Noel Gregg

Women with disabilities: Missing voices

Abstract This paper analyses how disability informs and complicates gender identity for women with disabilities and demonstrates that disability is a feminist issue. The first section underscores the dual silence of women with disabilities who remain largely unheard of, both in feminist literature and in the disability rights movement. The status of women with disabilities in the United States reflects their position as an oppressed group in terms of educational opportunity, rehabilitation and vocational program access, occupational attainment, economic status, and social outlets. The second section of this paper suggests possible points of entry into several debates within feminist literature that would be broadened or transformed by a disability perspective. Issues of reproductive rights, control of women’s bodies, newborn’s right to treatment, the construction of gender as informed by disability, and sexual representations are among the issues analyzed. Finally, the last section of this paper analyzes various strategies for change, including standpoint or minority models and strategies within feminist thought that may be useful or emancipatory for women with disabilities.

Specific Learning Disabilities: Clarifying, Not Eliminating, a Construct

,S.C.Dombrowski,R.W.Kamphaus,and C. R. Reynolds (2004) proposed a new set of suggested diagnostic criteria that challenges many ofthe traditional beliefs about these disorders. This article provides a critique of their proposed criteria aswell as an alternative approach for LD identification that is more aligned with current understanding ofthe etiology and characteristics of these disorders.

Depression and Anxiety Among Transitioning Adolescents and College Students With ADHD, Dyslexia, or Comorbid ADHD/Dyslexia

Objective: To investigate depressive and anxious symptomatology among transitioning adolescents and college students with ADHD, dyslexia, or comorbid ADHD/dyslexia. Method: Transitioning adolescents and college students with these disorders along with a non-ADHD/dyslexia college sample completed self-report measures of depression and anxiety. Results: Results indicated no differences between the college-level groups, although a main effect for gender was found and trended toward females with dyslexia reporting more symptoms of depression and anxiety than did males with dyslexia. Internalizing symptomatology differences were not found for subtypes of ADHD. Transitioning high school students with ADHD, dyslexia, or ADHD/dyslexia reported fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression than did college underclassmen with these disorders. Conclusion: The unique characteristics and experiences of the college population of individuals with ADHD and/or dyslexia are discussed relative to the general adult population with these disorders.

The MMPI-2 Profile of Adults with Learning Disabilities in University and Rehabilitation Settings

The primary purpose of this study was to compare the personality profiles of adults with learning disabilities attending a large state university (8 females, 8 males) to those participating in training programs in a rehabilitation setting (8 females, 18 males), in an attempt to identify affective variables that should be considered in transitional and postsecondary program planning. A secondary purpose of the study was to compare the performance of two groups of adults with learning disabilities (i.e., university and rehabilitation) to a normative group of college students. The mean age for all subjects was between 20 and 23 years. Findings from the study indicated that the personality profiles of individuals with learning disabilities in either a rehabilitation setting or seeking a university degree are significantly different from those of the normative population of normally achieving college students. The rehabilitation group in this study demonstrated feelings of social isolation, poor self-concept, self-doubt, and extreme restlessness. Somewhat different profiles were seen with the university group as they indicated feelings of fear, obsessive thoughts, lack of self-confidence, self-doubt, and extreme self-criticism. Both groups demonstrated profiles of individuals under extreme short-and long-term stress leading to anxiety. The study also reviewed the relevance and appropriateness of using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) that will have direct application for the assessment and intervention of adults with learning disabilities either in a rehabilitation setting or seeking a university degree.

Depression and Anxiety in Two Groups of Adults with Learning Disabilities

Adults with learning disabilities seeking services from state rehabilitation agencies and/or university/college support programs present a challenge to professionals attempting to identify effective academic, vocational, and social/emotional interventions that lead to long-term employment. The purpose of this study was to add to the small body of empirical research pertaining to the presence of depression and anxiety in two groups of adults with learning disabilities based on self-report measures (i.e., Beck Depression Inventory; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983; IPAT Anxiety Scale; Krug, Scheier, & Cattell, 1976a). A group of college students not demonstrating learning disabilities was used for descriptive and comparison purposes. Results showed that females with learning disabilities served in a rehabilitation setting were the only group that demonstrated significant signs of depression. College students with learning disabilities had increased anxiety-related symptoms. Implications for diagnosis and service are drawn from these findings.

School Is Fun at Recess Informal Analyses of Written Language for Students with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of an informal analysis of written language is to identify what writers can do as well as what they find difficult about writing. This article reviews the varied components of written language, suggests informal means for assessment, and summarizes the cognitive and linguistic factors that influence varied aspects of writing performance. Two informal evaluation scales are presented that stress the interconnection between oral and written language processes.

Meeting the Evolving Education Needs of Faculty in Providing Access for College Students with LD

Faculty play an essential role in providing access for college students with LD. Though many recommendations exist in the literature for educating faculty about their roles regarding students with LD, it is unclear whether these strategies are actually addressing faculty needs. To examine this issue, the evolving role of faculty is discussed. Current practices in faculty education pertaining to college students with LD are reviewed. Discrepancies between the evolving faculty role and current faculty education practices are examined. Guiding questions are proposed for expanding faculty education efforts and models to keep pace with the evolving faculty role in providing access for college students with LD.

College Learning Disabled Writer Error Patterns and Instructional Alternatives

Research is beginning to investigate the written composition of college learning disabled writers with greater care given to the task required and the measurement tool. Results are indicating that learning disabled college students who have underlying processing deficits may require different instructional objectives from those needed by college basic writers who have limited instruction or difficulty with the composing process. The balance of this article concentrates on two topics important to educators working with college writers. First, a discussion of error patterns of college learning disabled, normal, and basic writers across different tasks is presented. Second, a few instructional approaches successful in improving the written language skills of college learning disabled writers, such as sentence combining and guided compositions, are discussed.

Timed essay writing: implications for high-stakes tests.

The majority of high-stakes tests from elementary school through postsecondary education include the timed impromptu essay as a measure of writing performance. For adolescents with writing disorders, this type of evaluation often presents a significant barrier. The purpose of the current study was twofold. First, we investigated the influence of handwritten, typed, and typed/edited formats of an expository essay on the quality scores received by students with (n = 65) and without ( n = 65) dyslexia. Second, we examined the contribution of spelling, handwriting, fluency, and vocabulary complexity to the quality scores that students with and without dyslexia received on the same writing task. Analyses indicated that vocabulary complexity, verbosity, spelling, and handwriting accounted for more variance in essay quality scores for writers with dyslexia than for their typically achieving peers. Both group and individual student outcomes are reported to better understand the needs of struggling writers with dyslexia. Implications for assessment, instruction, and accommodations are discussed with an eye toward reform efforts that target improved teaching and learning.

A Comparison of Spelling Performance Across Young Adults With and Without Dyslexia

In this study, the authors analyzed 2,056 spelling errors produced by 130 young adults (65 with dyslexia, 65 typically achieving), which came from two sources: a standardized spelling test and an impromptu essay-writing task. Students with dyslexia exhibited higher spelling error rates across both tasks. To characterize the inaccurate spelling attempts of both groups, the authors conducted linguistic and item-level analyses. Among unconstrained errors (essay), students with dyslexia had more difficulty than their typically achieving peers with familiar, low-level items (indexed by word frequency and number of syllables). Among constrained errors (spelling dictation), group differences in phonetic plausibility, morphological awareness, and visual accuracy varied by item. These analyses were telling on low-frequency items for which the groups obtained similar (dichotomous) accuracy rates. The authors suggest that diagnosticians and educators employ error analysis to obtain critical information not typically reflected in the standard scores used to make learning disability identification decisions.