Learning Differences

We all have learning strengths and areas that make study more challenging. Reflecting on all aspects of our university experience and the kinds of difficulties that might interfere with our progress is a great first step.

Learning Differences

Introduction

We all have learning strengths and areas that make study more challenging. Reflecting on the kinds of difficulties that might interfere with your progress is a great first step to improving your university experience.

Learning difficulties or differences may be identified and ongoing, or temporary, following an event, an illness, a course of medication or other such setbacks.

You may be part of the neurodivergent community, with neurodevelopmental differences such as Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) or Autism Spectrum Disorder. You may have been given a diagnosis of anxiety or depression, or have an acquired brain injury. Or, since starting university, you may have noticed that you seem to have neurological differences, learning differences or learning difficulties that are affecting your study.

Wherever you are in your journey, this resource is designed to give you strategies to help.

These are the most common learning differences that have an impact on studies.

Concentration

Concentration difficulties can arise from different causes and have different effects on your study. You may have temporary difficulty concentrating due to recent experiences or anxiety, or it may be part of a lifelong condition.

Memory and recall

Difficulties with memory and recall can vary. You may have difficulty creating new memories, difficulty recalling specific information or past events, or difficulty learning or retrieving new words.

Reading

Reading at university is complex and challenging and many students feel overwhelmed initially.

But there are many tools available to help and ways to tailor study strategies to your own needs.

Confidence

Lack of confidence can affect how you feel about attending and speaking up in class, as well as how you feel about yourself and your abilities.

Interpersonal skills

Difficulty relating to others can impact the way you participate in group work or in class, but you may have other strengths you can contribute, like memory skills, visual and spatial skills, creativity and great knowledge on topics of interest.

Managing stress

Small amounts of stress can help you focus; however, when stress makes you feel overwhelmed and unable to concentrate or be productive, it’s important to seek help.

In addition to trying out some of the strategies shared here, you may also be eligible to register with Student Equity and Disability Services for study adjustments, which may include extra time allowance, alternative exam arrangements or referral to discuss assistive technologies.

Concentration

Concentration difficulties may be temporary, such as after a distressing event, or may be part of a lifelong condition. University places high demands on your concentration, but there are ways to adapt your study to your particular way of concentrating.

Below are some concentration issues that frequently affect study. Click on the ones that apply to you for further advice.

    • Aim for a broad understanding of the content first. You can examine the detail in later revisions.
    • Record information any way you can. You can use a voice recorder, photos, or add notes to the lecture slides.
    • Organise information into chunks, for example:  this lecture has 3 parts – each part has 2/3/4 main points.

    • Use planning tools. Well organised information is easier to find and to learn.
    • Make an appointment with Academic Skills to work through your plan for the semester or an individual assignment.
    • Seek assistance and extra time allowance through Student Equity and Disability Services (SEDS) where appropriate.

    • If you are aware that you have difficulty following instructions, you have won half the battle.
    • Accept that you are distracted and work around it.
    • Ask for written instructions in advance if possible.
    • Check the instructions with another student.
    • Count the parts of the instruction as they are given and then try to repeat them to yourself.
    • Write down key words.
    • Use a voice recorder.

    • Identify the distraction and make a firm decision about how you will deal with it. For example: “Those are just students walking in the corridor. I do not need to react to that.”
    • Practise ignoring a common distraction for a few minutes at a time. Congratulate yourself for every success.
    • Listen to online or recorded lectures through headphones.
    • Wear noise-cancelling headphones while you study.

    • Look briefly through lecture slides and pre-readings before lectures and tutorials. This way you will be able to predict some information, leaving your mind free for extra information.
    • Keep well organised notes of content given in class, so that you can revisit difficult material. Organise clearly by date or topic and set aside regular time to review. Even 5-10 minutes every day will help.

