Florida State University

Adult Learning Evaluation Center

214 Stone Building
Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4464
Phone: (850) 644-3611
Fax: (850) 644-4335

 

You may have a Learning Disorder.

More and more students who have been previously diagnosed with learning disabilities and related disorders are going to college. Some others have struggled throughout their elementary and high school years and are not identified until they are adults.

Students with a specific learning disability have difficulty in some, but not all, academic areas. This difficulty has been present throughout their education and is due to a problem in processing certain types of information – it is not the result of low IQ, poor educational background, problems with vision or hearing, or an emotional disorder.

Specific areas that my be affected are:

Reading skills

  1. A limited reading vocabulary and problems in attaching meaning to new vocabulary.
  2. Poor decoding skills. A deficit in "sounding out" words in print.
  3. Limited reading comprehension skills. The student may reread several times in order to gain understanding.
  4. Difficulty remembering what was read.
  5. Inefficient and slow reading rate, which further diminished reading for understanding.
  6. Lack of awareness of test organization.

Oral language skills

  1. Difficulties comprehending oral language-poor listening skills.
  2. Difficulties with verbal expression-for example, finding the appropriate words to express an idea.
  3. Difficulties expressing ideas in a logical order/sequence.
  4. Slow response rate to orally presented information.
  5. Limited ability to use and /or understand figurative language. A concrete interpretation of language Limited understanding of terms with multiple meanings.

Written language skills

  1. Frequent spelling errors.
  2. Difficulty with sentence structure and production (e.g., incomplete sentence, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, incorrect grammar, etc.).
  3. Limited and sometimes inappropriate written vocabulary.
  4. Lack of elaboration and development. Difficulties expressing ideas.
  5. Lack of organization and proofread.

Mathematical skills

  1. Incomplete mastery of basic facts.
  2. Difficulty remembering the sequence or process of math operations.
  3. Inability to understand and retain abstract concept.
  4. Inability to understand /apply math symbols.
  5. Difficulty comprehending math words problems/understanding the language of math.
  6. Difficulty with estimation and problem solving.

Organization and Study skills

  1. Time and task management difficulties.
  2. Problems with sort-and/or long-term memory—lack of efficient strategies.
  3. Difficulty following oral and/or written directions.
  4. Extreme difficulty with note-taking due to lack of structure, problems with listening, writing deficiencies, and memory problems.
  5. Distractibility.
  6. Difficulties managing assignments. Slow to start and complete tasks. Difficulties prioritizing.
  7. Inefficient or limited test preparation and test taking strategies.

Social skills

  1. Difficulties recognizing and understanding humor and sarcasm due to language deficiencies.
  2. Problems interpreting non-verbal messages.
  3. Oversensitive of overly dependent.
  4. Limited participation in-group tasks.
  5. May exhibit social isolation.
  6. Poor self-advocacy skills, low academic self-esteem.

There is help

More than 400 students a year are evaluated at the Adult Learning Evaluation Center at FSU. If you have a learning disorder, you may be able to receive, with appropriate documentation and justification, one or more supportive accommodations.

To see if we can help you, call 850-644-3611 for an appointment. We are located in room 214 Stone Building.

Who is Eligible?

In order to eligible for consideration of any allowed accommodations, you must have all documentation as required by the Committee on Student Learning Disabilities.