Accommodating Students with LDs in Postsecondary Studies

LDAO’s new position paper addresses the provision of accommodations at the postsecondary level for students with LDs, and effective transitions for these students from secondary to postsecondary institutions.

June 2012

Students with learning disabilities (LDs) form the majority of students seeking services from offices for students with disabilities at Ontario colleges and universities. There are increasing numbers of students with LDs who are graduating from high school and continuing on to postsecondary studies. In some cases they have been receiving accommodations in high school and expect to continue these accommodations at postsecondary. Others do not get assessed and diagnosed as having learning disabilities until the postsecondary level, when they encounter a level of complexity that challenges areas of weakness for which they have been able to compensate up to that point.

Accommodations for students with learning disabilities refer to those supports, resources and services, over and above that provided to all other students, which enable students with LDs to fully access and utilize the education system.

In elementary and secondary education, accommodations may be provided on the basis of a special education identification under the Communication – Learning Disability category and definition, or even informally on the basis of demonstrated special education needs. The primary legislative basis here is the Education Act and its Regulations. The Education Act does not apply to postsecondary studies, but the Ontario Human Rights Code applies to postsecondary institutions, as it does to all providers of goods and services in Ontario. Under Human Rights legislation, discrimination is prohibited on the basis of disability, and the definition of disability includes “a learning disability, or a dysfunction in one or more of the processes involved in understanding or using symbols or spoken language.”

Eligibility for accommodations at postsecondary institutions, under the Ontario Human Rights Code, is based on having a diagnosed disability, not on identification as exceptional in the elementary/secondary school system. The kinds of accommodations that are allowed in postsecondary studies may also be different from what is allowed in elementary/secondary education. Furthermore, the legislated entitlement to accommodations differs since students at the elementary and secondary level have a mandated right to an education under the Education Act, while there is no guaranteed right to an education at college/university.

Select this link to read more (PDF file)