    • Use planning tools that help you break tasks down into manageable parts.
    • Aim for short sessions, for example work on each part for 25 minutes. If you cannot complete the task in this time, break the task down into smaller parts.
    • Instead of setting goals like "I will finish the introduction to my essay", aim for time limits or word limits. For example "I will work on my introduction for 25 minutes" or "I will write 150 words". This way you are more likely to achieve your aim and will maintain your motivation.

    • Accept that some tasks may make you anxious due to your past bad experiences, and plan to deal with that anxiety when it arises.
    • Use techniques to reduce anxiety, including meditation, mindfulness training and grounding exercises, and build these activities into your study time.
    • Set aside time every day for record keeping. Knowing what you have completed in your studies and having a list of what you need to do can give you a feeling of control, which will reduce anxiety.
    • Visit the Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) website for further tips and information about dealing with anxiety, including mindfulness techniques. Make an appointment to see a counsellor at CAPS if that will help you.

Memory and recall

We often talk about our memory as though it is one single function, but memory has many elements and processes, and memory difficulties can have many causes.

Which of the following situations apply to you? Click on links below to reveal specific advice.

    • Difficulty following conversation is not a true memory problem, but one of taking in information in the first place. Accept that this happens to you and take steps to minimise the problems it causes.
    • Decide to opt in or out of the conversation. If you want it to continue, then take an active role. If it is too difficult, tell them politely you are a little distracted and would rather talk later.
    • Be active in the conversation: ask your speaking partner to repeat information occasionally, for example, “I didn’t quite get that. Can you tell me again?”
    • Listen for the main topic of the conversation, and the speaker’s reaction to the topic. For example, were they talking about a lecture? An outing? Was it frustrating, enjoyable, surprising or something else? This is easier than concentrating on every word.
    • Feed back to the speaker what you have learned about their reaction: “That sounds excellent / What a pain! / Good for you!”
    • Say you need to make a note if the conversation includes decisions about actions you must take, such as when a tutor or lecturer asks you to read an article, or a friend suggests an outing. Everyone knows people are busy and can easily forget some events.

    • Prepare by reading course outlines, lecture slides and any other related information before the event. That way you will be familiar with the content and find it easier to take in information during the class.
    • Organise your lecture and study notes – use colour coding, headings, specific icons or symbols for different actions, such as “ Reading” or “Test”.

    • Find a quick and simple way to record events when you are told about them, such as a voice recorder, take a photo or add a reminder to your calendar.
    • Develop a routine of copying out your recordings into your calendar or diary every day. It will only take a few minutes.

    • To consolidate memory, it is vital to begin revising early in the semester, and to revise each part of your notes several times. This is a more effective way of learning than cramming.
    • When revising, plan short sessions and repeat them at regular time intervals.
    • Aim to recall more each time you revise, rather than trying to recall everything in one short session.
    • Test yourself while revising: try to repeat information aloud or write it down with your notes closed, then check back. Create your own revision schedule to help.
    • Silent re-reading is unlikely to be effective. You need to choose more active revision methods, like those in the active learning guide.

Reading

Reading at university is complex and challenging for most students, even advanced readers. However, if you have specific reading difficulties, such as dyslexia, there are many tools available to assist you. According to The Australian Dyslexia association, students with reading difficulties vary widely in their academic strengths and weaknesses so it is vital to tailor study strategies to your own needs.

Remember that reading skills can be improved throughout life. Many people have had highly successful careers despite their reading difficulties. If you continue to expose yourself to text, your reading will continue to improve.

Do you experience any of the following difficulties in your reading? Click on links below to reveal specific advice.

    • Draft your writing with dictation software. Microsoft Office supplies speech to text converters for most office programmes, and Narrator, which can be used with a wide range of applications, including web pages.
    • Learn touch typing. You may find that you are able to learn finger positions on a keyboard more easily than writing letter shapes.
    • Create audio notes using a voice recorder.

    • Use text to speech software to listen and read the page at the same time.
    • Minimise tracking difficulties by placing a ruler under the text or using a lined overlay. Programs are also available to highlight the line currently being read. For example, Immersive Reader view in Microsoft Word can do this for you.

