Life Success
For Students With Learning Disabilities:
A Teacher Guide
Consider Multiple Domains
Through most of its history, the field of learning disabilities has focused on academic experience/behavior within educational contexts. However, recent research has shown that having a learning disability is a lifelong condition that impacts many aspects of an individual’s life - not just school and academics. Furthermore, we now know that successful individuals with learning disabilities appear to be able to apply the success attributes beyond the realm of academics to such domains as psychological/emotional (identifying feelings, managing stress, developing coping strategies, etc.); physical (health, nutrition, athletic skills, grooming); social (getting over an argument with a friend, making a new friend, apologizing, sticking up for someone else, sharing, listening being a “team player,” etc.); and philosophical/values (developing honesty, loyalty, kindness, managing violent impulses).
Similarly, attempts to foster development of the success attributes must extend beyond academic/cognitive domains in educational contexts into additional aspects of students’ lives. For instance, in teaching self-awareness, one might begin by exploring academic self-awareness, then move on to physical self-awareness, and psychological/ emotional, social and philosophical/values self-awareness. Similarly, when teaching goal-setting, be sure to provide experiences at setting goals in physical, social, psychological, and philosophical/values realms.
Next: Expand the Circle of Support
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