In my experience, one of the hardest issues facing students with learning disabilities in college revolves around math and its impact on students trying to graduate. Most colleges require some sort of math or quantitative reasoning course as part of their general education requirements, and obviously, there are a host of majors that have math-related courses as part of their core curriculum.
For a student with a math-related learning disability there are a couple of things to consider and a few options that may present themselves. A person who is struggling with math and is wondering about accommodations will need to qualify for services through their college disability office. That is typically done through a psychoeducational evaluation or similar assessment that is then presented to the disability office. That office will review and determine if the report is sufficient for the student to be seen as having a disability. If that does occur, then the office will consider the issue of what reasonable accommodations can be provided to the student. Specifically related to math, these may include more time on exams, scratch paper, maybe the use of a four-function calculator, and even a course substitution. These options will depend on the documentation and the person’s description of how the math disability affects them. For some, having more time on the exam is all they need to demonstrate the material. For others, they seemingly never get the math concepts or processes, and a substitution may be the only option for graduation. Rarely will the student get a waiver of the requirement.
Remember that while a person may have a disability, the school is not required to “fundamentally alter” the essential elements of their programs. For general education requirements the school may see that the logic, quantitative reasoning, or other aspects taught in math classes are an essential part of a broad liberal education. As such, they may look to substitute that learning through other options (languages, logic classes, personal finance classes, the acceptance of remedial courses as sufficient, etc.) but rarely will they simply waive the requirement.
Up to this point we’ve been discussing how this applies to the general education requirements. When speaks about a requirement or pre-requisite for a major, the discussion changes some. Going back to the idea of fundamental alteration, if one is pursuing a degree that has a heavy math focus then there may not be many accommodations or substitutions that can occur. Much will hinge on the degree to which processes are important or whether calculation is important. Hence, accounting classes may be different than physics classes. Additionally, each school may take a different approach to this determination and set requirements, courses, or options that are different from schools in the same state.
Consequently, it is important for a student who has these concerns to consult with their school’s disability office early to explore the documentation needs, the substitution options (if they exist), and the processes and time frames to work the process.
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