Input from Online Delivery of Chapter One

Differentiating Learning Disabilities from Intellectual Disabilities

Literacy Link South Central wanted to give readers of this manual a valuable component of the online workshop: participant input. The following bullet points are compiled from participant responses, and may or may not include information or opinions in keeping with our evaluative constructs. We encourage you to filter the comments as you would in any classroom setting.

Activity 1

At the beginning of our online workshop, we talked about a "Literacy Bill of Rights" that can be found at http://www.gac.edu/~dkoppenh/rights.html. * Link valid at time of publication The key statement in this Bill of Rights is that "All persons, regardless of the extent or severity of their disabilities, have a basic right to use print."

We asked how this Bill of Rights applies to learners with learning disabilities and/or intellectual disabilities. Here's what online participants told us:

• Access to literacy programs should be universal, i.e. everyone has the right to attend.
• Everyone should have access to medical and other services.
• Even if a learner's progress is slow or minimal, he/she still has a right to gain/enhance literacy skills.
• All adults are lifelong learners; learning is a continuum.
• Although the rights exist, it can be difficult for learners with LD/ID to fully access their rights.
• Gaining literacy skills can help a learner better advocate for him/herself.
• It gives learners a chance to more fully participate in life in the 21^st century, e.g. e-mail.
• Programs need to be flexible to meet learners' needs.
• Adaptive technology can help learners gain these basic rights.
• Sadly, in some areas, programs aren't able to meet learners' needs (for a variety of reasons) so in that case, those learners don't have these rights.