    • Early in semester, find out whether your exams will be handwritten, and ask for alternatives. For example, you can arrange to use a keyboard or dictation software for handwritten exams.
    • Use text to speech software if this difficulty causes you to misunderstand text.
    • Learn touch typing.

    • Use spell-checking and editing features to check grammar and tone. Set it to your preferred version of English. Australian English is the most suitable for university in this country.
    • Add terms from your discipline into the dictionary of the software you are using.
    • Use dictation software.
    • Learn touch typing.
    • Ask someone outside of your discipline to read your work through for you. Spelling and grammar checkers can often make mistakes.
    • You may be eligible for assistance through Student Equity and Disability Services (SEDS)  where you can learn more about different types of assistive technologies to assist with your studies.

    • Choose a programme that enables you to modify the appearance of text. Some applications include an Immersive Reader view allowing you to change background colours, font and spacing.  Chrome allows add-ins designed for people with dyslexia.
    • When reading hard copy or printed text, experiment with different colours of transparent plastic sheeting over the writing. A magnifier can also be used to increase the size of the font. A lined plastic sheet can assist with tracking.

    • Be reassured that many people with reading difficulties get tired quickly when reading.
    • Organise more frequent, shorter reading sessions.
    • Try videos and audio files on the same topic but at a simpler level. This will familiarise you with the topic and help you to predict reading content more easily.
    • Alternate reading with ‘text to speech’ listening.
    • Study diagrams and charts before you read to familiarise yourself.

    • Arrange assistance with high-stakes activities such as exams and assignments.  Reach out to Student Equity and Disability Services (SEDS) in advance to make specific arrangements.
    • Prepare and organise your materials as much as you can by taking good notes and using effective study techniques.

Confidence

Lack of confidence can affect anyone, but we each have unique triggers and reactions. It may be temporary or ongoing. Our confidence can affect how assertive we are, result in us over or under achieving, and make us feel anxious or hypersensitive for a range of reasons.

Think about your confidence and how it might be affecting you. Click on links below to reveal specific advice.

    • Before your next class, take some time alone to imagine yourself speaking confidently. Envisioning yourself speaking up in class will help build confidence over time.
    • Try preparing and practising questions and comments to make in your next class. You can do this in front of someone, in front of a mirror, or just to yourself. Try practising  common phrases for entering the conversation ahead of your next class. For example: “Can I add something here?” ; “Following on from what xxx said….” ; “That’s an interesting point. However…” 
    • Remember – if you have a question or want to clarify something, it’s highly likely other students in your class will have the same question and will be glad you asked it.

    • Consider what is concerning you most and how it’s affecting you. Are you choosing to stay safe in an area you’re most confident in? For example, are you choosing less complex topics in order to avoid making mistakes? Recognising this is an essential first step in identifying how you can engage and develop more in the areas you’re less confident in.
    • Identify past achievements and think about the skills and qualities that helped you to succeed. Note which of these will assist you in your current challenges. Reward yourself for applying these skills.
    • Remember to focus on what you have achieved, rather than what you haven’t, and reward yourself along the way for the goals you have met and the successes you have achieved.
    • Consider your strengths and where you need to develop. Seek help from services that can help you. Academic Skills, for example, can help you develop your academic writing and language skills. This can increase your confidence.

    • Focus on your own success and avoid comparing yourself to others.
    • Remember, you have a limited amount of time and you may not be able to do everything. What is manageable for you? Try focusing on what you have accomplished, rather than what you haven’t. For example, focus on how well you’ve integrated sources into your latest paper, rather than focusing on how many more sources you would have liked to include. Be kind to yourself.
    • Accept yourself as you are – all of yourself - positive and less positive attributes alike. Believing in yourself can help protect you against negative criticism and positively impact your wellbeing. These self esteem exercises may help.

