Abstract
In order to examine the emotional and cognitive processes experienced by adolescents with learning disabilities (LD), twenty tenth grade Israeli students were studied over three years. Data gathered through in-depth interviews underwent an axial-coding process, and a grounded theory model was constructed. The findings revealed various coping styles adopted by students throughout the process of accepting the disability. Participants were asked to use figurative language to describe their method of coping with the disability. Participants’ choice of phrase, metaphor or image characterized the phase of their acceptance as well as their coping style. This can be served as an effective tool of detection. Identifying the stage of students’ acceptance and their coping style may promote optimal treatment for students with LD.
Highlights
Growing awareness among parents and teachers of the need of students with learning disabilities to acquire education as a basic requirement towards obtaining a profession and integrating into society, led to increased commitment to diagnosis of LD and an increase in dispensations and accommodations granted to students with LD (Margaolit, Efrati, & Danino, 2002)
Data collected in the interviews helped in establishing thematic connections, while examination of the nature of relationships between the categories helped to re-formulate the knowledge and organize it in a model of axial coding around a core category that includes two key ideas: In the field of learning—learning difficulties and repetitive failures caused a feeling of helplessness and lack of control
This study found that Figurative Language is an important and effective tool for identifying learning-disabled adolescents’ stage of acceptance of their disability
Summary
Growing awareness among parents and teachers of the need of students with learning disabilities to acquire education as a basic requirement towards obtaining a profession and integrating into society, led to increased commitment to diagnosis of LD and an increase in dispensations and accommodations granted to students with LD (Margaolit, Efrati, & Danino, 2002). The study identified the factors involved in both the emotional and cognitive stages of accepting (and coping with) learning disabilities, distinguishing between various types of disabilities. A model was constructed for the purpose of enabling counselors, teachers and caregivers to match the type of intervention to the specific needs of each group in order to improve the effectiveness of intervention programs. The figurative speech, phrase or image that students choose for describing their acceptance of their learning disability, reveals both the phase in the process and the style of their coping with the disability. Detection of the stage and the coping style may help counselors to create an intervention program tailored to the precise needs of individual adolescents
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