Colorado Works

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The Power of One

• Colorado Works
• With
• Literacy
• ConferenceAdams State, October 4, 2002

http//swadulted.com/powerofone.htm http//ldonlin
e.org
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Today

• Participate in an overview of the field
• Examine more in depth view of characteristics of
  adults with LD
• Review other populations who have similar
  characteristics
• Discuss a few strategies for connecting with
  those who have lived on the sidelines.

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DEFINITION

• Learning disabilities is a general term that
  refers to
• a heterogeneous group of disorders
• in the acquisition and use of listening,
  speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or
  mathematical abilities
• presumed to be due to central nervous system
  dysfunction, and may occur across the life span.

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• Problems in self-regulatory behaviors social
  perception, and social interaction may exist with
  learning disabilities
• But do not by themselves constitute a learning
  disability
• Although learning disabilities may occur
  concomitantly with other handicapping conditions
  (for example, sensory impairment, mental
  retardation, serious emotional disturbance)or
  with extrinsic influences (such as cultural
  differences, insufficient or inappropriate
  instruction).

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TYPES OF LD

• Developmental Speech and Language Disorders
• Academic Skills Disorders
• Motor skills disorders
• Specific developmental disorders not otherwise
  specified

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Characteristics among Adults

• Excellent verbal ability, but cannot express
  thoughts on paper
• Mechanical aptitude, but difficulty with reading,
  writing or spelling
• Lacks social skills and has difficulty
  maintaining relationships or making friends

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• Learns well when shown, but cannot follow written
  and/or verbal instructions
• Feels constantly anxious, tense, depressed and
  has a very poor self-concept
• Cannot organize belongings, time, activities or
  responsibilities

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• Inability to complete a job application form.
• Cannot follow written direction and/or remember
  several verbal directions.
• Difficulty finding or keeping a job.
• Difficulty budgeting and managing money.
• Time management difficulties.

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• Short attention span, restlessness or
  hyperactivity.
• Difficulty in remembering and following the
  sequence of instructions.
• Difficulty in understanding appropriate social
  behavior.
• Poor coordination and spatial disorientation.
• Difficulty with problem solving strategies.

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How would you feel?

• Out of place
• Disconnected
• Different
• Shy, embarrassed
• Paralyzed
• Confused
• Stupid

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CharacteristicsPAYNE, 1994

• Reasoning and Processing
• Memory
• Interpersonal Skills Emotional Maturity
• Coordination and Motor Functions
• Communication
• Reading, Writing, Mathematics
• High Level Cognitive Functioning

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• Estimates about the number of adults in adult
  education programs, social services programs, or
  employment-seeking programs indicate that
  probably 40-50 of these adults, at a minimum,
  may have learning disabilities that have kept
  them from achieving academic and employment
  success in their lives.
• (http//www.nifl.gov/nifl/ld/bridges/about/project
  .html - Bridges to Practice)

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• The United States Employment and Training
  Administration (1991) estimated that between
  15-23 of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA)
  title IIA recipients may have a learning
  disability. Based on the Department of Labor
  observations, the percent of adults with LD
  increases to between 50-80 among those reading
  below the 7 th grade level (U.S. Department of
  Labor, 1991). (http//www.nifl.gov/nifl/ld/bridges
  /about/project.html - Bridges to Practice)

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• In studies conducted by the Presidents
  Committee on Employment for People with
  Disabilities it was found that 10 to 14 percent
  of adults in the workplace have learning
  disabilities. (Nancie Payne, M.S.s, Senior
  Consultant, Payne Associates)

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• Estimates about the number of adults in adult
  education programs, social services programs, or
  employment-seeking programs indicate that
  probably 40-50 of these adults, at a minimum,
  may have learning disabilities that have kept
  them from achieving academic and employment
  success in their lives.
• (http//www.nifl.gov/nifl/ld/bridges/about/project
  .html - Bridges to Practice)

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• A survey of 567 adults with learning
  disabilities conducted by the association for
  Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities
  (now Learning Disabilities Association of
  America) found that 210 (37 percent) were
  unemployed. (Nancie Payne, M.S.s, Senior
  Consultant, Payne Associates)

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• Carolyn Buell Kidder suggests dyslexia affects 10
  to 15 percent of the school age population. 
  Since dyslexics have a much harder time learning
  to read, they could make up a larger segment of
  adults who are illiterate as much as 30 to 50
  percent. (Kidder, 1987)

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• A recent Department of Labor Research and
  Evaluation report states that non-empirical
  studies suggest between 50 and 80 percent of
  students in adult basic education programs
  (generally those reading below the seventh grade
  level) probably have learning disabilities. 

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• 15 to 23 percent of all Job Training Partnership
  Act (JTPA) IIA participants may have learning
  disabilities (50 to 80 percent of those
  identified as reading below the seventh grade
  level)

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