Goal-oriented people must be willing to take risks. Achieving most goals usually requires venturing into uncharted territory, and sometimes new directions and strategies become necessary. Willingness to change and grow must accompany the decision to pursue a goal. Additionally, few people achieve their intentions without enduring setbacks along the way. Part of risk-taking involves coping with temporary failure and not losing sight of the goal.

3) Reframing

Perhaps the key component and certainly the most complex of the internal decision making lies in the process of reframing. In order to cope successfully with the demands of the adult world, all the subjects, to some degree, had reframed or reinterpreted the learning disabilities experience. In this process, they transitioned from focusing on disability to an emphasis on their abilities to confront and overcome challenges imposed by their learning styles. They moved from reacting to learning disabilities to a proactive stance where learning disabilities became merely one piece of the total picture of the self.

Four stages characterize the reframing process: recognition, acceptance, understanding, and formulating a plan of action. The first stage of dealing effectively with learning disabilities is to recognize that it exists. Recognition does not automatically lead to acceptance, but recognizing that one is different is a prerequisite for accepting that condition. Once the individual accepts the fact of having a learning disability, an understanding of how to work with it can develop. This understanding encompasses realization that one has strengths as well as weaknesses, and that within this combination lies a uniqueness or a special gift. From this level of understanding emerge the special coping skills and strategies that individuals with learning disabilities find necessary to succeed. The last stage of reframing involves applying these decisions and knowledge to chart a course of action for coping with demands proactively. In reaching this point, the individual achieves a totality that supercedes the specific condition of having learning disabilities. The individual does not deny or run away from the learning disabilities but rather learns to take the disabilities into account without losing sight of a larger identity.

4) External manifestations

Decisions are essential for finding the path to success but are relatively meaningless unless complemented by action. The internal decisions made by successful adults with learning disabilities lay a foundation for adaptive behavior. These adults found ways to choose the best work environment by adapting themselves to the demands of the environment and adapting the environment to meet their own needs. Four specific behaviors underpin this adaptation.