Academic & Scholarship Resources
LEARNING DISABILITIES
What are learning disabilities?
Learning disabilities interfere with a person’s ability to interpret what is seen or heard, or to link information from different parts of the brain. A specific disability may be affect one area of academic performance while leaving other areas unaffected. A student may have severe difficulties in one area, such as languages, while excelling in another, such as mathematics.
Why is it important for Fraternities & Sororities to understand learning disabilities?
Because it may be affecting members, and inadvertently are we making the problem worse? A learning disabled student might reveal their disability through poor performance, despite high motivation and many hours of study. Through an individualized Academic Mentoring program, Sororities & Fraternities can assist members to do their best.
Common types of learning disabilities
- Developmental speech and language disorders such as:
- Articulation: mispronunciation problems, often treated with speech therapy or outgrown
- Expressive: difficulty expressing their ideas verbally
- Receptive: difficulty understanding certain types of speech. A person with this disability can hear, but cannot interpret what they have heard
- Academic skills disorders such as:
- Dyslexia: difficulty reading and understanding words and sentences. It may be an issue of visual perception, such as seeing letters reversed or rotated or auditory perception, in which subtle differences can’t be distinguished.
- Dyscalculia: difficulty with math problems and concepts
- Dysgraphia: difficulty forming letters or writing in a defined space
- Attention disorders such as
- Attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder: characterized by inattention, impulsive behavior. Alone, ADHD is not necessarily a learning disability, but many people with diagnosed LD also have ADHD
What can a Fraternitiy/Sorority do to help a student with LD?
- Be flexible with study programs
- Allow the New Member tests to be given orally, untimed, or in a private room
- Assist in locating resources on campus or in the community
SDS is SCSU's program to provide support service for students with a physical, cognitive or mental/emotional disability. Our goal is to provide facility and programmatic access through reasonable accommodations to allow students with disabilities an equal opportunity for academic success.
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The Academic Learning Center's (ALC) mission is to provide study and reading assistance to students enrolled at St. Cloud State University to help them become more efficient and effective learners.
- Assist the member selecting courses that meet their academic requirements but are conducive to their needs
- Individualize Academic Mentoring- the one-size-fits-all punitive approach will alienate some potentially valuable members who are trying their best
Programming Ideas
- Study skills
- Test taking
Resources
- The Academic Learning Center
- Education or psychology faculty
- SDS
- Living with Learning Disabilities: http://www.ncld.org/livingworld
- Online library of academic articles and texts related to learning disabilities http://www.questria.com
- National Institute of Mental Health (definitions/ links/ publications): http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/learndis.htm
