Susan A. Vogel

Gender Differences in Intelligence, Language, Visual-Motor Abilities, and Academic Achievement in Students with Learning Disabilities: A Review of the Literature

A substantial body of research confirms higher verbal ability in normally achieving females and higher visual-spatial and mathematical abilities in normally achieving males. However, the specific nature of these differences varies by age, specific measure, magnitude, and variability within the groups. Re-analysis of earlier research showed that, although differences in visual-spatial ability were larger than verbal ability differences, gender differences did not account for more than 1% to 5% of the group variance. In the population with learning disabilities (LD), research must be interpreted cautiously because LD samples were drawn mainly from the system-identified population and may reflect selection bias. Findings indicate that system-identified females with LD are lower in IQ, have more severe academic achievement deficits in some aspects of reading and math, and are somewhat better in visual-motor abilities, spelling, and written language mechanics than males with LD. In mathematics, however, it is difficult to document consistent differences in computational skills in the elementary school ages. More consistent findings, however, indicate superiority in mathematical reasoning in males with LD. A limited number of studies on research-identified samples indicate that findings from studies of school-identified LD samples must be interpreted cautiously because females with LD identified in the schools may not be representative of females with LD in general.

Syntactic Abilities in Normal and Dyslexic Children

Syntactic abilities in oral language of 20 normal and 20 dyslexic second graders were assessed. Group membership was determined on the basis of performance on two silent reading comprehension tests. Nine measures were used to assess syntactic abilities; none required reading or writing. The dyslectics were found to be different from the normal children at a high level of significance on seven of the nine measures, all favoring the normals. The dyslexic children were significantly deficient in oral syntax. The findings indicate the importance of assessing oral syntax in the evaluation and diagnosis of children with reading difficulties.

The Success of College Students with Learning Disabilities: Factors Related to Educational Attainment:

This study reports on the educational attainment of 62 college students with learning disabilities as compared to a sample of 58 peers matched on gender and ACT composite score (

College Graduates with Learning Disabilities — Employment Attainment and Career Patterns

pL1 point or exact match). All students were native English speakers and were enrolled as degree candidates in a small, competitive, private, midwestern college. Groups were compared on age, high school preparation and performance, college grades, GPA at the end of each year of study, graduation and academic failure rate, and time taken to complete degree. Factors that may have influenced outcomes are discussed as are implications for college admissions officers, college students with learning disabilities, service providers, and academic advisors.

On Developing LD College Programs

Educational attainment and employment patterns are reported for LD four-year college graduates who participated in a highly coordinated, comprehensive support program for college students with learning disabilities. The majority of graduates had majored either in education or business and management and held business-related jobs. Most graduates responded that their learning disabilities affected their work. Processing difficulties, including retention, amount of time required to complete work, and perception (particularly number and letter reversals), were the most common difficulties. The major compensatory strategies consisted of spending extra time to finish work, asking for assistance, and carefully monitoring work for errors. Even though the graduates indicated that their learning disabilities affected their work, an important finding is that they had developed compensatory strategies. Implications for service at the college level to enhance successful employment of individuals with learning disabilities are discussed.

Morphological Ability in Normal and Dyslexic Children

According to Margaret Rawson (1977), unused aptitudes make trouble for their owners and their world. Such may be the case for thousands of underemployed and unemployed learning disabled adults who up until very recently were excluded from post-secondary education because they did not meet the institutions entrance requirements. Others entered post-secondary institutions with open admission or were accepted to universities only to find that because of their learning disability and the increased academic demands of college courses, they required assistance and modifications that were unavailable. Presently, there is an insufficient but growing number of postsecondary settings that offer services to the learning disabled. Just as in the decade of the 1970s when secondary schools responded to the needs of LD adolescents, in the decade of the 1980s colleges, universities, and graduate and professional schools are responding to two powerful sources of pressure: (a) the community of concerned LD adolescents, their parents, LD adults, and professionals and (b) the passage of the regulations to enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Success for college students with learning disabilities

Two tests of morphological ability, the Berry-Talbott Test (Berry & Talbott. 1966) and the Grammatic Closure Test of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (Kirk, McCarthy, & Kirk 1968), were administered to 20 good readers and 20 dyslexics. The results indicated that the dyslexics were inferior to the good readers on both measures, and that on the Berry-Talbott Test, the complex items accounted for most of the difference between the sample groups. These two measures might be useful in identifying children experiencing difficulty in generating and mastering morphological rules. In addition, an item analysis may provide valuable information for the language therapist. Teachers of reading should also be alert to the possibility that poor readers may be deficient in morphological ability which, in turn, may result in an inefficient use of semantic and syntactic clues provided in the morphology of written language. Through oral language instruction, such children may be helped to internalize complex morphological structures.

The National Learning Disabilities Postsecondary Data Bank An Overview

This study contributes to the effort to enhance the effectiveness of college and university programmes for the learning disabled, with an in-depth look at such topics as the transition to college, assistive technology, and curricula for learning disabled students. The book provides psychometric profiles and characteristics of learning disabled students enrolled at contrasting secondary settings.

Levels and Patterns of Intellectual Functioning Among LD College Students: Clinical and Educational Implications

A survey was developed to assess support services, procedures, policies, the proportion of students with learning disabilities (LD), and the factors that affect differences in proportion in a nationally representative sample of postsecondary institutions (PSIs). The factors investigated included general characteristics about the PSI, such as size of the student body and type of PSI. The specific characteristics investigated in regard to LD were admissions procedures, year of initiation of LD support services, type and location of support services, eligibility criteria for services and accommodations, the number of students with LD, and demographic and diagnostic information available. In this article, descriptive data regarding the services, practices, policies, procedures, and proportions are provided. The findings indicated that the proportion of students with LD ranged from .5% to almost 10%. The factors that had a significant impact on the proportion of students with LD were size of the student body, the type of institution, the institutions Carnegie classification, and whether the institution offered graduate degree programs. These findings and their implications are discussed.

Extrinsic and intrinsic factors in graduation and academic failure among LD college students

The purpose of this study was to examine levels and patterns of intellectual functioning in 31 LD college females, 17-25. The goal was to provide descriptive data to assist colleges in identifying potentially successful LD college students and in providing needed support services. Mean Verbal and Performance IQ was within the average range and surprisingly even. The mean V-P IQ discrepancy was 10.60; seven subjects had a discrepancy of