Interpersonal difficulties

Difficulty relating to others can impact your participation in class and group work. You may still have strengths in the areas of memory, creativity and knowledge, but you may find it challenging to meet your tutors’ or peers’ expectations regarding class and group work participation. You may find ambiguous language in lectures or vague instructions by tutors difficult to understand, or you may find the lack of structure at university challenging.

Think about the situations where you have the most difficulty relating to others. Click on the links below for specific advice.

    • How you contribute to group discussions in class or group work assessments is different from how you talk to friends. Likewise, the way your tutor or lecturer invites contributions from the class is different to the way you might have a conversation with a family member. Observe how your classmates interact and consider how they interject, contribute ideas and take turns.
    • Turn-taking is a big part of participating in conversations. Read about turn-taking to discover signals to look for, ways of joining a discussion, and ways to manage difficult conversations.
    • Practise role-playing tutorial scenarios with a friend or family member to prepare. Include turn-taking, considering others’ perspectives, conversation starters and getting the tutor’s attention.

    • We all worry about how others see us from time to time. Remember, we don’t like everyone, and everyone doesn’t necessarily like us. And that’s ok. Rather than worrying about how we might be negatively perceived, remember your positive qualities and focus on them.
    • Reflect on situations that may have caused you worry about how others perceive you. See if you can address the feeling at the root cause.  An appointment with the Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) team may help to identify strategies.
    • Try to eliminate any conversational habits that interfere with communication, such as repeating others’ comments before answering or thinking out loud. Try to remind yourself, ‘think it, don’t say it’ when others are around.
    • Consider what has or has not worked for you in the past. Techniques such as relaxation exercises and positive self-talk can help. Counselling and Psychological Services has developed a range of guided wellbeing exercises to get you started.

    • If you find the lack of structure at university challenging, try to create your own structure. For example, build your daily timetable around specific tasks – make them as specific as possible to help.
    • Try using a calendar or planner to set up a routine. If you have tried this in the past, reflect on why it did or didn’t work. Try to create a regular daily and weekly plan and maintain a routine for yourself.

    • Establishing roles or responsibilities when setting up a group can help everyone to understand what to expect. Try suggesting it next time you’re working in a group and/or suggest it to your subject coordinator or tutor.
    • The planning tools you use to organise your own work are even more important when working in a group. Try sharing and comparing ways of organising projects and time and agree on one that works for everyone in the group.

    • It’s always ok to ask if you’re unsure about a task or if you have any concerns. There is a good chance other students in your class will have the same questions. This is especially important for critical tasks throughout your subject but can equally apply to in-class activities.
    • Try practising checking questions before approaching your tutor. These could be phrases like, ‘This is my understanding…’ or ‘…am I right?’

Stress

Stress affects everyone, but we each have unique triggers and reactions. It can be caused by overwork, financial difficulties, missing home or emotional upheavals. Stress can lead you to feel overwhelmed and make it difficult to learn new information and work productively. It can also affect you physically, making it difficult to concentrate on your studies.

Mild stress, like just before a sporting event or an exam, can help people perform at their best. But when stress becomes more intense, causes distress, lasts for a longer time and interferes with daily living, then it's a problem.

The Counselling and Psychological Services team offers a great service supporting students.  Consider booking an appointment with them.

Think about how and why you get stressed and who you can reach out to for help. Click on the links below to reveal specific advice.

    • Reduce your workload during semester by deciding which activities can wait till semester break.
    • Be sure your goals are realistic within the timeframes you set yourself. Academic Skills can help with this. You can make an appointment with Academic Skills to help.
    • Start working on assessments and revision early in semester in order to make your workload as manageable as possible.
    • Using tools such as an assignment planner, semester planner or weekly planner can help you organise your time and things to do in order to maintain a sense of control. Academic Skills has some helpful tips and videos on time and task management to help.

