Re: Why did I take it so personally?

[Dr Susan C Oldrieve <soldriev@baldwinw.edu>]

On Thu, 27 Mar 1997, Latisha LaRue wrote:

> Meg,
> 	I am not an expert in this, but if your w.c. visitor is, indeed,
> learning disabled, perhaps his teacher needs to be informed about
> "reasonable accomodaations."  It IS the law.
> 	Katie
> 

	Yes, but it is the student's responsibility to request those
accomodations, and the disability has to be documented for him to be
entitled to receive special accomodations.  If the student does not wish
to tell the professor about his learning disability, then we must keep the
information confidential.  Also, if his problem was with incorrect APA
format, then how much of the problem with the paper was due to his
dyslexia really?  Is the problem with the paper that he is learning
disabled or just that he ran up against a professor who is obsessive about
documentation format and not very compassionate with students?

	I think we have to be careful about making sure that learning
disabled students are not sheltered from the exigencies of daily academic
life that all students face.  I've noticed that some of the LD students
I've worked with tend to blame all their problems on their learning
disability instead of understanding that many of their weaknesses are no
different from that of many other writers.  If they are attributing their
writing problems to the disability, they may not be looking in the right
places for ways to improve.  So it's very important, I think, not to jump
to the conclusion, or allow the student to jump to the conclusion that the
disability is the source of all difficulties or makes that student
completely different from all other students.
		
			Susan Oldrieve
			Baldwin-Wallace College
			Berea, Ohio