BOOK REVIEW

Susan A. Vogel, Gila Vogel, Varda Sharoni, Orit Dahan, eds. (2003) Learning Disabilities in Higher Education and Beyond: An International Perspective, Baltimore : York Press

Learning Disabilities in Higher Education and Beyond is an exceptionally valuable text for those concerned with learning different student college admissions, the successful completion of their college studies, and the enhancement of their lives.  It is an excellent resource for a wide range of professionals who interact with learning different individuals in the classroom or workplace. In addition to being a helpful collection of information sure to assist educators, counselors, administrators and researchers by synthesizing and distilling a broad range of material, it is also full of personal and institutional wisdom as could only be collected by a distinguished and experienced array of contributors.  For example, along with providing a thorough synopsis of the difficulties created for people with learning differences by new materials in the European Union, Stacey and Singleton remind us that dyslexia affects people of all levels of intelligence.  It is important to support the extremely intelligent dyslexic students; it is also important not to expect all students with Dyslexia to be high achievers.

The authors cover a broad array of topics including legal mandates, public policy, assessment, ADHD and other learning differences, assistive technology, counseling and support groups, faculty attitude and knowledge, and long-term outcomes.  These authors prevent the reader from becoming lost within such an immense amount of information, however, by situating a few specific, overarching issues within this comprehensive backdrop.  Additionally, while it is often difficult in such all-encompassing volumes for the reader to find specific information, the editors have organized this book so well that the reader is easily able to use it as a reference. In addition to the specificity of the section and chapter titles, the introductory remarks at the beginning of each section that identify the major themes and topics further assist the reader to locate particular data.

One of the most important themes the authors highlight is that working with adults with learning differences is fundamentally different from treating children with learning differences.  The authors believe that because the immediacy of the need of treatment may be greater for adults, they often require help in developing compensatory strategies, since they likely encounter a more diverse and demanding social context, and their situations tend to merit special attention.

The goals of the authors, therefore, include the need to provide equal opportunities for individuals with learning differences in school and workplace, to inspire changes in public policy in countries that do not mandate college support services, and to increase funding for those needed services.  Moreover, as a recent survey found, every state in the United States is out of compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to some extent, thus the volume is equally relevant to those in countries whose laws mandate college support services.  The goals are founded on the belief that all students can achieve if they are provided with the appropriate opportunities, accommodations, and most importantly, supportive environments.  The volume argues for a comprehensive association between diagnosticians, educational specialists, counselors, researchers, attorneys and other advocates, and adults with learning differences in order to create the best possible conditions for the completion of college.

Additionally, the authors argue that many colleges and universities may not meet the needs of people with learning differences because their educational, counseling, and administrative personnel may be insufficiently versed in diagnostic processes or eligibility requirements.  The burden of ensuring that learning different individuals receive the accommodations guaranteed them by law then falls on those persons themselves, some struggling with comprehension issues in general, or on those immediately around them, who may be unfamiliar with the specifics of documentation requirements or the means of making the appropriate requests necessary for these students to succeed.  Thus, another principal goal of this volume is to identify the points in the system at which breakdowns may occur, typically due to ignorance of legal mandates, and remedy that lack of information.  To address these topics above, the editors have divided the volume into five sections, each with its own focus.

The first section contains four chapters that provide an overview of laws and policies concerning children and adults with learning differences.  It is here that the international perspective of the book is especially apparent, as each chapter addresses the rights of people with learning differences in each of the four countries with mandated college support services: the United States , Canada , the United Kingdom , and Israel .  In addition to addressing topics such as college admission criteria and how they relate to people with learning differences, the chapters also set forth the various cultural approaches to those facing such challenges.

The second section features three chapters that describe assessment and diagnostic models.  The section moves so skillfully between theoretical perspectives, general models of diagnostics, and specific issues facing adults with learning differences that the reader not only becomes familiar with the many means of assessment, diagnosis and support, but also learns of their basis in research and practice.

Four chapters detailing program models and support services in higher education comprise the third section.  The authors display further evidence of their wisdom in their recognition that because there exists such an incredibly broad range of people with learning differences, they require a correspondingly broad range of program models.  Thus, this section also includes a discussion of ADHD (which may or may not be accompanied by other learning differences) and the various types of technology that colleges can use to assist those with such challenges.  Due to the extreme diversity among those with learning differences, the authors argue for the central importance of the exchange of ideas of all of the participants, in addition to reports by qualified professionals, to uncover the most suitable course of action for each individual.  Also at issue in this respect, then, is not only that which individuals determine as the nature of models and services, but what their depth of knowledge of these issues may be.  If professionals at colleges and universities do not possess sufficient knowledge of diagnostic processes and eligibility requirements necessary to meet the legally mandated rights of the persons with learning differences, it is possible that administrative officials working alone may not possess the capability to design appropriate models and services.  Additionally, because some college professors may not be familiar with learning differences to the extent required to assist such students, it is vital that professionals in campus offices acquire the capability to assist such professors in teaching these students.

The fourth section includes two chapters that highlight the social and emotional impacts which learning differences can have on individuals.  The first chapter encourages students with learning differences to recognize the strategies that provide social and emotional development for them, and asserts that because the effects of learning differences vary over time, so will the social and emotional results.  Thus, students may require counseling at certain points and not others.  The second chapter situates these concerns within the context of the long-term goals of people with learning differences, and how researchers, educational specialists, counselors and administrators can promote successful adjustments and academic and life progress for these individuals.

The book concludes with a four-chapter section which describes the outcomes of various strategies.  Here, the authors discuss the results of their follow-up studies on college-able adults with learning differences.  This study collected data on issues such as educational attainment, employment, occupational status, job satisfaction, and annual salary.  While many learning different students attained personal and professional achievements equal to those without learning differences, and some students with learning differences achieved high degrees of success in academics and in life, the authors make worthwhile recommendations, striving to widen support for these students.

Overall, the volume is an important contribution to research concerning learning disabilities and higher education and will be an asset to a wide range of professionals.  The text provides valuable data and guidelines for everyone assisting students with learning differences in the classroom and workplace who have completed high school.  The authors couple an immense amount of information stated succinctly with a high degree of organization and the ability to approach a central theme from many sides.  The authors thus have accomplished the difficult task of not losing the reader within a mass of information, but rather have provided the audience with the means to put into practice the knowledge the volume contains.  The cross-cultural perspective is especially helpful in bringing to light approaches and issues which may have remained unknown had only a single national context been specified.

Please note:
Pro-Ed has purchased York Press. You may order your copy by calling 1-800-897-3202.