Support in Tertiary Education for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities: A Framework for Success

Submission note: A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctor of Education, submitted to the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce, Department of Education, La Trobe University, Bundoora.

In the Australian context, failure to learn to read is often viewed as the result of something being wrong with the person, or the result of something being wrong with the environment (teaching) or an interaction of both (Benton, 1980; Gallagher, 2006). This belief impacts Australian teachers who in the main, have not been provided the additional training and support required to identify and accommodate specific learning disabilities in the classroom. It also impacts students with specific learning disabilities who are often unsupported within an environment that does not understand their learning differences. Inconsistent definitions of disability across states and education sectors in Australia have also resulted in differences between school funding policies and access to quality education for students with specific learning disabilities (Australian Federation of Disability Organisations, 2013). This is not the case within the Australian tertiary education sector which has for the past twenty years, stood apart from the compulsory education sector and taken both a proactive and responsible approach to the issue of recognising and supporting students with specific learning disabilities in an educational context. This research explored strategies that facilitate success for students with a specific learning disability in tertiary education. Ten tertiary education providers across Victoria participated in this study. Disability practitioners who support students with specific learning disabilities on a day to day basis shared their practice knowledge through both focus group and individual in-depth interviews. Through this process a framework for evidence based good practice emerged. It is proposed that the framework, based on a personalized learning approach is both empowering and sustainable for individuals across their lifespan and is a model of practice that can be implemented across all sectors of education in Australia.