Assessing Learning Disabilities in Adults

1. Assessing Learning Disabilities in Adults ORBIDA Conference February 22, 2008 Ken Kosko Education Evaluation Center The Teaching Research Institute Western Oregon University

2. SLDRehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)1985 Definition: A specific learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the central nervous system processes involved in perceiving, understanding, and/or using concepts through verbal (spoken or written) language or nonverbal means. This disorder manifests itself with a deficit in one or more of the following areas: attention, reasoning, processing, memory, communication, reading, writing, spelling, calculation, coordination, social competence, and emotional maturity. (Rehabilitation Services Administration. (1985, January 21). Program policy directive. Washington, DC: U.S. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services.)

3. SLDDEFINITION-RSA • Central Nervous System Processes • Perceiving • Understanding Spoken or Written Language

4. Manifestations: • Attention • Reasoning • Memory • Communicating • Academics (reading, writing, math) • Coordination • Social Competence • Emotional Maturity

5. Major Components of a Learning Disabilities Definition Learning Disabilities: • is a general term for a heterogeneous group of disorders • are manifested by significant difficulties in listening, speaking, reading, writing, or math; • are part of the person make-up (i.e., they will not go away); • are presumed to be a dysfunction of the central nervous system; • may be discovered across the life span; • may RESULT in problems with behavior, social perceptions, and social interactions (but these problems are NOT the disability); • are NOT the result of other disabilities such as lost of sight or hearing, lack of intelligence, or lack of schooling.

6. OREGON DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOregon Administrative Rules 9/19/2007SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES • Achievement Grades 1-12 • Basic reading skills • Reading fluency skills • Reading comprehension • Mathematics calculation • Mathematics problems-solving • Written expression • Oral expression • Listening comprehension

7. OREGON DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOregon Administrative Rules 9/19/2007SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES, Continued • Other, if needed: • Cognition • Fine motor • Perceptual motor • Communication • Social or Emotional • Perception or Memory

8. Common Challenges of Successful Adults with LD • Almost all experienced significant difficulty learning in school • Many never did learn to read, write, spell, or compute particularly well • Social skills were either a strength or an area of need • Dealing with LD is a daily task • Felt vulnerable because of differences in learning • Self-esteem tended to deteriorate when LD went undiagnosed (Gerber & Reiff, 1994)

9. Consequences of LD Beyond School Failure • Poor peer relationships • Poor self-efficacy (ability to produce effects or intended results) • Poor post-school adjustments • Juvenile delinquency • Limited occupational status (under employment)

10. Mental Health Issues • Anxiety • Depression • Oppositional Defiant • Substance Abuse • Alcohol • Drugs

11. Everyday Manifestations • Feeling constantly behind • Fear of filling out forms • Extreme stress or fear associated with any isolated measure of ability • Isolation resulting from fear of being misunderstood • Extreme stress over deadlines • Feeling inadequate because of difficulty doing tasks others find easy

12. Reading • Slow reader (estimated range up to four times as long to read a page as others) • Reading out of sequence (they went to see a movie=they to see a movie went) • Mistaking one word for another (for=from, to=of) • Tracking difficulty: skipping over words or lines • Difficulty reading multi-syllable words (aluminum) • Difficulty with sound symbols relations • Lack of vocabulary understanding & reading comprehension

13. Spelling • Reversals common: d=b, friend=friend, (also number reversal: 0137=0317) • Frequently dropping, adding or reversing letters and word parts: know=now, bad, dog=dab dog • Difficulty mixing up words that sound the same; there=their, through=threw, where=wear, well=will, write=right • Forgetting how to spell commonly used words

14. Writing • Excessive time required to organize papers and thoughts • Difficulty conceptualizing a paper’s overall topic and formulating a thesis on the paper as a whole • Tendency to laboriously work out specific parts of the paper instead of focusing on the paper as a whole • Letters reversed • Freezing up when trying to write • Spelling errors • Illegible handwriting; cursive script difficult • Words and letters out of sequence in sentences • Difficult taking notes in class • Completely omitting words or phrases • Writing things that make absolutely no coherent sense

15. Testing • Seldom able to complete exams in class or national exams • Difficulty with multiple choice questions; difficulty filling in the bubbles on forms • Misinterprets directions or questions on exams • Extreme test anxiety

16. Concentration • Focusing requires extraordinary effort • Easily distracted by noise and movement

18. Memory • Difficulty recalling familiar things like one’s phone number, address, names of friends • Not remembering what was said or what you were talking about • Not remembering what the teacher/instructor said and trying to take notes • Frequently misplacing, losing or forgetting things • Not remembering what you saw or read, (writing down information from the chalk board or overhead/power point)

19. Speech • Difficulty pronouncing multisyllabic or uncommon words • Difficulty reading aloud • Stuttering or hesitancy in speech • Difficulty communicating ideas clearly

20. Orientation • Difficulty in distinguishing left and right • Directions, map reading, and navigating difficulty • Feeling lost in a familiar setting; easily disoriented

21. Ranges of LDJournal of Learning Disabilities, 29, 17-30 MILD • average to above average intelligence • adequate psychological adjustments and vocational/employability skills • high academic achievement • limited processing and language skills

22. Ranges of LD, cont.Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29, 17-30 MODERATE • average to above average intelligence • some cognitive and language deficits • one or more academic disabilities • some psychological adjustment problems • difficulty with vocational/employment skills

23. Ranges of LD, cont.Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29, 17-30 SEVERE • display below average intelligence • significant cognitive processing and language deficits • low academic achievement • lack of psychological adjustment • lack of vocational/employment skills

