Cerritos College

DSP&S Hosts Professional Development Training for Learning Disability Specialists

Cerritos College’s Disabled Student Programs and Services Department (DSP&S) hosted a one-day training for members of the California Association for Post-secondary Education and Disability (CAPED) Learning Disability (LD) Specialists on Friday, May 29, 2009. The training provided information and hands-on opportunities for these professionals to learn about the latest assessment product released by Pearson Publishing, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Forth Edition (WAIS IV) that will be used in higher education institutions throughout the state to assess students for possible learning disabilities.

The training, hosted by LD specialists, Dr. Brooke Choo, CAPED Southern Region Chair, and Mary Hunt, Cerritos College LD specialist, stated that the thirty LD specialist attendees including Harriet Nakasone and Ricardo Castillo, Cerritos College LD Specialists, found the experience invaluable, and a wonderful opportunity to network with colleagues from many community colleges all over California.

A learning disability is a neurological disorder, which results from a difference in the way a person's brain is "wired." Individuals with learning disabilities have average to above average intelligence but may have difficulty reading, writing, spelling, reasoning, recalling and/or organizing information if taught in conventional ways.

Through the learning disability assessment, LD Specialists are able to pinpoint specific processing deficits and develop a strengths and weakness profile that becomes the roadmap to providing students with the accommodations and strategies needed to “level the playing field in an academic setting”. With the appropriate DSP&S and faculty support, these students are able to complete their academic programs, succeed toward their goals, and move on to successful and often distinguished careers in life.

The Cerritos College Disabled Student Programs and Services Department provides recommendations for in-class accommodations for students who have been verified as having a learning disability. Such accommodations may include priority registration, additional time on tests, taking tests in a distraction-reduced setting, training on assistive technology and providing course materials and books in alternative media according to the students’ unique learning needs.

For more information on the Cerritos College Learning Disabilities Program, please contact the DSP&S Department to obtain brochures or a short in-class presentation on identifying the signs and symptoms of learning disabilities. DSP&S (562) 860-2451, Ext. 2333.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this information is available in an alternate format by calling (562) 860-2451, Ext. 2333.

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The Campus Connection, June 22, 2009