Two years of language study is a requirement in most colleges and universities for many degree programs and, at the high school level, an expectation for college-bound students. However, some very capable students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) have difficulty learning a second language. Recent research has identified characteristics of students with language-based learning disabilities and of students who are successful language learners. It has also identified some of the problems the former group of students may encounter in the second-language classroom. The characteristics of the disabilities are diverse and do not fit a single profile, but some typical patterns have emerged. Colleges and universities have begun to develop formalized procedures to provide these students with needed services and course alternatives. Students can be taught adaptive cognitive strategies to apply to foreign language learning, in effect teaching the students how to learn language-related skills. This, along with the provision of academic options for SLD students having difficulty with language requirements, is a logical direction for foreign language education to take. (MSE)