Gerber also quoted a student that he had previously worked with who said the following about his learning disability: "It is celebrating strengths and knowing full well what your weaknesses are." Dr. Paul Gerber has done a significant amount of research in the area of adults with learning disabilities. In an article on Characteristics of Adults with Specific Learning Disabilities, Gerber points out that "In many cases, the lives of individuals with LD are punctuated with successes and failures. Those who have been able to move forward undeterred by failure (and sometimes strengthened by it) have a greater sense of inner strength and self-confidence. In essence, in tough times, they know that there are good times ahead, if they are able to stick with it."²⁶

Resilience is one of the key characteristics that help adults with learning disabilities reach their desired goals. "Resilience is a set of dynamics that affects different segments of the population of adults with LD in different ways. Whereas all individuals with LD have the capacity to be resilient in some cases (eg. those who typically attend literacy centres), resilience may be more of an exception than a rule."²⁷ Which is why as literacy practitioners we find it so difficult to help this population of learners.

"Another positive characteristic is the unconventional way in which some adults with LD devise learning strategies or adaptive methods to master a task or learn a new routine. They have unique ways in which they approach tasks, and when given the time and opportunity, they are able to problem solve in their own style. This process has been termed "learned creativity" and is credited with adaptive techniques used in employment, daily living tasks and social situations."²⁸

The ability to transfer skills is one of the key things that separate individuals with learning disabilities from individuals with intellectual disabilities. It is easier to teach learning strategies to people with learning disabilities because when you teach them a new strategy that they find effective, they are able to reuse it in order to help them solve another problem or deal with a new situation. This ability to take information and transpose it somewhere else shows that academic achievement can match potential when the learner is provided with effective strategies.