Adolescents with Learning Disabilities

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a perspective in understanding the problems of adolescents with learning disabilities (LDs) that focuses on various setting demands that are faced by them and how well they meet such demands. When considering the characteristics of adolescents with LDs, the natural tendency is to focus on the limitations and problems of these individuals and then view these characteristics as if they were unique to the learning-disabled (LD) condition. The students who are labeled LD tend to be those who are the lowest of the low achievers. Differences between LD and low-achieving students lie mostly in the perceptions of others resulting from their reaction to the label learning-disabled and the way these youth are treated and the services they receive as a function of the label. The problems that individuals experience are basically a function of the interaction between the demands of the environment and the characteristics of the individual. It is, therefore, wrong to assume that their problems reflect merely their innate characteristics. Therefore, a meaningful way to understand LD adolescents is to examine the characteristics of the settings in relation to how those labeled as LD are meeting the expectations of these settings, as well as what can be done to enable these students to function more effectively in these settings.