Learning Disabilities in Adults
There is no single, shared method for assessing and counting adults with learning disabilities related to literacy or math skills (Fletcher, 2010; Gregg et al., 2006; MacArthur et al., 2010; Mellard and Patterson, 2008; Sabatini et al., 2010; Swanson, 2016).
Looking more broadly, it has been estimated that 20 to 30 percent of U.S. adults lack the literacy skills needed to meet the reading and computation demands associated with daily life and work (Kutner et al., Page 208)
What part of literacy can someone have difficulties with?
reading comprehension, reading recognition, verbal intelligence, naming speed, phonological awareness, and verbal memory
Lifelong affect of some people who have a learning disability:
a greater risk of dropping out of postsecondary schooling (Newman et al., 2009; Rojewski et al., 2014, 2015), lower postsecondary enrollment and attainment (Wagner et al., 2005), restricted labor force participation (Barkley, 2006), and lower earnings (Day and Newburger, 2002). The majority of jobs obtained by adolescents with learning disabilities when they leave school are semiskilled and usually part-time positions (Barkley, 2006; Gregg, 2009; Rojewski, 1999).
Why is this important for educators? :
Although some research (Newman et al., 2010) shows no real differences in earnings for these young people, even when wages were adjusted for inflation, there is evidence that the earning power gap between learning-disabled adults and their nondisabled peers is widening as a result of growing disparities in educational attainment (Day and Newburger, 2002; Swanson, 2016; Wagner et al., 2005).