Schools at all levels offer assistance of various kinds to people with learning disabilities. These include everything from help with organisation, alternate lesson deliveries, scribing, note-taking and alternative forms of testing.

There is a growing trend towards offering individualized education in Ontario’s public school classrooms. This, in addition to the early identification and intervention programs, will ensure that struggling students are noticed and assisted without delay. For more on this, please see the Web Based Teaching Tool section on this site.

School services for students with LDs are improving greatly; however, because LDs are a relatively recently understood phenomenon, not every teacher or other school staff will have this understanding. Again, understanding your own LDs and knowing what helps you will be invaluable in this situation, so that you can explain how you learn and what you need.

Schools can offer accommodations for learning styles and disabilities at their discretion; however, a process is also in place whereby an Individual Education Plan (IEP) is developed for a student.

Another level above that is an IPRC process, which formally identifies a student’s right to a special education program and an IEP.

At college or university, there are offices for students with disabilities, now often called Accessibility Services, where arrangements can be made for accommodations and other supports such as learning strategies. Documentation of the learning disabilities is usually required for these services.

For more information: about Education