disabled students (Marklein, 2011). The significance of a student disclosing his/her disability status is evident in the fact that, these students were able to be enrolled in college because of the support they received while in high school. It is imperative for learning-disabled students to realize that they need help before it becomes too late. According to the author, the main reason why students opt not to disclose their disability status is because they hope for a fresh beginning in college devoid of the stigma linked to having a disability (Marklein, 2011).

Reflection

            I consent with the views presented in the article, particularly with regard to the reasons why colleges are failing when it comes accommodating students with learning disabilities. It is undeniable that costs and bureaucratic structures in learning institutions are the major factors that hinder the accommodation of students with learning disabilities.  Nevertheless, all the blame cannot be placed on the colleges; students are also to blame for the failure of colleges to accommodate students with learning disabilities. From a personal point of view, I think that most of the burden rests on the students; this is because they fail to disclose their disability status, which makes it relatively hard for colleges to help them appropriately. Colleges are not mandated by law to identify students with learning disabilities, therefore, these students must disclose their disabilities if they want to be accommodated by their respective colleges. In addition, I have an experience that affirms the findings presented in the article. A case in point was a friend who had ADHD and managed to get entry in college. While in high school, he was able to cope up with learning despite the ADHD; this is partly because the high school he attended had mechanisms and structures to help students with learning disabilities. This was not the case in college since the college did not have any specific programs aimed at helping students with learning disabilities. Furthermore, he did not disclose his disability status, which made it relatively difficult for his college to offer any help.

It is undeniable that the author covered the topic comprehensively; this is evident from the fact that the author of the article looked at the issue from the student’s and college’s perspective, and their contributing factors as to why colleges are performing dismally with regards to helping students with disabilities. The college-related factors cited in the article include bureaucratic structure and cost constraints whereas the student-related factors include their failure to disclose their disability status. From a personal standpoint, I think the government should enact a law to ensure that colleges are mandated to identify and help students with disabilities. Such an approach has yielded substantial success in grade schools and high schools; therefore, it is highly likely that colleges will also replicate the same success in helping learning-disabled students. Similarly, incentives should be established to ensure that barriers associated with students failing to disclose their disability are eliminated. It is undeniable that disability disclosure is the first step towards ensuring that leaning-disabled students get help while in college; therefore, incentives should be established to ensure that learning-disabled students disclose their disabilities. Crafting these incentives requires comprehensive research aimed at understanding why students opt not to disclose their learning disabilities to college officials.

References

Marklein, B. (2011, October 18). Learning-disabled students get firmer grip on college. Retrieved December 14, 2012, from USA Today: usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-10-17/college-and-learning-disabilities/50807620/1