Welcome and Introduction to the new Disabilities in Adult Education group

Hi to all,

Welcome to the new Disabilities in Adult Education group!  I will be your Subject Matter Expert for this group. You can find out more about me by clicking on my picture and looking under 'profile.'

Please review the Code of Conduct for this new community before beginning.  It can be found in the blue section at the bottom of each page, and is marked "User Code of Conduct."

Next, please respond to this discussion strand by introducing yourself.  Tell us what your objectives/interests are for joining this specific group.

I look forward to having informative discussions in our online community.

 

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Comments

Hell-o to Rochelle and others.   many familar and some new - this is an exciting and thought provoking group - I have been involved for almost 40 years and I am always learning new things , seeing old ideas coming back - Thank you all. R

Hello All,

About Camilia: My name is Camilia Sadik. I used to teach ABE and I am now a spelling consultant. I spent 15 years dissecting English and developing a curriculum to learn to spell 20 to 50 words an hour.

 

Camilia's Articles: My views are very different from traditional teaching. For instance, I believe dyslexics and poor spellers do NOT have learning disabilities but others who don't understand them do. Some of the articles I have written are:

1- Why can't we spell?

2- Phonics, Spelling & Dyslexia

3- Uncovering the Mystery of Dyslexia

4- Dyslexia Solutions

 

I wish to engage in discussions about phonics, spelling and dyslexia solutions. I'm looking forward to meeting you all.

Hi Camila,

How unique!  I don't think I ever met a spelling consultant.  Dr. Val Yule from New Zealand specializes in spelling too.  She was a frequent contributor to our LD Discussion List.  Phonics was a very frequent discussion (often debate) on our discussion list.  I think "Dyslexia Solutions" would be a great topic for discussion in this group.  Please feel free to initiate that discussion thread.  After you log in to the LINCS Community, you can begin a new discussion topic at https://community.lincs.ed.gov/node/276/content/discussions > by clicking on the "Create a New Discussion" link.

Thanks,

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert (SME)

 

 

Hi everyone,

I have a few topics I want to bring to the group but before  I do this I have a question.  Am I suppose to pick a sub group within this category when I post or does the discussion start here and then move as it changes direction or becomes more specific?

The sub grouping stopped me in my tracks.

Thanks and Aloha,

Laura

Aloha Rochelle,

I am glad to see you continue as SME!  What has struck me most about all the changes is seeing a picture of you.  It's as if we're "meeting" again on another level, so to speak.

May this group produce a lot of new topics and insights ... and friendships!

Michael

Hi Michael,

It is interesting to match up the names and faces of some of the former LD Discussion List subscribers.

I hope that you join in and respond to some of the posted discussions, or begin a new one of your own.

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

 

Hi:

I am Mary McFadden and have been a volunteer ABE tutor in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the past 10 years.  I teach reading (one-to-one) using the Wilson Reading System.  Most of our students begin well below the grade 4 reading level (many around grade 2).  I have never posted to the site but have gotten excellent information from reading the posts. 

Hello, I am Carol and have been a public educator for 25 years, the last 6 of which have been in an adult education center sponsored by our State and School district. Our center is rather unique in that it runs like a one room school. Students come and go as they need to. Today I had 17 people all working on various subjects and at various levels. I am responsible for preparation in all the GED material and in supervising/tutoring in all the high school subjects. It keeps me hopping.

  Most of my students present with some type of learning issue, however most with potential learning disabilities are undocumented (i.e. they have no active IEP or other documentation of disability)but who my years of experience tell me would qualify. I want to learn more about how to help those students get their diploma (GED or high school) and transition to work and school.

Hi Carol,

You have an interesting background.  Your one-room school makes me think of "Little House on the Prairie." 

The issue of lack of documentation for students with a possible learning disability is one that affects many adult education teachers.  It would be a good topic to explore in our group.  Please feel free to start a new discussion thread on that if you choose.

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert

 

Hi Everyone, 

My name is Kathy Tracey and I coordinate the i-Pathways project. (This is an online GED Test Prep curriculum used across 12 states). I have been in adult education for over 15 years and have worked in all aspects - instruction, leadership, and now, instructional design. 

