Learning a Living: A Guide to Planning Your Career and Finding a Job for People With Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Dyslexia

This book offers practical advice and tips on areas such as learning to relax, improving your memory, staying focused, getting homework done, and making friends.

This book tells the stories of eight people who never stopped trying. From humiliation in school and the anxiety of coping with everyday life unable to read street signs and menus, to shopping, driving, and working, these people lived in a world of dashed hopes and dreams — regardless of outward appearances — until they discovered their learning disability and unlocked their true gifts. Anyone who has ever endured a failure in school will appreciate the heartache of people who knew nothing but failure, yet held great potential.

Called “retarded,” “lazy,” “immature,” “delinquent,” and more, they managed to get by, all the while thinking that deep down they were worthless people—that everything anyone ever said about them was true. Except, as they would discover later in life, it wasn’t. Proceeds from the sale of The Pretenders will be used to further the work of the H.E.L.P. Program.

This book focuses on adults with severe learning disabilities (LD) and the educators who work with them. In this volume, experts in the fields of learning disabilities and adult literacy describe the characteristics, demographics, and educational and employment status of adults with LD and discuss the laws that protect them in the workplace and in educational settings. Combining cutting-edge research findings with firsthand instructional expertise, the authors examine the various screening procedures used to identify learning disabilities, present a range of instructional strategies and staff development programs for teaching literacy skills to adults, and showcase exemplary programs that assist adults with LD to find the right job and to be successful.

Do people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have a “Deficit” and a “Disorder”? Or are they just different in some ways from people around them? In Distant Drums and Different Drummers, the author presents a more positive perspective on ADHD — one that stresses the value of individual differences. The child with ADHD, with his penchant for novelty and exploration, his boundless energy, and his tendency to take risks, is seen as the descendant of a long line of adventures and explorers stretching far back beyond the beginnings of recorded history.

Socially ADDept helps parents teach the hidden rules of communication to children who are having social problems. The manual is in a workbook format and guides parents through each topic through a series of exercises and suggested dialogue. Some of the topics covered are how to handle teasing, use appropriate body language, comprehend jokes and sarcasm, and join groups effectively. Socially ADDept is easy to read and use.

Combines poignant stories told by learning disabled adults with advice for therapists counseling them. This book provides counselors with insight into the personal dimension of learning disabilities and ADD, as well as practical guidelines for their assessment and treatment. Carol Wren shares powerful stories of adults with learning disabilities, letting readers hear their anger, depression, and struggles with substance abuse. Her framework links LD with certain emotional problems, while Jay Einhorn’s commentary adds guidance on counseling LD adults.