Cons:

• Learner and/or practitioner frustration levels may be higher than they would have been if they had gained a better understanding of the potential learning disabilities prior to the development of the training plan.
• The practitioner may be using ineffective teaching strategies because potential learning disabilities were not detected during initial assessment.

It's all well and fine to have a variety of tools to choose from when it comes to identifying potential learning disabilities. As practitioners, we are accustomed to high volumes of information. But sometimes it's difficult to know which tool to use given a particular situation. We suggest that the screening tools to be used will depend on learners' input and goals, the resources of the individual literacy program, the skills and knowledge of the practitioner and the ongoing assessment results of the learner.

Discussion questions

• If you are presently using screening tools to identify potential learning disabilities, when do you use them and why?
• If you do not use a screening tool, explain when you would use a screening tool and why.

For some excellent information on screening tools, see http://ldlink.coe.utk.edu under "Assessment"

A journey of discovery

Both the practitioner and learner need to be open to venturing together on a journey of discovery. The word "discovery" was chosen to shed a more positive light on the understanding of potential learning barriers. Many practitioners have stated that learners experience a sense of relief and enlightenment when they discover that their learning difficulties are not due to a lack of intelligence but due to other factors such as a different learning style, a general lack of exposure to learning opportunities, personal factors that interfere with their ability to learn, or cognitive processing difficulties.