A learning disability is any recognized disorder in understanding or using written or spoken language, and includes such conditions as dyslexia, developmental aphasia, attention deficit disorder and perceptive handicap. Students with learning disabilities may have specific kinds of difficulty in reading, writing, spelling or using mathematics. As a result, their academic performance in some situations may not reflect their actual intelligence or abilities. The term does not include difficulties in learning that are caused by visual, hearing, or motor impairment, or those that arise from mental retardation, current drug abuse, emotional disturbance, or cultural or economic disadvantages.

This information is requested on a voluntary basis only.

If you believe that you have a learning disability that requires an accommodation, you should submit a description of your need for accommodation and documentation concerning your disability to the Director of Student Development whose office is on the first floor of the College Building (401/454-6637). Educational, psychological or medical specialists can provide you with acceptable forms of verification. If possible, ask them to include a brief summary description of your condition and of the most appropriate means by which your disability may be accommodated. The Director of Student Development will then help you to formulate a general strategy for coping with your disability at RISD, but you will have to work out specific procedures with individual faculty members on a course-by-course basis.

At or before the beginning of every course in which your disability might conceivably interfere with your performance, you should schedule a formal meeting with the instructor to decide upon a reasonable means to accommodate your disability in that course. In most cases, merely taking the instructor aside before or after class is not enough; arrange a meeting in his or her office. At this meeting, you should be prepared to describe your learning disability, as well as some of the ways that it has been accommodated in the past. If you and the instructor cannot agree, you should first consult the head of the department involved or, if that fails, the Student Development Office (401/454-6637).

Many learning disabilities may be accommodated merely by giving you extra time to take examinations, offering oral examinations, taping lectures and class discussions, or making similar modifications in classroom procedures. Tutors can be available to help you with reading and writing outside of class. Many forms of accommodation can be arranged.

It is very important that you begin to make all these arrangements as early as possible in every term, notifying instructors at the very beginning of every course. Do not hesitate to consult again with the instructor if you find that the procedures that you agreed on aren’t working or are otherwise unsatisfactory.

Download the Special Needs Form Here.