As you ask these questions, look for a pattern in types of jobs the student has had, the demands of each job and the length of time spent at each job. For example, did the jobs require skill in reading/writing/ communication, or did they involve manual skills? Were the jobs repetitive or were they broad in their scope? Possible explanations for breaks in an adult's work history are: accidents, illness, retraining, moving, loss of job, lack of needed skills, lack of motivation, etc. It is difficult to determine the existence of a learning disability based on an adult's employment history.
The employment record may give you a clustering of the types of work that the adult has done and from that you may see if there is an avoidance of jobs that require good reading and writing skills, or if there is a preference for jobs that are manual or mechanical in nature.
The adult may perform well in a job that requires high skills, even though he has poor academic achievement. This may mean that the adult has good general abilities and has learned to compensate for learning disabilities.
Checklists
Challenges
If the adult student appears to have average ability, with no vision or hearing problems, then having trouble with more than one of these items may indicate a learning disability.
Strengths
Adults with learning disabilities often avoid activities that involve reading, writing and math. They may report strength in areas such as playing music, participating in sports, or working with their hands. The absence of any significant strengths may suggest the presence of low intellectual functioning rather than a specific learning disability.
Daily Activities
This section deals with life skills that we would expect adults with average ability to have mastered. Adults with learning disabilities may experience problems with tasks involving money, time, organization and relationships.
Guidelines for Interpreting the Delta Screener and At-Risk Summary Checklist
After completing the Delta Screener with the adult student, you will have gathered a great deal of
information. You may also have made notes on comments made during the session. Now you
will need to review this data to see if there are indicators of a possible learning disability.
Keep in mind:
- A slow learner or a person with low intellectual ability will report difficulties in many areas on the Screener.
- An adult with learning disabilities will report that they have experienced problems from a very young age.
- An adult with learning disabilities will display a pattern of strengths and areas of need: good in some things and not in others. They may also reveal a pattern of discrepancies between expected outcomes and achievements.
