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This study provides a model of academic identity development for college students with learning disabilities from the integrative self-determination themes of persistence, competence, career decision making, and self-realization. Nineteen self-determined and high-achieving participants were interviewed. The participants' stories illustrate how persistence influences competence, which in turn influences career decision making and ultimately enhances self-realization and supports one's academic identity. Knowledge of one's learning disability, along with self-advocacy and conflict resolution skills, improved the students' ability to obtain academic accommodations in college settings. Secondary education implications include the importance of providing opportunities for students to (a) acquire self-knowledge about their disability, (b) autonomously practice self-advocacy with teachers, and (c) develop conflict resolution skills within the context of academic accommodation requests.
Keywords: career and vocational development; learning disabilities; self- determination; postsecondary education; qualitative research
Postsecondary educational access and opportunities for students with learning disabilities have increased dramatically in the United States due to the passage and enactment of progressive legislation such as the amended Rehabilitation Act of 1998 and the reauthorization of the Individuals Witii Disabilities Education in 2004 and the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990. In spite of the rising opportunities for higher education and the subsequent number of students witii a broad range of disabilities attending postsecondary institutions, college graduation rates and employment rates for students witii disabilities lag behind those for students without disabilities (Horn & Berktold, 1999; Wagner & Blackorby, 1996). Meanwhile, attainment of a college education continues to be the gold standard of increased opportunities in adulthood.
According to the 2004 Digest of Education Statistics, the population of college students with disabilities is steadily increasing, with the latest data showing that approximately 11% of college students report having some type of disability (Horn & Nevill, 2006; Horn, Peter, & Rooney, 2002). The types of disabilities reported by college students include, in descending percentages, orthopedic conditions (25.3%), mental illness or depression (21.9%), health impairments (17.4%), attention-deficit disorder (10.9%), other (7.9%), specific learning disabilities (7.4%), hearing (4.9%), visual (3.8%), and speech disability (0.4%) (Horn & Nevill, 2006; Horn, Peter, & Rooney, 2002). Furthermore, the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (Horn & Berktold, 1999) represents a sample of undergraduates, with and without disabilities, who first began their postsecondary education in the 1989-1990...