Students with learning disabilities all require the same test exam accommodations for the same reasons.

Myth
While it is true that many students with learning disabilities request the same accommodations (e.g., extra time, separate room, use of a computer), the reasons for the accommodation can be quite varied. For example, extra time could be used due to weaknesses in processing speed, memory, reading, or writing.

Students can have more than one type of learning disability.

Fact
There are four types of widely recognized learning disabilities. Although criteria exist for each of these learning disabilities, it is more likely that a student will have a combination of them. Commonly referred to as coexisting disorders, they tend to be in areas such as reading, writing, processing speed, working memory, or visual-spatial processing.

The degree to which learning disabilities impact an individual may vary.

Fact
The level to which a learning disability affects a person may be moderate to extreme. Every person with a learning disability is unique. Much of their ability to succeed depends on past experiences, knowledge, perseverance, determination, interventions, and support. A student with a learning disability who does not do well in a particular course does not mean that another student with a learning disability cannot succeed in the same course.

Learning disabilities are a new phenomenon.

Myth
Learning disabilities have been diagnosed for many years. In fact, the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada has existed to support parents and individuals with LD since 1963. Students with these disabilities have been served in many postsecondary settings in Canada as early as the 1970s.