Learning Disabilities and Success in Post-Secondary Education: How Students Make Sense of Their Experiences at a Canadian University

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Abreu-Ellis, Carla Reis
Copyright Year	2007
Abstract	Dr. Robert DeBard, Advisor The purpose of this research paper was to understand how students with learning disabilities made sense of their experiences in post-secondary education. More specifically, this study aimed to identify what students with learning disabilities perceived as the challenges and successes they encountered in higher education at a university in Ontario. In light of the epistemology of constructivism, this study operated from an interpretivist theoretical perspective grounded in the phenomenological paradigm using qualitative methodology. To understand the essence of the of students’ experiences, six students with learning disabilities from a post-secondary institution who were in line to graduate were recruited to contribute to this study. Participants volunteered to participate in a face-toface, in-depth interview and to share their stories with the researcher. Because this researcher wanted to discover what aspect of participant’s collegiate experiences allowed for their success, six women whom were close to program completion at the time of the study were chosen to participant in this study. However, their experiences in higher education were not always pleasant. Findings indicated that the participants faced two key challenges while at university: They had to cope with parental separation and learn to become more independent as they adapted to the university life; and they had to come to grips with their learning disabilities and deal with preconceptions of parents, peers, and faculty as well as their own in order to succeed in higher education.
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=bgsu1172706091&disposition=inline
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article