Learning Disabilities

Definition
Learning disabilities affect a person’s ability to process information. A specific learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the central nervous system processes involved in perceiving, understanding, and/or using concepts through verbal (spoken or written) language or nonverbal means. This disorder manifests itself with a deficit in one or more of the following areas: attention, reasoning, processing, memory, communication, reading, writing, spelling, calculation, coordination, social competence, and emotional maturity.

Learning Disabilities refers to a variety of disorders that affect the acquisition, retention, understanding, organization or use of verbal and/or non-verbal information.

Documentation Required
To receive services from SDS, you must provide the following documentation of your learning disability:

• A copy of  a comprehensive psycho-educational test battery administered with the last three years
• A statement of diagnosis
• Academic limitations resulting from the disability
• Type of learning disability (all test scores must include subtest scores
• A copy of a recent IEP and Multi-factored Evaluation, if available

Accommodations
Your accommodations will vary according to your individual needs and the documentation provided. SDS will work with you to determine the accommodations most appropriate for you. Some of the accommodations that you may receive include: 

• Note takers and/or audiotaped class sessions, captioned films
• Extra exam time, alternative testing arrangements