New Perspectives on Teaching From Successful Adults with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

JL. HE SEARCH FOR EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONALmethods for students with learning disabilities has persistently challenged researchers and practitioners. The heterogeneous nature of the population of persons with learning disabilities accounts for a tremendous diversity of approaches. A number of attempts have been made to match instruction to theoretical etiologies of learning disabilities and thereby remediate the presumed dysfunctional psychological processes causing the learning difficulties. Most of these approaches have met with limited success and much criticism. The criticism has tended to focus on the lack of empirical evidence to support a particular etiology, the dubious supposition that basic psychological processes can be remediated, and the reduced time devoted to direct academic instruction (Hammill & Larsen, 1978). Moreover, the heterogeneous characteristics of learning disabilities suggest multiple etiologies; an approach based on a specific etiology would, at best, respond to only a portion of the population. Further, most researchers agree that more than one psychological process is involved in most areas of learning (Lerner, 1993).In recent years, attention has shifted from remediation to compensation. Compensation strategies reflect the growing evidence that learning disabilities cannot be "fixed" and will simply not disappear as one grows older. Consequently, students with learning disabilities need to learn ways of coping and adapting. However, it would be difficult to develop specific strategies to meet every possible learning situation. Approaches that have become popular, such as the Strategies Intervention Model developed at the University of Kansas Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities (Schumaker, Deshler, & Ellis, 1986), have attempted to develop general learning strategies, such as writing well-organized paragraphs or using self-questioning when reading, that can be employed in many settings. The goal of this approach is to teach students to become active,

Deafness-Specific Tactic Knowledge: A New Understanding of Mental Health, and Social and Professional Participation

“…Similarly, we may currently assume that the proactive deafnessspecific skills that deaf people use to maximize their potential are so random as to be without possible underlying order. As the research presented here and that of Reiff et al (1995) attest to, the complex and seemingly random psychosocial skills specific to successfully dealing with a disability can be codified as a systematic and comprehensive framework.…”

“…Perhaps the most unique feature of this research is the pursuit of what could be termed expert knowledge in a disability context. Unsurprisingly, Reiff et al (1995) stated that a study of expert performance by Bloom (1982) was a significant influence on their framework. Bloom's study was with 25 participants who achieved world class accomplishments before the age of 35 and predates the works of Ericsson and colleagues.…”

An evaluation ofSuccess and Dyslexia– a multi component school-based coping program for primary school students with learning disabilities: Is it feasible?

“…Positive thinking programs have been effective in changing the negative attributional thinking (Roberts, Brown, Johnson, & Reinke, 2003) that is a particular risk for students who have learning disabilities (Peterson, Maier, & Seligman, 1993). Taking control of the situation has also been found to be central to successful coping by people who have learning disabilities (Reiff et al, 1995;Raskind et al, 2002). Assertiveness programs focus on taking such control and have been successful in increasing internal locus of control orientation (Waksman, 1984) and developing assertion skills of adolescent students (Wise, Bundy, Bundy, & Wise, 1991), including adolescents who have learning disabilities (Firth, 2001).…”

“…Such adaptive coping has been found to be a better predictor of life success than extent of learning disabilities (Goldberg et al, 2003;Margalit, 2003). In addition to excellent literacy programs for these students, there is therefore an urgent need to develop programs and environments that assist young people who have learning disabilities to develop adaptive coping responses (Margalit, 2003;McNamara & Willoughby, 2010;Nalavany et al, 2010;Raskind et al, 2006;Raskind, Goldberg, Higgins, & Herman, 2002;Reiff et al, 1995;Rodis et al, 2001;Singer, 2007;Westwood, 2008).…”

“…People who are successful despite their learning disabilities have, however, learned to cope well with their situation (Raskind et al, 1999;Reiff et al, 1995). These people are proactive, flexible and persevering in coping with their learning disabilities (Goldberg, Higgins, Raskind, & Herman, 2003;Hellendoorn & Ruijssenaars, 2000;Nalavany et al, 2010;Madaus et al, 2008).…”