    • Relaxation techniques such as breathing and muscle relaxation can help. For example, breathing in for four counts and out for six counts can help you focus on your breath and slow your heart rate down.
    • Active learning techniques, which involve transforming material you are trying to learn into another form, are effective for exam preparation. They include methods such as creating summaries, visual representations, glossaries and diagrams of the information you are trying to learn, or discussing it with others. This webpage on active learning includes some helpful advice and more specific strategies.
    • Managing your time can help you manage exam stress.  Academic Skills offers some tips on how to create an effective revision program and use a weekly planner to organise your time. This video demonstrating how to use a semester planner can help you stay on top of your workload throughout the semester.  Most of all, begin your revision early to feel very well prepared.
    • Try visualising yourself succeeding in the exam. This can get your mind and body ready to perform well and increase your confidence.

    • Be alert to any situations during class that trigger your stress. This may include things such as too many people talking, information presented too quickly, claustrophobia, fear of large groups, past negative experiences, or being asked to speak. When you feel stressed, take a note of what was happening at the time to identify your triggers.
    • Have a private conversation with your tutor and let them know that you sometimes feel stressed in class. Consider agreeing on a signal with your tutors, such as thumbs up, thumbs down or a small wave, to discretely indicate how you're feeling and to signal that you wish to leave the room.
    • Try visualisation exercises where you imagine yourself confidently engaging in activities.

    • Identify what kinds of conversations cause you more stress. For example, speaking with a tutor, making friends.
    • Consider techniques you’ve used in the past to help calm yourself or any advice or support you’ve sought regarding this feeling. What works for one person may not work for someone else, so find a way to calm yourself that works best for you. For example, imagine you are behind a glass screen and breathing calmly.
    • Try a grounding technique where you make yourself aware of your environment and bring yourself back into the present moment.
    • Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offer a range of guided mindfulness exercises to help.

Further support

A range of people on campus can support you to reduce the impact of the difficulty or difference on your study. Decide what kind of assistance you need and reach out to the service which can best assist you right now.

Speak to your tutor or lecturer when:

  1. You have an adjustment plan to share with them.
  2. You want them to be aware of aspects of your learning difference that may affect you during lectures, tutorials, labs or assessments.

Register with Student Equity and Disability Services:

  1. If you have a confirmed diagnosis and require adjustments to be put in place, including changes to how subjects are taught and assessed. You may be eligible for an Academic Adjustment plan.

Reach out to Counselling and Psychological Services for:

  1. Individual counselling to support you when issues arise. This may include issues as a result of your learning difference or challenges you may face while adjusting to university life.
  2. Self-access courses, workshops and group programs about wellbeing and mental health.

Book an individual appointment with Academic Skills for support with:

  1. study planning and organisation, time management, goal setting and exam strategies.
  2. writing skills development, reading strategies and oral presentations.

Reach out to UMSU Advocacy when you need:

  1. Support and advice with complaints or grievances about your studies or other aspects of campus life.

Connect with UMSU Disability for:

  1. Community and workshops.
  2. Advice and information to support you with your learning difference at university.

    • Al-Mahmood, R., McLean, P., Powell, E. & Ryan, J. (1998). Towards success in tertiary study. Victorian Co-operative Projects for Higher Education Students with a Disability Committee.
    • Australian Dyslexia Association. (2022). https://dyslexiaassociation.org.au
    • Counselling and Psychological Services (n.d.). Exam anxiety. https://services.unimelb.edu.au/counsel/resources/study-related-issues/exam-anxiety
    • Godwin, J. (2012). Studying with dyslexia. MacMillan.
    • Neurodiversity Hub. (n.d.). Supporting autistic students. https://www.neurodiversityhub.org/transition-to-university/staff#parents/carers/supporting-autistic-students
    • Wheeler, M. (2014). Academic supports for college students with autism spectrum disorder.  Indiana Resource Centre for Autism. https://www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/articles/academic-supports-for-college-students-with-an-autism-spectrum-disorder.html