Personal Experiences of College Students with Learning Disabilities in Transitioning from High School to College: Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

Open-ended interview questions were asked to ten college freshmen with learning disabilities (LD) to provide the primary source of data in this qualitative study that was done to explore personal experiences of these students in transitioning from high school to a large university. Student participants were chosen based on meeting the criteria of having a diagnosed specific learning disability, having qualified and received special education services in high school, and at the time of the study were receiving accommodations through the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at the University of Arizona (UA). Students were further identified as members of a "successful" group with a first semester grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher, or members of a "jeopardy" group with a first semester GPA of below 2.0 and the academic status of probation. This was done in order to ensure that I included the perceptions of students at the high and low range of academic status levels in this sample, not to compare or contrast the two groups. Interviews yielded information about student perceptions of barriers, attitudes, resources and assistive factors in the transition process. Data were analyzed to determine themes related to student success and difficulties. Suggestions for further research and information for future practice are offered.