William Mather

undisclosed learning disabilities

We often encounter students that have learning disabilities that they fail to disclose until they are in an academic tailspin. As an open enrollment institution, we know that this will happen and use a process that we call "academic triage" to attempt to identify these students as quickly as possible. By the sequence of our curriculum there are certain courses that lend themselves to assorted intsructional techniques. Students with various challenges are more easily recognized when some techniques are employed rather than others. By making certain that all students are exposed to and evaluated by several techniques within their first six weeks of school,we are able to identify potential problems.

We then do a one-on-one conversation with the student and more often than not are told of a previously recognized challenge. We then respond according to the needs of the particular student. Often it is a simple as tutoring but sometimes it is extremely complex. In any event the early identification of the problem allows us to be proactive, even with a student that would rather we "didn't know."

The key element in our process is that we approach our first twelve weeks with a student as a teem teaching activity. While we all teach our respective subjects individually, we compare notes and impressions on a scheduled basis in a formal setting. By giving structure to our meetings we maintain a professional atmosphere and accomplish our goal of employing the best resources in the most effective manner to satisfy the student's needs.