I work diligently with a team of web experts to ensure our project meets and often exceeds the accessibility guidelines for accessibility. I am very interested in the conversations from this group. 

Kathy Tracey

Hi and welcome Kathy,

You raised two interesting topics.  I think that both i-Pathways and the overall topic of accessibility would make very interesting topics for this group.  I invite you to begin new discussion threads on those topics. After you log in to the LINCS Community, you can begin a new discussion topic at https://community.lincs.ed.gov/node/276/content/discussions >  by clicking on the "Create a New Discussion" link.

Thanks,

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Hi, I am an ESL literacy teacher at a public adult school. My main concerns are adults with learning differences "disabilities" , literacy

and computer literacy to enable students to have infinate learning resources.  I have a masters in special ed and have taught English to

illiterate to post-doc fellows with learning "disabilities", so I am looking forward to learning from everyone's experience and reflections.

Frances Tornabene De Sousa

Thanks for joining in Frances.  Your experience will be a welcome addition to the discourse.  I look forward to your posts.

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert (SME)

 

As a project director for the U.S. Division of World Education, I coordinate the online professional development initiative, managing the development and delivery of courses for adult educators.  We offer courses on the topics of college and career readiness, adult student persistence, differentiated instruction, and reading through ProfessionalStudiesAE.  

I also co-direct the LINCS Region 1 Professional Development Center, promoting and disseminating evidence-based resources and training materials, and partnering with states to provide research-based professional development.  Learning to Achieve: A Research-Based Training on Serving Adults with Learning Disabilities is one of the professional development offerings available.

I have worked in adult literacy since 1980, serving as an instructor and local program director, state consultant, program development director, training coordinator, and state outreach coordinator.

My interest in joining the list is to keep current with research and resources related to serving adult students with disabilities.


 

Hi Kaye,

I am so glad that you joined our group.  Would you please post any new information related to Learning to Achieve resources and professional development?

Thanks,

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

 

Hi, everyone,

My name is Margaret, and I am a Senior Researcher with Research Allies for Lifelong Learning in Vienna, Virginia. We specialize in applying research to support adult educators and learners. Previously I've done research in Kansas adult education, including a few articles on adult learners with disabilities, and with GED Testing Service. In this community I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on adult learners with disabilities and how research could benefit them. Also I will be glad to share some ongoing research with the group. Thank you, Rochelle, for leading the discussions!

Margaret

Hi,

Thanks for joinining our group.  You offer background and experience that are unique to the mission of this group.  I will certainly accept your offer to learn about research in this area. 

There is a discussion strand in our group labeled "Prevalence and Incidence..."    I have been looking for the newest research in this area.  Possibly you can respond to that with updated statistics.

Also, where can we find the articles your wrote on adult learners with disabilities?  Possibly you can begin a new discussion strand on "Articles on Adult Learners with Disabilities" and include the URLs for users to locate and read them.

I look forward to your participation.

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert (SME)

 

Hi all, my name is Robin Matusow . I am a private consultant and an employee in a large public school district. My public service background is in administration and training for a large AWD grant and for support of students with disabilities in the workforce development system.   My consulting work is with education systems and employers who are building meaningful disability policy and practice. I have been a member of this community for a while and look forward to hearing from all our members.  My objective/interest in joining this group is to participate in and learn from my community.

Hi Robin,

I am so happy that you migrated over from the old LD Discussion List.  Your contributions have always been significant.  Since I know you personally, I know that you bring a unique combination of experience from rehabilitation, education, and interest in workplace issues for adults with disabilities. 

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

Hello,

My name is Karyn Goven and I am the central project manager for 9 learning labs located in the Detroit area.  I have joined this group because I am interested in this topic and want to know what other states are doing in regards to policies.  I also look forward to reading the discussions on best practices.

Hi Karyn,

I am glad to have you join our group.  I see there is another reply for you asking for more information about your Learning Labs.  Please begin a new discussion  thread for that conversation,  Others will be interested in the lab and the accessibility issue.

