David Dunlop's dissertation explores why some college students with learning disabilities participate in programs designed to help them-and others do not. "A large number of students don't take advantage of services available to them," David says. "My study examines why this occurs."

To his work he brings personal experience and passionate commitment. David was in elementary school when he was diagnosed with a learning disability caused by a visual-motor processing dysfunction. "All kinds of things were hard for me-especially reading and writing," he recalls. "People thought I was a lot smarter than my work indicated." In sixth grade, he grew increasingly interested in school thanks to the assistance of a teacher at Mission Park Elementary School in Salinas. "She taught me how to study more effectively and provided constant encouragement. I ended up using my time more efficiently and the joys of learning started to outweigh the frustrations."

The next time he experienced the value of support services was when he arrived at UCLA to pursue a Bachelor's degree in English. He anticipated that the coping strategies he had developed over the years wouldn't work as well in this new environment. The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) had welcomed him soon after he was accepted by UCLA, he says, so "I felt comfortable contacting them during my first quarter. I wanted to start off right, and felt confident that they could help me do that."

David credits the OSD with helping him graduate from UCLA in four years, while working to pay for his own education. As an English major, he inevitably had heavy reading loads, even after deliberate balancing of reading-intensive courses. The OSD's Harriet Tannenbaum recorded numerous readings onto cassette tapes so he could cover the material without the burden of visual processing difficulties. These visual processing difficulties also made it difficult for him to take notes. Note taking services from the OSD helped him better follow along in class and understand course content.

David also developed other coping strategies. He searched out professors who provided outlines for their classes because this was a valuable aid. He also read some required books before each quarter started and watched films of Shakespearean plays prior to reading them.

As his skills grew stronger, his relationship with the OSD changed. By the time he was a senior, David was mentoring first-year and transfer students with learning disabilities, and he continued with that role after graduation. Eventually, he became an administrative assistant with a variety of payroll and personnel responsibilities in addition to his mentoring tasks.

Kathy Molini, director of the OSD, says David stood out from the beginning because "he was totally committed to doing anything and everything he could to give himself a positive experience." Besides his intimate understanding of students' concerns, David brings to those he counsels a great smile, a good sense of humor, and a sensitivity about "when and how to point out to someone that they need to pick up the ball" and take responsibility for their success, Kathy says.

Working at the OSD, David wanted to understand more about learning disabilities and their treatment. UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies was a natural place to turn. There he met Professor Robert Hodapp.

"It took me a while to truly appreciate David and how he is able to overcome his learning disabilities," Professor Hodapp says. "In short, David needs to listen, take notes, and repeat-slowly and in his own words-what was just stated. This style slows the pace of meetings and does take some getting used to."

The payoffs, however, are considerable. Once having understood for himself what he is to do or to learn, David then goes away, types up his notes, works incredibly hard, and always returns a week or so later having done the assignment or learned the necessary information.

"Having come to appreciate David's style of interaction," Professor Hodapp concludes, "I now see him as an incredibly intelligent, hard-working, rewarding student to mentor."

Professor Hodapp and other GSEIS faculty introduced David to the theory and research strategies he could use to understand and enhance the learning experiences of other students with learning disabilities. During his graduate career, David has managed to interweave his work as a researcher with practice-related jobs.

For example, while he was doing the fieldwork for his Master's thesis at nearby Santa Monica College, he met Ann Maddox, coordinator of the college's Learning Disability Program. She encouraged him to apply for a position as an Instructional Assistant. He has been working there since 1998, conducting learning disability assessments and providing tutorial support to students in composition and reading. At the same time, he's been a Counseling Assistant at UCLA College of Letters and Science. Here, he counsels first and second year undergraduates on academic program planning. In addition, he helps students enrolled in the Diversified Liberal Arts Program, a program designed for students who intend to pursue careers as elementary school teachers.

While working at SMC, David collected data for both his Master's thesis and dissertation. David's Master's thesis looked at the motivational differences between students with and without learning disabilities. He concluded that an important factor was learned helplessness-the perception that outcomes occur independently of actions. In this case, students with learning disabilities perceived that their academic failures occurred regardless of any effort to do well. "In this case, students with learning disabilities perceived that their academic failures occurred regardless of any effort to do well, so they often stopped trying in school and gave up on learning strategies and support services."

For his dissertation, he's zeroing in on why some students with learning disabilities use services and others do not. Learned helplessness plays a role here, too, he believes, along with the perceived stigma attached to learning disabilities. Helping learning disability programs identify these potential causes is one goal of his dissertation research. "I hope to help practitioners better understand who is least likely to use services and why. As a result, they will be able to modify their programs to help students persevere in using services and achieve their goals."

Published in Spring 2002, Graduate Quarterly