Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: Unique Challenges and Reasons for Hope

Abstract

THE CASE FOR STUDYING ADOLESCENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES Historically, most of the professional literature in the field as well as federal funding initiatives in research and program development have been directed at younger students with learning disabilities (LD). The prevailing assumption (or hope) has been that if intervention took place at a young age, many of the manifestations of the learning disability would be minimized or avoided altogether in later years (Kirk & Elkins, 1975). The recent shift from aptitude-achievement discrepancy to responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI) identification models underscores the value that the field places on early prevention strategies and avoiding wait-to-fail approaches (e.g., Vaughn & Fuchs, 2003). However, the field has learned that adolescents with LD have enduring and unique characteristics that are manifested in differing ways as development and setting demands change (e.g., Brinckerhoff, Shaw, & McGuire, 1992; Lenz & Deshler, 2005; Mellard & Deshler, 1991). When the five LD Institutes were funded by the Office of Special Education (OSEP) in 1978, the one at Kansas University focused on older students. The baseline of data available on these older students was almost nonexistent at the time. Hence, we sought to answer many foundational questions related to the salient characteristics of these learners and basic instructional practices that led to significant student outcomes (e.g., Deshler, Schumaker, Alley, Warner, & Clark, 1982). While valuable lessons emerged from that research, the surface was barely scratched (Warner, Schumaker, Alley, & Deshler, 1980). As a result, several have argued (e.g., Deshler, 2001) that there are compelling reasons to continue to focus on the unique issues facing adolescents with LD. Similarly, there are reasons not to put all of our field's eggs in the early-identification and intervention basket. First, even though an impressive array of reading interventions have been developed for younger students (e.g., Foorman, Francis, Novy, & Liberman, 1991), it is unlikely that these methods will be successfully implemented to scale nationally given our field's poor record of implementing educational innovations (e.g., Elmore, 1996). Thus, in spite of the effectiveness of existing interventions, the chance of bringing any innovation to broad-scale implementation with fidelity is remote. As a result, many students will not receive the intervention and will move on to later grades with significant, unaddressed deficits. Second, even if children with LD receive quality interventions during their early years, in all likelihood, their disability will endure into adolescence and adulthood. The need for effective intervention strategies for these older individuals is as great as, if not greater than, the need for interventions for younger children because of all the emotional overlays that generally emerge as individuals mature and continue to encounter significant failure. Hence, it is critical that the LD field develops a research and intervention agenda that is designed to address multiple aspects of the condition of LD across multiple age ranges. As compelling as the case for early intervention can be, if that case is made at the expense of addressing the equally problematic and unique set of problems presented by older-aged individuals, the long-term effects of such a policy will be devastating for thousands of individuals with LD. ENCOURAGING PROGRESS ON THE INTERVENTION FRONT During the past 25 years, despite the relatively limited attention paid to older students, significant progress has been made in designing and validating interventions for adolescent populations. For example, at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning, we have conducted over 20 studies (1) (e.g., Schumaker & Deshler, in press; Schumaker & Deshler, 2003) to address two basic questions: (a) Can adolescents with LD be taught to use complex learning strategies? …