Students with learning disabilities in higher education: academic strategies profile

This study compared 191 college students with learning disabilities (LD) and 190 students without LD in four main areas: academic difficulties, learning strategies, functioning during examinations, and students' perception of factors that help or impede their academic success. Analysis of the personal data of students with and without LD revealed no significant differences between groups on grade point average, number of courses taken, and family status, but students with LD reported having more difficulties in humanities, social sciences, and foreign language than students without LD. Regarding academic strategies, students with LD devised unusual strategies and preferred additional oral explanations or visual explanations, whereas nondisabled students preferred more written examples. These differences indicated that students without LD used more written techniques than did students with LD. During examinations, the students with LD had difficulty concentrating and were concerned about lack of time. They experienced stress, were nervous, and felt more frustrated, helpless, or uncertain during examinations than students without LD. The implications for college students with LD are discussed.