Thanks,

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

 

Hello to all!  I am glad to be catching up with the rest of you -- making the jump to the new format.  By way of introduction, my professional interests include: reading comprehension instruction; learning differences; the history of reading and readers; the future of reading and readers.  My work has, for well over two decades, been focused on the use of scrolls -- the ancient rolled book -- to reach struggling readers and to teach comprehension skills and course content to all readers.

The unrolled scroll is the only book format that is explicit -- which is to say that it is literally "unrolled" (ex + plicare), and hence fully revealed and wide open to understanding.  No other format does this -- which is why I think that scrolls are such a good fit for teaching and learning.  You'll find more about my work in the following places:

* www.textmapping.org* http://www.textmapping.org/whWorkshopNotes.html* http://www.textmapping.org/comments.html* http://pinterest.com/source/textmapping.org/* http://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blogs/649749:BlogPost:190834

Hello,

I joined the group awhile ago but forgot to introduce myself.

My name is Omari Orr, I'm 33 years old, and I work for the Westside Center Learning Labs.

I very interested in Learning Disabilities because it affects so many members of the Adult Education learning community. While the information I have learned has been eye opening I hope to properly apply it to continue to help those with LD.

 

-Omari

Hi Omari,

Welcome to our group.  I look forward to your participation on discussion on LD and other topics that impact our adult education students.

 

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert

Hi Everyone,

My name is Lenore and I am new to the discussion group. I work at the Siena Literacy Center on the West side of Detroit and look forward to finding topics and discussions on Learning Disabilities in this new listserve. On the former LINCS, I learned a lot of useful information that has helped me in my work with Adult Ed learners. Thanks for making this possible!

Lenore

Hi,

I am pleased to welcome you to this group.  I look forward to your participating in this group as you previously did in the LD Discussion List.

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

Hello, my name is Anna Riggins. I am the Learning Lab Instructor for the Hamtramck Learning Lab in Hamtramck.  I began working in the Lab November 2010 and have found it to be rewarding and beneficial for the participants.  Thank you.

Hello Anna,

Thanks for joining our group.  We have many different, interesting discussion strands to explore within our group.  I hope you find some of them to benefit you in your teaching.

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

Hello!   My name is Christina Keen and I am the Case Manager for the Washington Literacy Center.   By training I am a social worker and help students overcome barriers to reaching their goals.  This summer I was fortunate to be a part of the Train the Trainer conference for Learning to Achieve: a Research-Based Training on Serving Adults with Learning Disabilities.  Now I have the opportunity to provide professional development to staff and volunteers in the DC area on the knowledge and skills relevant to provide services that are appropriate and effective for adults with learning disabilities.  I am looking forward to learning more about how I can better serve my students.  Thank you for this opportunity to share ideas, challenges, and resources.

Hi Christina.  As an LD/ADD adult (I prefer learning differences, not disabilities), I'd like to suggest that you consider joining the online conference, Read.Write.Act 2012.  It is designed or people who do the work that you do.  It runs November 1-3.  I'll be presenting on Nov 1, but there are many other presenters as well.  Read.Write.Act is a rare bird -- an online conference focused on reading and writing (as opposed to a focus on tech, with reading/writing only inasmuch as it uses tech).

* You can learn more about my session at http://www.textmapping.org/workroom.html

* You can learn more about Read.Write.Act at http://www.readwriteact.org

Welcome to the "Disabilities" (ugh!) group!

- Dave Middlebrook

Hello,

My name is Aza Camo and I've worked for Hamtramck Adult education for seventeen years. I have met many people with difficulties during registration, testing and/or teachin/tutoring process, but I did not know how to address these issues. I hope, this group, training and discussion will help me understand and handle some of them better.

Have a great day!

Hi Aza,

I am happy that you joined this group.  Your interest is probably shared by the majority of our members. I suggest that you start a new discussion strand on the main page (not within the Welcome & Introductions).  You could label the subject line "Dealing with Difficulties during Registration, Testing, and/or Teaching/Tutoring.  Then....let the discussion begin!

