NLA Discussion: LD

[Audrey Gorman]

Regarding Glenn's response to George on including people with
disabilities in the adult literacy paradigm, especially when developing
models:

Would it help if we could get people to see learning on a continuum and
see people along that continuum as just different in the way they learn?
This is what some people are attempting in using the term "learning
differences" in discussions of learning disabilities, especially on the
West Coast.   They want to take away some of the stigma and cut to the
chase of providing help.

We still need to be real about what the differences are, what causes
them, and what interventions really work.  In addition,  terms like
"disability" are useful  (especially legally) if they get people help that the
society as a whole doesn't yet understand, and if they are used
accurately and honestly.  But, at least within our smaller world, it might
begin to get people to be less wary and just get down to the work of
helping everybody learn what they can and in the ways they learn best.

How could we frame this for funders, legislators and others who make
policies that still make it somehow ok to exclude people with disabilities
from their considerations?

Audrey