To some, the terms "Ivy League" and "learning disabled" may seem like phrases that do not belong in the same sentence.
But Student Disabilities Coordinator Nancy Pompian said the College's 127 registered disabled students are just as smart as their classmates.
Most have long since learned to compensate for their disability, she said.
"Some people are surprised to hear there are students with learning disabilities at Dartmouth," she said. But "they are bright, motivated and determined students with very specific things they can't do."
Pompian said 127 students are registered learning disabled at the Academic Skills Center, which works with students and professors to find ways to teach and learn effectively.
Tailoring programs as early as 1985, Dartmouth was one of the first Ivy League schools to create a program to assist the learning disabled, Pompian said.
The College currently grants a few learning disabled students exemption from the foreign language requirement. A greater number of students, make special arrangements such as receiving extra time or private rooms to take exams.
Common disabilities at Dartmouth include dyslexia, jumbled reading and speaking; dysgraphia, difficulty writing letters and words; and dysnomia, trouble remembering names, Pompian said.
Discovering a disability
Some students have appreciated the obligatory foreign language drill because it shed some light on an undiagnosed learning disability.
"Sometimes when people talk to me, I only get bits and pieces," Alison May '96 said. "In a busy room it often seems like everyone is speaking a foreign language. There's a visual delay."
Other students complain of having trouble deciphering written words and sentences.
"I get very confused by multiple choice exams with options like 'A or B and C, but not D,'" Ruth Morgan '96 said.
Many learning disabilities are characterized by an "interrupted process of getting on paper or exam what's in the mind," Pompian said. She said other students have difficulty organizing what they hear.
For this reason, she said, students and teaching assistants often discover learning disabilities in drill, while fulfilling the College's foreign language requirement.
"Drill teachers in foreign language classes are highly alert for students who do well on their homework and tests, but can't hold it in their auditory memories," Pompian said.
"French one really prompted me to my problem," Ryan FitzSimons '96 said. "The other students were used to going at a certain pace. It was a frustrating time, but I'm glad it happened."
Students also discover learning disabilities responding to the confidential questionnaire distributed by the Academic Skills Center along with first-year registration materials.
"My parents and I always kind of figured I had a learning disability, but I wasn't formally diagnosed until I filled out the questionnaire card," May said.
Pompian said once students identify themselves to the Academic Skills Center, she refers them to disability professionals who use a series of written tests and interviews to officially diagnosis their disorders.
Dodging the disability
Depending on their diagnosis, students can choose one of three ways to dodge their disability, Pompian said.
One of these accommodations allows students unlimited time to complete their tests.
FitzSimons said he once took more than five hours to complete an exam his classmates finished in one. He said the extra time has been vital to the completion of his tests "for the same or lesser grades."
Private examination rooms are another option for learning disabled students.
"Stress is contagious," according to May, who said she often opts for a private room. "The way people tap their pencils is so easily distracting."
May said she usually finishes exams about as quickly as her classmates. Although she rarely takes more than ten extra minutes on a test, she said the silence greatly improves her concentration.
A more drastic accommodation allows more than 30 students to waive the College's foreign language requirement each year.
"When papers come before the committee it's because they've been tested by the a professional in the field," said Language Waiver Committee Chair and Russian Professor Richard Sheldon. "It's usually pretty clear."
The Language Wavier Committee is in the process of drafting alternative ways to teach languages to students with learning disabilities, according to Sheldon.
"Some schools let people take a culture course taught in English, but there are people at Dartmouth who feel very strongly those courses should be taught in the languages native to the culture," Sheldon said. "They really aren't substitutes for learning a language."
Sheldon said a handful of schools already have programs that teach foreign languages to students who learn at a slower pace.
"That would be awesome," FitzSimons said of the prospect of teaching languages classes at a slower pace. "I was so discouraged when I found out I probably wouldn't be able to take a language."
Aside from extra help during tests, students with learning disabilities mostly rely on their own methods of study to compensate for comprehension difficulties.
"The best thing I have is my motivation," May said. "I've really just come to understand how my mind works and what I need to do."
May said she types lectures into her laptop computer verbatim during class, so she can better review later.
Morgan said she allows herself more time to complete assignments.
"If I want to get a paper in when every one else does, I have to start it about two days before," she said.
FitzSimons has created an elaborate visual color code to stay organized.
"I have every color highlighter in the rainbow," FitzSimons said. "I've kind of devised my own color code. I need to be well organized visually."
Accepting the differences
Learning disabled students agree they do not always receive the understanding they require from students and professors.
"The most humiliating experience of my life was French one," FitzSimons said. "The students would snicker at me when I was called on."
Morgan said her peers have been very patient, but said some professors have been less than sensitive in helping her.
"When I got a 90 percent on a one-hour test I took in a private room, one professor said he didn't believe I had" a learning disability, Morgan said. "He said, 'Look here, you're no different from anyone else. He didn't realize it took me three hours."
But for the most part, students say Dartmouth professors seem to understand these students' plight.
"Every single teacher has been exceptionally accommodating," FitzSimons said. "I seek them out for understanding before the term commences. I have formed some great friendships with teachers in the process."
"I've been really grateful not to be challenged by any of my professors," May said. "Dartmouth has a really friendly and appreciative environment."
May also said her own determination has been essential in dealing with her disability.
"Anybody who looks at the way they learn as a disability has a problem with the way they view themselves," FitzSimons said. "I know I've got these difficulties, and I am going to do everything in my power to compensate for them."
Pompian and the Academic Skills Center is often credited with helping students accept and overcome learning differences.
"It's really important to have people in the field to speak with," May said. "Nancy Pompian essentially got me through my freshman winter. I think that's above and beyond the call of duty."
"Without the Academic Skills Center, my time at the College would not have been enjoyable at all," FitzSimons said. He said Pompian has been his "angel" throughout his years at the College.
"To be able to be of assistance has given me a lot of pleasure, especially since sometimes all that's needed is a little extra time and patience," Pompian said. "I help students to succeed by leveling the playing field."
