ERIC ED402713: Hidden Abilities in Higher Education: New College Students with Disabilities. Monograph Series, Number 21.

120 Pages·1996·0.96 MB·English

by  ERIC

Monograph Series
Number 21
H i d d e n A b i l i t i e s
Hidden Abilities
In Higher Education:
New College Students with Disabilities
Linda Lucas Walling
Editor
National Resource Center for
The Freshman Year Experience & Students in Transition
University of South Carolina, 1996

Monograph Series
Number 21
H i d d e n A b i l i t i e s
Hidden Abilities
In Higher Education:
New College Students with Disabilities
Linda Lucas Walling
Editor
National Resource Center for
The Freshman Year Experience & Students in Transition
University of South Carolina, 1996
The image used for the cover and throughout the monograph is a rendering of a diagram of the
mind as drawn by 19th century phrenologists.
Additional copies of this monograph may be ordered for $30 each from the National Resource
Center for The Freshman Year Experience and Students in Transition, 1728 College Street,
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208. Telephone [phone]. Telefax [phone].
Special gratitude is expressed to William Judson Wolfskill, Assistant Editor at the Resource Center,
for editing, proofing, layout, and design; to Randolph F. Handel, Assistant Editor, for editing, lay-
out, and design; to Dr. Betsy Barefoot, the Resource Center's Co-Director for Research and Publica-
tions; and to Dr. Dorothy S. Fidler, the Center's Senior Managing Editor.
Copyright 1996 by the University of South Carolina. All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced or copied in any form, by any means,
without written permission from the University of South Carolina
ISBN: 1-889271-18-7
The Freshman Year Experience® and The First-Year Experience® are trademarks of the
University of South Carolina. A license may be granted upon written request to use these terms.
This license is not transferable without the written approval of the University of South Carolina.
Hidden Abilities in Higher T

Education:
a

New College
b

Students with
l

Disabilities
e

O

P r e f a c e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v f

John N. Gardner

I n t r o d u c t i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 C

Linda Lucas Walling
O
C h a p t e r O n e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Special Talents in a Not-So-New Population
n
Thomas G. West

T
C h a p t e r T w o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Hidden Abilities–Visible Disabilities?
e
Linda Lucas Walling

C h a p t e r T h r e e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 n
The Human Factor
William H. Jones
T

s
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C h a p t e r F o u r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Multiple Stigma or Multiple Opportunity?
New Students with Disabilities from Diverse Cultural Backgrounds
Blanche Glimps and Karen F. Davis
C h a p t e r F i v e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Students with Learning Disabilities and the Social Domain
Nancy Mari Purcell
C h a p t e r S i x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Marginal Beginnings but Great Endings
Angela Renaud
C h a p t e r S e v e n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
A Safety Net for Success: An Approach to Transition Planning
Jolene Bordewick
C h a p t e r E i g h t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Leveling the Playing Field: Alternative Testing Arrangements
Margaret A. Chmielewski
C h a p t e r N i n e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Lessening Stumbling Blocks to Retention Through
Accessible Academic Libraries
Donna Z. Pontau
C h a p t e r T e n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
Building Bridges for Institutions of Higher Education:
Assistive Technology Resources
Robbie Ludy and Merv Blunt
vi
C h a p t e r E l e v e n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
The Legal Perspective:
Higher Education and Students with Disabilities
Rosvelt Martain, Jr.
C o n c l u s i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
Final Thoughts
Linda Lucas Walling
A b o u t T h e A u t h o r s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Biographical Backgrounds and Contact Information
R e c o m m e n d e d R e a d i n g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Resources on Students with Disabilities
A p p e n d i x A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
Communication Techniques Often Used by People
with Selected Disabilities
A p p e n d i x B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
A Directory of State Assistive Technology Projects
Compiled by Robbie Ludy and Merv Blunt
A p p e n d i x C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Selected Organizations, Serials, and Internet Resources
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Preface P

r

John N. Gardner
e

It is with pleasure that we bring this monograph, Hidden Abilities in Higher Edu-
cation: New College Students with Disabilities, to the readership of The Freshman
Year Experience monograph series. I am especially pleased to introduce the
monograph because of my long-standing association with the editor-in-chief,
Dr. Linda Lucas Walling, who is a Professor in the College of Library and Infor-
mation Science at the University of South Carolina at Columbia. Dr. Walling f
is a national authority on serving students with disabilities, especially those
students needing library and information retrieval support. Given the nation’s

dramatic increase in emphasis in recent years on the rights and needs of our
citizens with disabilities, this monograph is long overdue.
In February of 1994, the National Resource Center hosted a special one-day
national forum on the topic of new students with disabilities, in conjunction
with our Annual National Conference on The Freshman Year Experience. The
a
discussion sessions at this forum acted as the catalyst for this monograph. Un-
der the leadership of Linda Lucas Walling, we made the project a reality.

It is easy to make a compelling case for paying more attention to first-year stu-
dents with disabilities. Recent studies on this topic have estimated that at least
9% of all entering college students have some form of disability. If we factor in
learning disabilities such as attention deficit disorder, the number of students
in that category rises dramatically. On a very personal note, in 1993, when I
C
was a 49-year-old higher educator, both my son, who was a high school senior,
and I were diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. When I first entered Mar-
ietta College as a new student in 1961, how I wish the faculty had been more

knowledgeable about the topic of new students with disabilities.
As always, I thank readers such as you for your support of the monograph
series of the National Resource Center for The Freshman Year Experience and
Students in Transition. We sincerely hope that this monograph will help you in
enhancing the learning and success of students in transition. e
v