Temporal Experiences of College Students With Learning and Attention Disorders: A Qualitative Analysis

BACKGROUND: People with learning and attention disorders (L/AD) experience deficits in executive functions, which can manifest as difficulties with self-management of time and self-organization (Barkley & Fischer, 2011). College students with L/AD face time-related challenges affecting both academic and daily life functioning (Kreider et al., 2015). For many, these challenges are compounded by the need for additional time to complete academic tasks (Kreider et al., 2015). Supports for time management and time-extending academic accommodations are available on college campuses. However, greater understanding of temporal experiences within the daily lives of college students with L/AD is needed to develop supports for daily life functioning. This study sought to characterize time-related experiences and perceptions of college students with L/AD.

METHOD: This study used qualitative analysis of transcripts from group meetings held as part of a larger study. Participants were undergraduates registered with the campus disability office and eligible for learning disability accommodations. Recruitment was assisted by the campus disability office and included use of email listservs, flyers, and word of mouth. Fifteen undergraduates (eight male) were enrolled during Year 1, with all participants contributing to the qualitative data set. Group meetings were held on campus and involved didactic content followed by facilitated reflection, experience sharing, and strategy sharing regarding students’ articulated concerns. Data from the first eight meetings held during the larger study’s first year were included in the analysis.

Group meetings were audio recorded and transcribed; data included transcripts and field notes recorded during and immediately after meetings. Structural coding (Saldana, 2013) was initially used to identify text pertaining to temporal concepts and experiences. Identified text was reread several times with segments coded using indigenous coding, topic coding, and affective coding to identify conceptual categories (Saldana, 2013). Rigor was enhanced via researchers’ attendance at meetings, use of constant comparison, and frequent discussions with the study team to achieve consensus (Golafshani, 2003).

RESULTS: Three conceptual categories emerged from the data: misconceptions, strategies and supports, and reframing. Misconceptions included inaccurate understanding by parents, instructors, or friends regarding needed academic accommodations and time-related struggles. Such misconceptions contributed to frustration, the sense of using an excuse, and feelings of inadequate support from others. Strategies and supports included ways that students coped with and compensated for time-related challenges. Reframing was the process by which some students came to view the abilities they used to overcome and compensate for challenges as personal strengths and as potentially helpful to others with and without L/AD.

CONCLUSION: Temporal challenges permeate several aspects of daily life and functioning for undergraduates with L/AD. Temporal challenges and the strategies and supports used to overcome these challenges affect interpersonal relationships and self-perceptions. Findings elucidate the multifaceted and ubiquitous nature of temporal challenges faced by college students with L/AD. This research contributes evidence to inform development of strategies and interventions for supporting the occupational performance of college students with L/AD.

References

Barkley, R. A., & Fischer, M. (2011). Predicting impairment in major life activities and occupational functioning in hyperactive children as adults: Self-reported executive function (EF) deficits versus EF tests. Developmental Neuropsychology, 36, 137–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/87565641.2010.549877

Golafshani, N. (2003). Understanding reliability and validity in qualitative research. Qualitative Report, 8, 597–606. Retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol8/iss4/6

Kreider, C. M., Bendixen, R. M., & Lutz, B. J. (2015). Holistic needs of university students with invisible disabilities: A qualitative study. Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 35, 426–441. https://doi.org/10.3109/01942638.2015.1020407

Saldana , P. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.