Thanks,

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert

Hi Arza and all,

Registration and testing are usually the first places we see the possibility of learning difficulties with our students. Often, students may not know that the adult center has support available until they are well into their studies. Because adult students must self-disclose in order to receive accommodations, It is often helpful to have accommodation information available during registration and before testing. The information can be as simple as listing testing and instructional accommodations and stating if you need these, see the counselor. Since the accommodations are usually things all students really want, they read the information. That will allow students who actually need the accommodations to see the information in a non-threatening format and complete the accommodation process with the counselor. Even if a formal process does not take place during testing or none exists, you can provide instruction in ways that assist your students. The following are two of many resources available for instructors who are looking for guides for instructional accommodations. If there is interest in having a short "Cheat Sheet" of the accommodations listed in the two following documents, I will consult with Rochelle as to the process of providing it. Since the "cheat sheets" are part of the following documents, if I can not supply them, just look for them in the resources.

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http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/311201_acmod-voc.pdf

 

http://das.kucrl.org/projects/accommodating-adults-with-disabilities-in-adult-education-programs

Hello. My name is Tim McGorey and I am the Program Manager for Southwest Solutions Adult Learning Lab in Detroit, MI. As a member of this discussion group, I am especially looking forward to gaining more information on screening for ESL students. 

Hi Tim,

Welcome to our group~  Your interest area of ESL and Screening is an important one that will also impact many practitioners in our group.  Will you start a new "Discussion" thread using that or something similar as the subject line, please?  Go to  https://community.lincs.ed.gov/node/276/content/discussions and click on the link for "Create a New Discussion."

Thanks,

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert

I have been a teacher at all levels, from preschool to adult and migrant literacy, and so saw how disadvantaged students had to work harder than ordinary students, at any stage, and were more likely to fail. I was Schools Psychologist chiefly but not only in disadvantaged schools. Academic positions at Melbourne, Monash and Aberdeen Universities in departments of Psychology and Education; Clinical Child Psychologist at the Royal Children’s Hospitals, Melbourne and Aberdeen. I carried out experiments which showed how much the unnecessarily difficult spellings handicapped the disadvantaged, dyslexic and foreign-born, and how simply removing this difficulty made it possible for most of them to learn more easily.   Unfortunately this was the period of Whole Language, and the establishment was hostile to phonic solutions and experiments in spelling. However I experimented even at conferences with the great and good  - http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ozideas/spelling.htm#word  (Can you spell?  The best of us may not be perfect.)  Now my experiments may be replicated by anyone, and my literacy innovations may be copied by anyone. http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ozideas/literacy.htm

Hi Valerie,

It is nice to finally put a face to the name.  

You can begin a new discussion strand on the main Disabilities in Adult Education group page to develop your topic of "Phonic Solutions and Experiments in Spelling.

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Hello Dr. Kenyon and collegues.  My name is Elaine Knight, Lab Monitor for WCCCD-Northwest Campus in Detroit, Learning Lab.  Thank you for keeping the lines of communication open for those of us in daily contact with Adult Learners.  I look forward to continual training workshops that provide valuable information in assisting the student.

 

Elaine Knight Lab Monitor

Hi Elaine,

Welcome to our Disabilities in Adult Education group.  You hit on one of the main goals of the LINCS Community - to provide a platform for adult education and literacy providers to ask questions and learn about issues pertaining to adults with disabilities.  I invite you to join in on a current discussion or begin a new strand.

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert

 

I am Robert am so glad to join the group  and am looking forward to sharing and learning from each member of the group. Thanks

Hi Robert,

Thanks for finding your way to our Disabilities group and joining in.  Watch for the red word "new" above the name of the poster to signify new messages from users in this group.

Happy reading!

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert

 

Hi Everyone:

My name is Susan Duryea. I am currently a GED instructor at the Dominican Literacy Center,which is located on the eastside of Detroit. I have been working in Adult Education for more than fifteen years.  During that time,I have encountered many students who I suspect have learning disabilities. but since my background is not in Special Education my ability to help them is limited. I am thrilled to have a resource that I can go to for advise and guidance.

Hi Susan,

Welcome to our Disabilities in Adult Education group.  I am familiar with the excellent work done by the Dominican Literacy Center.  Kudos to you and the other literacy providers. Feel free to begin a new strand by asking any question that might be helpul your Center.

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert