In our current tier of ever-advancing technological society, of course our students are also affected but the steady climb of what becomes considered common, everyday technology.

Often, disabled students are in the same class despite their various abilities or inabilities to completely comprehend the material being taught. Therefore, they are not learning at the same level.

This is why using software designed for disabled students is such a good idea, most likely more so than technology in the classroom designed for students who do not have disabilities and who are all primarily on the same educational level. With disabled students and technology, individual students are able to learn at their own pace and the instructor is then able–judging by what he or she knows the individual student is capable of, and can grade the work accordingly.

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The National Institute of Health estimates that about one in five people have a learning disability severe enough to interfere significantly with academic accomplishments. Yet, other research estimates that only about one in four of these individuals with a learning disability receive proper treatment. Since we know that learning disabilities are usually genetic, parents may fail to seek help for the very condition that impacted them. Unfortunately, adolescents who are unaware of their learning disabilities are more likely to become involved in substance abuse, which only exacerbates their problems in school. There is a higher incidence of substance abuse in the learning disabled population than there is in the general population. No one is exactly sure of the nature of the relationship between the two, but there are logical hypotheses that are being researched.

Do drugs cause school failure or does school failure cause drug use? It would be an interesting debate, but the bottom line is the two are in some way very much connected. Yet, not everyone with learning disabilities is involved with drugs. There has to be a reason. For those who do fall victim to substance abuse, proper treatment is an important element of recovery. Durazzo et al, 2008;43(6):683-691, 2008

Oxford University Press, discovered that alcohol abusers with processing deficits were 14.2 times more likely to relapse with alcohol than alcoholics with normal processing. This presents a very compelling reason to test for such learning disabilities.

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Since students with learning disabilities are at greater risk in college, they need to allow adequate time to set themselves up for post-secondary success now. Keeping the eighteen factors below in mind increases the likelihood that transition from high school to college will be as seamless as possible.

1. To start your college search, make a list of desirable qualities in a school (i.e., commuter/residential, size, location, etc.) Start your search on the internet then begin college visitations. Allow your parents to narrow down your list to their acceptable choices. Then, once you see where you are accepted, you know those schools are all “parent-approved”.

2. Perseverance is the single most important factor in college success. Tied for second are the ability to delay gratification (i.e., saying “no” when your friends are going out, but you really should study) and an organizational system that works for you. The sooner you work on these three things, the easier college will be.

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