HIDC: High Incidence Disabilities in Higher Education Conference

Students with mental illnesses are attending postsecondary institutions in increasing numbers but experiencing less success than students without disabilities and students with high-incidence disabilities, such as LD and ADHD. A vast body of research across diverse student populations has concluded that a key component of successful academic performance is the utilization of learning strategies. The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) is a self-report measure of learning strategies widely used within postsecondary settings. Studies have shown LASSI subtests to be useful in predicting aspects of academic performance and distinguishing between academically successful and unsuccessful postsecondary students. Such studies have focused primarily on students with LDs while very few have examined the learning strategy profiles of students with a MI. This presentation will present findings from a recent study which compared LASSI (3rd Ed.) profiles of postsecondary students with formal diagnoses of MIs to that of the LASSI normative sample and to groups of students formally diagnosed with LD-only and ADHD-only. Implications for supporting the academic progress of students with MI will be discussed.