John M. Dodd and Ron Nelson

Chinn and Hughes (1987) reported that the number of American Indians classified for special education services as learning disabled has been disproportionately high. Indeed, according to O'Connell and her associates (1987) the percentage (5.28%) of American Indian children classified as learning disabled (5.28%) is greater than any other ethnic group (Blacks 4.26%, Hispanics 4.14%, Whites 4.14%, Asians 1.66%). Latham (1984) has also suggested American Indian children are overclassified as learning disabled.

Overclassification is possible because problems have been identified in regard to testing American Indian children (Sattler, 1988) which would make accurate classification difficult. Since studies of American Indian adults with learning disabilities appear to be non-existent, information must be extrapolated from other groups until the needed studies of this population are conducted. It could be expected there would be proportionately as many American Indian children with learning disabilities as among other ethnic groups.

Initially when services for learning disabled students were established, it was thought that remediation would eliminate the need for services for learning disabilities. For example, when visual perception problems were identified exercises were designed and carried out to eliminate the problem. That has not been the case; and services for these students with learning disabilities have been found to be necessary throughout their academic careers. There is no accurate information on the prevalence of learning disabilities among adults but the current opinion is that learning disabilities continue into adulthood although the problems change with life challenges. Since studies of American Indian adults with learning disabilities appear to be nonexistent, information must be extrapolated from other groups until studies of this population are conducted.

Many students with learning disabilities are average or above average in intelligence and have become successful in a wide variety of occupations. Greater numbers of learning disabled adults are choosing to pursue postsecondary education (Mangram & Strichart, 1984). However, despite their motivation, many of these students lack the academic and social skills to be successful in traditional higher education settings (ACLD, 1982). For instance, academic problems such as: 1) developmental lags in learning and/or rate, 2) deficits in reading, writing, mathematical, and study skills, 3) speaking and listening problems, and 4) disorders of memory and attention (Haig & Patterson, 1980) are reasons learning disabled students tend to have low achievement in postsecondary education programs. In addition, Haig and Patterson (1980) report that social immaturity, inadequate communication skills and maladaptive coping mechanisms, such as withdrawal, are often evident when learning disabled students encounter stress, which frequently occurs in academic settings. However, Ugland and Duane (1976) conducted a study of the effectiveness of programs providing basic skills remediation, counseling, and academic support services. They found that the majority of learning disabled students in community colleges raised their grade point averages after entering the programs.

It has been reported that many American Indian students have difficulty meeting the admissions criteria for traditional higher education programs (Mooney, 1988). It stands to reason that American Indian students with learning disabilities would encounter the same, or greater difficulties in meeting admission standards.

One type of higher education institution has a mission substantially different from traditional colleges and universities. Tribal colleges offer a variety of programs ranging from general college preparation courses to vocational training courses (Mooney, 1988). Obviously, tribal colleges can play an important role in serving American Indian learning disabled students. Tribal colleges are uniquely situated and committed to serving the needs of American Indian people, which suggests they could provide these necessary services to prepare American Indian students with learning disabilities for employment as well as prepare them for continuing their education in traditional post-secondary settings.

The first Indian-controlled and directed college, Navajo Community College, was established in 1968 in Arizona; and others have been established since that time in states with large American Indian reservation populations (Raymond, 1968). They appear to be one of the most promising developments in Indian education (Mooney, 1988). Montana is unique in that each of the seven reservations has an American Indian controlled community college, while such colleges are not as widely available in other states. Tribal colleges provide the opportunity for initiating a higher education program without simultaneously requiring students to adjust to a very different cultural experience and competitive and even hostile (Lin, LaCounte, & Eder, 1988) environment found in predominantly white traditional higher education settings.

Certainly, it takes time for tribal colleges to become established; and they probably cannot be all things to all students. However, if American Indian students with learning disabilities who could profit from college experiences are to be provided access to post-secondary education, it is necessary to provide services for this population in tribal colleges.

Wright (1985) has suggested the need to program for success for American Indian College students. Certainly, the drop-out rate which has been reported to be between 75% and 93% (Falk & Aitken, 1984), for American Indian students in higher education settings, attests to the need for supportive services.

Based on a survey of American Indian students and educators in Minnesota, Falk and Aitken (1984) found that American Indian students reported a lack of adequate academic preparation. They go on to suggest there is a need for support from the family and the Indian community, as well as the need for students to have high personal motivation. Furthermore, financial considerations were the most frequently cited reason for leaving school. Finally, they suggest the need for high level administrative support. It stands to reason that tribal colleges would be in the best position to implement these suggestions. Tribal colleges are committed to their mission and offer a variety of post-secondary options for American Indian students.

It is appropriate to designate one person on campus who can respond to special needs students. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination against the handicapped in recruiting, testing, and provision of services after admission (Vogel, 1982) and this includes persons with learning disabilities (Rothstein, 1986). Students with learning disabilities are not as easily identified as students with the obvious handicaps of physical disability or sensory losses. Therefore, experience suggests the need for orientation and in-service education for faculty members on the definition, characteristics of individuals with learning disabilities, and how faculty can facilitate access to information. Without such an explanation many persons seem to believe any handicapping condition can be classified under learning disabilities. Since it is not a visible handicap it is, however, necessary to provide a full explanation so faculty members and other staff and administrative personnel will begin to recognize the possibility of having students with learning disabilities in college classes.

While there are a variety of definitions, the one that appears to be most useful is the definition proposed by the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD), which represents professional organizations concerned with learning disabilities (Abrams, 1987).

