Disabilities affect people regardless of gender, race, or socioeconomic status. If you think you (or someone you know) may have a visual or hearing impairment or a learning disability, you probably want to learn more. Following are several sites that contain basic information, explaining everything from test assessment to study skills.

"The Legal World of Students with Disabilities" - By Paul D. Grossman. The law requires colleges and universities to make special arrangements for students with disabilities, but not by lowering academic standards.

Learning Disabilities Association of America - Contains links to state and regional resource centers, publications and resources for people with learning disabilities, fact sheets and bulletin alerts, and adult support group information.

National Center for Learning Disabilities - Promotes public awareness and understanding of children and adults with learning disabilities, and provides national leadership on their behalf so they may achieve their potential and enjoy full participation in our society. This site contains basic information on learning disabilities, including individual legal rights, test assessment information, and a wide variety of resources.

Non-Verbal Learning Disorder is described by three major areas of deficit (1) Motoric: lack of coordination, problems with balance and graphomotor skills; (2) Visual/Spatial/Organizational: lack of image, poor visual recall, faulty spatial perception, and difficulty with spatial relations; (3) Social: inability to comprehend nonverbal communication, difficulty adjusting to transitions and novel situations, and deficits in social judgment.

Dyslexia - The International Dyslexia Association and LD Online both provide research-based facts and helpful information about dyslexia.

Dysgraphia - The National Center for Learning Disabilities defines dysgraphia as a neurological disorder that involves writing. It can involve difficulties with the physical aspects of writing (e.g., awkward pencil grip or bad handwriting), spelling, or putting thoughts on paper.

Dysnomia is explained at as "word finding difficulties at this helpful web site. Another site, (www.ldpride.net/ldexplained.htm) describe dysnomia this way: "People with this disability may have trouble remembering names or recalling appropriate words in a discussion. This problem may be particularly prominent if the person is asked to answer a question to which he/she must supply an immediate answer. However, when the person speaks spontaneously, with out prompting, his/her speech appears perfectly normal."

ADHD in Adults - Although ADHD was once thought to disappear as children grew up, data suggest that one- to two-thirds of children with ADHD continue to have significant symptoms throughout life.

National Institute of Mental Health - provides pamphlets with basic information and further resources for support and information on a number of mental disorders including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

ADHD: Negative traits or unrecognized talents? - a fun piece

Think you might have ADD? Try some of these online screening tools; print out the results and discuss them with a certified therapist, psychologist or other qualified mental health professional:
http://www.adultadd.com/
http://psychcentral.com/addquiz.htm
http://www.oneaddplace.com/addcheck.htm

National Institute of Mental Health - provides pamphlets with basic information and further resources for support and information on a number of mental disorders including Anxiety Disorders, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Asperger's Syndrome is a developmental disorder falling within the autistic spectrum affecting two-way social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and a reluctance to accept change, inflexibility of thought, and to have all-absorbing narrow areas of interest. Individuals have normal intelligence, though some are quite gifted. There is a range of severity of symptoms within the syndrome; the very mildly affected child often goes undiagnosed and may just appear odd or eccentric.

Information about "Advanced" Persons on the Autistic Spectrum such as tips for teaching students with high-functioning Autism, Asperger's or Pervasive Developmental Disorder.

Traumatic Brain Injury Survival Guide lists very helpful information for TBI patients and their families on such issues as Common Indicators of a Head Injury; How the Brain is Hurt; Coping with Common Problems (Memory, Headaches, Problems Getting Organized, Getting Overloaded, Sleep Disorders, Fatigue, Anger and Depression, Word-finding); Dealing with Doctors; Emotional Stages of Recovery; Returning to School; When Will I Get Better?

American Council of the Blind - established in 1961, this organization strives to improve the well-being of individuals who are blind or visually impaired, which includes providing scholarships to students. The website provides information about the ACB, and includes recent issues of the Braille Forum, a monthly publication.

The Hadley School for the Blind - Promotes independent living through lifelong, distance education programs for blind people and their families. Classes are tuition-free, and are taken via distance learning.

The National Federation of the Blind - a consumer and advocacy organization that defines its purpose as twofold: to help blind persons achieve self-confidence and self-respect and to act as a vehicle for collective self-expression by the blind. Includes free job placement service, Job Opportunities for the Blind (JOB).

Gallaudet University - a university that provides undergraduate and graduate programs for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. The president, Dr. I. King Jordan, is the first deaf president of an insitution of higher education. The university's Nation Deaf Education Network runs a program called Info to Go, that provides information to young people about deafness and resources for young people who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Deaf Resource Library - a clearinghouse of links and information, focusing on deaf culture in the US and Japan.

HandSpeak - online sign language site that catalogs over 3,000 signs.

"Sound and Fury" - website of a PBS program that addresses the controversial issue of the affects of cochlear implants on the deaf culture, from the perspective of one family's struggle with making this decision for their 6- and 1 1/2-year old children.

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders - part of the National Institutes of Health, includes a computerized database of references on communication disorders.

The Society for Disability Studies is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization established to promote interdisciplinary research on humanistic and social scientific aspects of disability and chronic illness. Its membership includes social scientists, scholars in the humanities and disability rights advocates concerned with the problems of disabled people in society. They have a national, annual conference and a quarterly journal.

Teaching Chemistry to Students with Disabilities -- manual produced by the American Chemical Society; includes tips on giving tests, the physical set-up of a classroom, accommodations in lab, and pages and pages of other guidance.