Life Success
For Students With Learning Disabilities:
A Teacher Guide
Self-Awareness
 “As I said, I have dyslexia. I have never not had dyslexia, so it always has, and always will, affect my life. I don’t know what it’s like not to have dyslexia. I don’t know that I want to do life over again without it. It’s part of me. It will hinder me, as it has, and it will push me into places where I never would have gone.”
--33-year-old successful male |
Successful people with learning disabilities are aware of the types of problems they have, including academic problems like reading and math, academic-related problems such as attentional or organizational difficulties, and non-academic difficulties such as motor deficits or emotional/behavioral problems. They are open and specific about their difficulties and understand how these affect their lives. As one study participant stated, “I wasn’t a behavior problem, I didn’t have attention problems. “But . . . I just couldn’t learn to read and write.”
Most important, successful individuals have the ability to compartmentalize their disability. That is, they are able to see their learning difficulties as only one aspect of themselves. Although they are aware of their learning limitations, they are not overly defined by them. As one successful individual said:
“You know, everybody comes with a package. And yeah, there are things that I am good at and things that I am not so good at. Some of my limitations are reading and writing. But boy, when it comes to putting things together, reading plans, and chasing down problems, those are some talents, some skills that I was born with . . . I carved a different path and my whole life has been that way.”
Clearly, this individual differentiated his learning disability from his abilities in other areas, namely, “putting things together,” which enabled him to contain the effect of the learning disability and prevent it from negatively affecting his sense of self and well-being. That is, his disability was reduced to a small piece of who he was and how he defined himself.
Successful individuals with learning disabilities recognize their talents along with accepting their limitations. This idea is expressed particularly well by one adult who stressed, “We all learn differently; we all have strengths and weaknesses.” Another adult with a learning disability shared, “It’s still there and I compensate . . . I think the problems that I had were no different than anybody else who is conscious of their weaknesses, and then some of their strengths. Some people are not conscious at all.”
In addition to recognizing their strengths, weaknesses, and special talents, successful adults with learning disabilities are able to find jobs that provide the best fit or “match” with their abilities. This is referred to as successful “niche picking.” For example, an individual with severe reading problems, but exceptional skills in woodworking might find a successful career in cabinet making rather than as a copy editor. A person with math deficits, but excellent writing abilities might shy away from a career in accounting, yet find success in journalism. And, the individual with poor reading and writing, but strong oral language skills might pursue sales and avoid jobs requiring substantial written language abilities.
Unsuccessful people with learning disabilities, on the other hand, often fail to recognize both their strengths and limitations, accept their difficulties, compartmentalize their learning disability, and find employment that provides the best fit for their abilities.
Next: Proactivity
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