The NJCLD definition follows:

For example, Dennis is a bright 19 year old who graduated from high school, although he received special education services in a resource room. He remembers information well, but his reading ability is so low that he acquires most of his information from listening. His text-books are recorded and his instructors permit him to take oral examinations rather than written examinations. When he was younger his parents were told he had visual perception problems, although he does not require glasses because he does not have a visual sensory loss.

Herman is an art major in a community college. He reads very well, but he has great difficulty with spelling. While he does not have a sensory loss such as a hearing loss, he sometimes has difficulty discriminating between similar sounds or words such as starve and star. That contributes to problems comprehending spoken information.

Since there generally is a need for services for American Indian students in higher education, it stands to reason that American Indian students with learning disabilities would require services, similar to those which have been demonstrated to be helpful for other students with learning disabilities. While many of the recommendations for accommodations for students with learning disabilities may be useful for other students as well, there have been identified a number of specific services and adaptations needed by students with learning disabilities (Mangrum & Strichart, 1984), such as: diagnostic testing, developing Individual Educational Plan, special advisement, basic skill remediation, subject area tutoring, special courses, auxiliary aid service and counseling.

Assessment of learning disabled adults is cited as an area in need of examination and development (Decker, Polloway, & Decker, 1985). Due to the lack of formal measures for assessing learning disabled adults, Decker et al. (1985) suggest the use of informal measures (i.e., observations, checklists, interviews) in addition to psychological and achievement tests. In addition, they suggest these procedures be carried out regardless of previous diagnostic testing.

Support services should be provided for learning disabled students (Decker et al., 1985; Mangrum & Strichart, 1983). For example, learning disabled students might be provided tutoring services, academic, personal, and career counseling, and auxiliary aids such as computers, tape recorders, and special texts (Decker et al., 1985).

Allard, Dodd and Peralez (1987) suggest that learning disabled students must be able to talk with their instructor about specific learning problems or need for instructional or examination modification before they begin their coursework. They further suggest the need for educating both administrative staff and faculty about learning disabilities, as well as the importance of involving the person responsible for orientation so students can be aware of available services from the very beginning of their program. Within their program, they are likely to need both personal and career counseling as well as a system of mentoring so one person is responsible for seeing that the student is getting appropriate services and also managing their time and using skills effectively. After the services have been made available and skins have been developed the mentor makes sure the student increasingly takes responsibility for using them. They also cited the need for computers for such things as spelling checks and comparatively easy means of making changes in written material.

Vogel and Sattler (1981) suggested 12 accommodations that faculty might make in their classes for learning disabled students. The accommodations are: (1) untimed tests; (2) readers for objective exams; (3) essay exams instead of objective exams; (4) taking exams in a separate room with a proctor; (5) allowing students to clarify questions and rephrase them in their own words as a comprehension check before answering exam questions; (6) oral, taped, or typed exams instead of written exams; (7) allowing alternative methods of demonstrating mastery of course content; (8) avoiding double negatives; (9) providing alternatives to computer scored answer sheets; (10) providing adequate paper to aid those students with poor handwriting skills; (11) analyzing the process as well as the final solution (i.e. math computations); and (12) allowing students to use multiplication tables, calculators, and/or secretary's desk reference in examinations.

Colleges and universities need to develop flexible admission procedures (Decker et al., 1985; Mangrum & Strichart, 1984). Many learning disabled students do not have the necessary grade point averages or scores on standardized tests to be admitted to college by regular admission standards (Mangrum & Strichart, 1984). For example, Mangrum, and Strichart (1984) suggest that colleges use the results of individually administered tests of intelligence to determine if learning disabled students have aptitude for college. However, for American Indian students even individually administered tests of intelligence must be used cautiously. Careful attention should be paid to the subscales and clinical judgment used cautiously. Mangrum and Strichart (1984) suggest tests should be supplemented by letters from students' high school describing their achievement. They also believe that whenever possible, personal interviews should be employed.

Higher education faculty members appear to be willing to make reasonable accommodations for learning disabled students if quality is not compromised. In one study, Matthew, Anderson, and Skolnick (1987) surveyed all the faculty at a small northeastern university. With 64% of the faculty responding Matthew et al. (1987) found that a majority of the faculty were willing to modify instruction (e.g. tape record lectures, provide lecture notes), assignments (e.g. extend deadlines, allow oral presentations in place of written assignments), and examinations (e.g. alternative form of examination, respond orally to an examination), as well as provide special assistance (proofreaders for assignments) for students with learning disabilities. Those findings were corroborated (Nelson, Dodd, & Smith, 1988) in a study of faculty members with 75.8% responding in a small college in the Northwest. Nelson et al. (1988) also reported that, although generally faculty were willing to accommodate students with learning disabilities, there were statistically significant differences between academic divisions in faculty willingness to make accommodations. In their survey, a number of faculty members wrote comments indicating an interest in learning more about making accommodations for students.

Many American Indian students have been diagnosed as learning disabled. It stands to reason they would be unsuccessful in traditional higher education settings without services. Tribal community colleges appear to be ideally situated to establish services and provide programs for these students with learning disabilities to help make the transition to more traditional higher education settings.

Furthermore, faculty members in traditional settings have indicated a willingness to make accommodations for students with learning disabilities. There appear to be differences among academic divisions in faculty willingness to make accommodations, as well as general concern regarding how these accommodations might affect academic integrity. Therefore, there is a need to determine whether faculty members in tribal community colleges would be willing to make similar accommodations for students with learning disabilities. There would appear to be a need for tribal college faculty education about the definition of learning disabilities and the learning patterns and problems of students with learning disabilities. There is a need for establishment of services specifically for students with learning disabilities at tribal colleges. Furthermore, in addition to appropriate services and preparation of learning disabled students at tribal colleges, efforts should be made to assist and advocate for these students with the transition to traditional higher education settings.

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