24. Why Assess? • Determine eligibility • Determine strengths, abilities, and deficits • Determine appropriate instructional setting • Determine job match • Determine level of self-determination skills • Determine necessary accommodations, supports, and services

25. Primary Area Assessed Through Functional Assessment in Disciplines Related to Special Education

26. Primary Area Assessed Through Functional Assessment in Disciplines Related to Special Education

27. DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR ADULT LEARNINGDISABILITY DETERMINATION There are several commonly accepted criteria that evaluators rely on when considering determination of whether or not an individual has a Learning Disability. Following are what appears to be the most commonly used criteria, keeping in mind that meeting onlyone of the following two criteria should not be used as the sole determinant of LD. 1. A significant discrepancy between overall cognitive ability and achievement in reading, math and/or writing as indicated by: a) DSM-IV Edition-TR-Usually defined as a discrepancy of more than two standard deviations between achievement and IQ. A smaller discrepancy is sometimes used, (between one and two deviations), “especially in cases where an individual’s performance on an IQ test has been compromised by an associated disorder in cognitive processing, a co morbid mental disorder or general medical condition, or the individual’s ethnic or cultural background”; b) A discrepancy of one and a half to two standard deviations; c) Use of the regression formula; d) A combination of discrepancies and professional judgment; AND 2. The ability to process information is impaired in some way that is directly contributing to underachievement and is impacting the individual’s ability to learn or retain information in school, work and/or daily living activities.

28. DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR ADULT LEARNINGDISABILITY DETERMINATION, cont Other Considerations • The underachievement cannot be primarily due to factors other than a processing deficit (e.g., lack of schooling, mental health issues, drugs and alcohol, hearing impairment, visual acuity problems); • With adults, a history of learning problems during their school careers is usually noted i.e., elementary, middle, high school. May have dropped out of school; • A history of learning problems in the family (e.g., parent/s, siblings, children); • Uneven development in cognitive and/or achievement areas. Full Scale Cognitive scores are normally within the average range or better, however, adults IQ’s who have had a history of school difficulties (may be drop outs) can be somewhat lower and in the low average range. • Determination of eligibility should not be made based only on one subtest. • Screening for possible social/emotional issues (e.g., depression, anxiety) and ADHD, which may be part of the LD assessment.

29. DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR ADULT LEARNINGDISABILITY DETERMINATION, cont. Test Scores: Care must be taken when analyzing cognitive, achievement and processing tests. A full scale IQ score in the Borderline range (70-79) does not necessarily mean an individual has Borderline intellectual functioning. When examining the subtest, full scale and Index scores there may be areas well within the average to above average range with significantly low subtest scores related to LD that make the client look Borderline functioning. A client with a Borderline Performance score and low to average Verbal score may appear to be borderline functioning if one relies only on the Full scale scores without taking into consideration variation in scores. A number of studies on low to borderline IQ are proving that individuals with low to borderline IQ may also have learning disabilities. Good diagnosticians don’t rely solely on the numbers. ( www.seakingwdc.org/ld/Formal Test.htm) (Adapted from Washington State Learning Disabilities Project, Summary Report, 1998)

30. Characteristics of Diagnostic Testing • Is individually administered and scored; • Can take from several hours to several days for testing and several more days for interpretation of results; • Can cost anywhere from $600 to $1,500, depending on the extent of testing required for a diagnosis; • Must be administered only by a qualified professional who is licensed to administer psycho-educational test batteries; • Provides in-depth assessment of an individual’s skill areas; and • As a result of diagnostic testing, individual knows for certain whether he/she has a learning disability, including information on how the specific LD affects performance.

32. Information Processing and Related Disabilities Input Process Output Thinking *Abstract *Concrete Memory *Auditory *Visual *Long Term *Short Term Sequencing Organization Attention Talking Reading Writing Motor *Fine *Gross Fluency/Speed Accuracy Auditory Visual Tactile Olfactory Gustatory

33. Four Stages of Information Processing and Related Disabilities • Input • Visual Perception Disability • Auditory Perception Disability • Integration • Sequencing Disability • Abstraction Disability • Organization Disability • Memory • Short-term • Long-term • Output • Language Disabilities: Spontaneous and Demand • Motor Disabilities: Gross and Fine Muscle Coordination

34. Types of Assessment Instruments Norm Referenced • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test-III • Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery • (Cognitive & Tests of Achievement) • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test • Nelson Denny Reading Test • Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults • Detroit Test of Learning Aptitude

35. Types of Assessment Instruments Rating Scales • Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales-Observer-Report • Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales-Self Report • Brown Attention-Deficit Disorder • Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition, Self-Report College (18-25), Self-Report Adolescent (12-21)

36. Types of Assessment Instruments Self-Report Interview Observation

47. Learning Disability Evaluation Report (see handout)

48. Definition of Self-Determination The attitudes and abilities required to act as the primary causal agent in one’s life and make choices and decisions regarding one’s action free from undue external influence or interference [Source: Wehmeyer, M.L. (1997). Self-directed Learning and Self Determination. In M. Agran (Ed.), Student-directed Learning: A Handbook of Self-Management. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.]

50. Accommodations An accommodation: is any change needed to help the employee learn the skill required to perform the job. It may mean: • Using different kinds of learning materials; • Using special equipment, such as a computer or a calculator; • Having a special tutor or work “buddy” to help on the job; • Using auditory aids and services. An accommodation: • does not include making changes in rules to make it easier for the person with LD to perform the work than for other employees; and • should not create an “undue hardship” for the employer. It is not necessary to provide the most expensive accommodation, just one that will help the employee do what needs to be done.