Emotional, Occupational, and Self-Esteem Issues in Adults with Learning Disabilities. April 6 - 8, 2009

Emotional, Occupational, and Self-Esteem Issues
in Adults with Learning Disabilities.
April 6 - 8, 2009

Discussion Announcment | Guest's Bio | Discussion Outline
Full Discussion

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Discussion Announcement

I am very pleased to announce the Learning Disabilities Discussion List's next guest discussion. The title of the discussion will be Emotional, Occupational, and Self-Esteem Issues in Adults with Learning Disabilities. Please read the pertinent information below.

Guest's Bio:

Dr. Mary S. Kelly is the Director of the Fisher Landau Center for the Treatment of Learning Disabilities and its Adult Literacy Program. She is an associate professor of clinical pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. After graduating from Boston College, she worked as a special education teacher. She then went on to earn her M.A. in Remedial Reading and her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has taught courses in reading, learning disabilities, and psychology at the graduate and undergraduate levels. She has worked with adults with learning disabilities at the Fisher-Landau Center for the Treatment of Learning Disabilities since 1994 and has directed the program since 2002.

Tentative Outline for the Discussion

  1. Resources to Preview Before Discussion:
    ncld.org has a wealth of information directed to adults with LD
Reading: Barton, R.S. & Fuhrmann, B.S. (1994). Counseling and psychotherapy for adults with learning disabilities. In P.J. Gerber & H.B. Reiff (eds). Learning disabilities in adulthood. (pp. 82-92). Boston: Andover Medical Publishers.
  • Questions Leading Up to the Discussion from Subscribers
  • Welcome, Self-Introduction, and Invitation to Ask Questions and Comment
  • Goals for the Discussion:
    • To foster an understanding of the learning and psychological needs of low-literacy LD adults and how they affect vocational attainment
    • To examine external and internal obstacles to employment for low-literacy LD adults
    • To examine potential interventions for improving self-esteem
  • Hank and Max: Two low-literacy men with learning disabilities (LD)
    • What impact has their LD had on their self-esteem and ability to work?
    • What can we learn from their experiences?
    • What would you do to help them?
  • Self-esteem and Learning: A reciprocal relationship
    • The experiences of the Adult Literacy Program at Fisher Landau
  • Obstacles to Employment (they're not just from the outside)
    • What do we know about the employment needs of low-literacy LD adults?
    • Where is the research?
  • Outcomes: What happened to Hank and Max?
    • Is learning to read a panacea?
  • Additional Resources/Websites



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