Even the most hardworking students with dyslexia can have their efforts undercut by a lack of accommodations. And this learning disorder is more common than you might think: anywhere between 7% and 20% of the adult population could be living with dyslexia.
During their K-12 education, students with dyslexia usually have their needs taken care of without any action on their part. In college, the story is very different: students now have to take initiative to request, implement, and adjust accommodations.
Here’s what that help can entail, both from the educators’ and students’ standpoints.
What Is Dyslexia, and How Does Dyslexia Work in College Students?
Dyslexia is a learning disorder that makes working with the written word more challenging. It can manifest as difficulty reading quickly, spelling, and working on written assignments.
Important! Dyslexia doesn’t determine how smart a person is. Students with dyslexia can excel in their fields just like their non-dyslexic peers.
Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental condition, which means it has to do with how the brain works. People with dyslexia simply process language differently because their brain anatomy isn’t the same.
It’s also a lifelong condition with a genetic component. In other words, most people are born dyslexic. (Some, however, may become dyslexic after brain injury.)
What Problems Does Dyslexia Cause in College?
In college, students with dyslexia may:
- Struggle to read and write fast
- Confuse similar-looking words
- Misspell or mispronounce words
- Need to read something multiple times to understand it
- Struggle to learn a foreign language
These are the immediate consequences of having dyslexia when you’re a student. However, problems with dyslexia can extend to executive functioning, as well. For example, students with dyslexia may struggle to stay focused or organized, especially when presented with reading-intensive assignments. Taking notes in class, preparing for tests, and recalling facts can also prove more challenging.
Students with dyslexia may also have difficulties:
- Starting and finishing assignments
- Working with time and spatial concepts
- Memorizing math facts
How to Support Dyslexia in the Classroom: Educator’s Guide
Considering just how common dyslexia is, you have to be prepared for teaching students with dyslexia from day one. That can involve a variety of small yet powerful actions, such as:
- Sharing handouts and presentations with the class ahead of time
- Allowing students to record lectures on video or audio
- Starting every lecture with a clear outline of its structure
- Explicitly moving from one part of the lecture to another
- Providing a clear summary at the end of each lecture
- Regularly checking in with the class to ensure everyone’s on the same page
- Explicitly stating how critical each item on the reading list is
- Foregoing handwritten assignments in favor of typed submissions
- Instructing students to use active reading techniques to improve comprehension
- Organizing material using concept mapping techniques
- Focusing on what could be improved when giving feedback on an assignment
You can incorporate these techniques into your teaching without needing to know whether anyone in your classroom has dyslexia. (They can also be a boon for non-dyslexic students, by the way.)
That said, certain accommodations will require being able to identify students with dyslexia. Those include:
- Allowing the use of a computer during the class (e.g., for text-reading software)
- Providing extra time during tests and exams
- Not asking a student with dyslexia to read out loud in class
- Focusing on grading based on the paper’s content instead of their spelling, grammar, or handwriting
- Suggest using spell-checkers (but remember: they can also make mistakes)
How to Request Accommodations in College: Student’s Guide
According to the 2024 GAO report, even though the proportion of college students with disabilities has increased, they are still less likely to graduate than their peers without disabilities. One reason is the shift towards self-advocacy when it comes to securing accommodations.
In other words, in college, you have to take the initiative to request accommodations and put them in place. That involves:
- Contacting the disability services office (DSO) and understanding the supports available
- Submitting a formal request with documentation that supports the diagnosis and the need for accommodations
- Following through on setting up accommodations (e.g., by discussing them with professors)
Every college and university has its own accommodations policy and may require different documentation.
A Quick Guide to Eligibility Criteria
The disability services office will decide whether to approve an accommodation based on the documents you provide. That’s why gathering them is crucial.
Still, you might be caught unaware by the fact itself or by the types of documents you need. Those usually include:
- A psychoeducational evaluation
- A formal diagnosis statement from a medical professional
- A history of accommodations provided (if applicable)
Important! Colleges and universities can set their own documentation requirements, so read those carefully; don’t trust the list above blindly.
Before submitting these and other documents, make sure they’re still valid. Most schools accept documents issued within the past three years, but that can change from college to college.
As a rule of thumb, just having the formal diagnosis isn’t enough to qualify for an accommodation. You have to demonstrate you need it because that dyslexia impacts your academic performance in concrete ways.
How to Apply for Accommodations
Start with looking up your school’s disability services office and browsing the information it provides. Search for pages dedicated to possible accommodations and how to request them. If something is unclear or the website lacks information, don’t hesitate to reach out to DSO directly and ask questions.
The overall process looks like this:
- You gather all the necessary documentation (beware: it might take some time!)
- You fill out the request form online or on paper and submit it together with the documentation
- The DSO reviews the request and schedules an intake appointment
- You receive the accommodation letter
- You present it to each professor at the start of the semester
Accommodations for Dyslexia in College: What to Expect
As we’ve already mentioned, colleges and universities are free to set their accommodations policies. So, in practice, dyslexia college accommodations vary from one institution to another. That said, here’s what you can expect to see on the list:
- Extra time during exams (up to 50%, or up to 100% in rare cases)
- A dedicated testing room and access to a computer if necessary
- Access to text-to-speech software for course materials and exam questions
- Access to speech-to-text software for written assignments and exams
- Note-taking assistance (copies of notes from peers, permission to record lectures)
- Priority registration for course selection
Once the DSO approves accommodations, the ball is in your court. You have to share your accommodation plan with the faculty and discuss its implementation. It’s also up to you to monitor its effectiveness and communicate issues to the DSO to adjust the plan as needed.
In Closing
Attending college while also dealing with dyslexia is no cakewalk, but preparation can make things a lot easier. So, if you’re a student with dyslexia, start looking into accommodations as early as possible to avoid missing a deadline.
And if you’re part of the faculty, remember that students with dyslexia can be as successful at understanding the material and using the acquired knowledge as their non-dyslexic peers. So, don’t overlook requests for accommodations coming from them — and work together to put them to work in practice.
FAQ
