Family and Learning Disabilities Wells,

Family and Learning Disabilities

Wells, Thomas; Sandefur, Gary D.; Hogan, Dennis P. (2003). What Happens after the High School Years among Young Persons with Disabilities? Social Forces, Vol. 82, No. 2, 803-832. Retrieved from: University of North Carolina Press.

Dennis Hogan has particularly contributed to researches and studies regarding population. His work consists in books, monographs and various journal articles, which generally tackle family issues, from family planning to parental influence, transition to adulthood, etc.

Gary D. Sandefur is involved in education and study programs, and has published numerous books and journal articles, especially studies that corelate education with various factors (family resources, social capital etc.).

The article is extracted from "Social Forces," a social science academic journal published by University of North Carolina Press, which concentrates on sociology but also on related fields as social psychology, anthropology, political science, history or economics.

Relying on the detailed analysis it provides, one can say that the article is orientated towards the academical area and is also a trustful information source for training and education centres.

The source is similar to most of the following ones, as it consists in a scientific research. Yet, for the current essay, it was extremely useful as it provided important pieces of information regarding college age students' behavior in the years following highschool. By examining this period, along with the factors that are implicated in one's development and the family resources, the authors manage to realise a detailed analysis of the transition to adulthood that young people with LD confrount themselves with and point out their general conclusion, that disabilities can profoundly affect youths' post-highschool activities.

2. Field, Sharon; Sarver, Mary D.; Shaw, Stan F. (2003). Self-Determination: A Key to Success in Postsecondary Education for Students with Learning Disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, Vol. 24.

Both Mary Sarver and Stan Shaw are specialised in the area of special training for students with LD, with the latter concentrating on postsecondary education programs, while Sharon Field's researches focus on positive psychological practices, with particular interest for self-determination. Fields is also the lead author of "The Self-Determined Educator "and "Self-Determined Parenting," instructional support programs for teachers and, respectively, parents.

"Remedial and Special Education" brings together a series of interdisciplinary articles (topical reviews, syntheses of research, field evaluation studies) that refer to special types of education some individuals must receive. As a significant part of this journal, it makes practical recommendation in order to reduce the gap between theory and practice.

The above-mentioned article was in particular useful for the current paper-work, as it comments on a central issue that students with LD must be aware of, that self-determination must be highly explored as a central organising concept, especially in postsecondary programs.

The article is written in an accessible language. Therefore, it addresses to the usual reader that is interested in having greater knowledge in self-determination, but can also be a good information source for people (teachers, abilited trainers, parents) that work with LD students.

In comparison with the other mentioned sources, this article was built based on a previous research (Sarver- 2000) and uses quotations from interviews with LD students, which is a good method for explaining theories by examples.

The purpose of the research was to establish a connection between the grade point averages of students with learning disabilities and their levels of self-determination. The results showed that family is essential for college age students' succes, as it improves self-determination which following leads to better results in the proccess of learning.

3. Trainin, Guy; Swanson, Lee H. (2005). Cognition, Metacognition and Achievement of College Students with Learning Disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, Vol. 28.

Guy Trainin's professional interests particularly rely on education, development and instruction, academic self-efficacy and teacher self-efficacy. His publications generally consists in consultation and advice for ways of improving students's skills, from reading, writing, spelling to more complex educational activities, in accord to one's age.

Furthermore, Lee Swanson's major area of research and professional activity regards learning disabilities and, regarding this, Swanson has developed, a theoretical model of learning disabilities that include the cognitive mechanisms that moderate reading, mathematical and writing performance and also, designed treatment programs that should facilitate cognitive processes related to intelligence and achievement.

The article is extracted from "Learning Disability Quarterly," a magazine specialised in researches on various aspects of learning disabilities. In addition, it has a high level credibility and is also extremely useful for researchers interested in this field, due to its amount of accurate details and pieces of information. Consequently, the intended audience consists in people that are familiar with the subject and that can use this study as a base for further researches.

The purpose of this study was to examine how college students with LD manage to compensate and overtake their deficits. Regarding this, the authors used a very practical method in order to emphasise their result: they compared two distinctive groups formed by students with and without LD, a procedure which is not met in the other sources. The result tested the hypothesis that students with LD compensate their deficits by relying on metacognitive strategies.

In terms of relevance, the document provided complete information about the benefits of assimilating metacognitive abilities and became the base of the present evaluation.

4. Elksnin, Linda K.; Elksnin, Nick (2004). The Social-Emotional Side of Learning Disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, Vol. 27.

Linda and Nick Elksnin are both special education consultants with numerous publications from which one should remind "Teaching Social-Emotional Skills at School and Home," "Occupational Social Skills," and "Assessment and Instruction of Social Skills," which debate and analyse the social and emotional side effects of this issue. Furthermore, they actively contribute to various editorials that regard this area like "Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal," "Learning Disability Quarterly," "Exceptionality," etc.).

The article is orientated towards a specific cathegory of readers, the ones that are aware of this research theme and are able to interpretate and use the provided data.

Unlike the other sources, which focus on the academic issues young people with LD must face, this document focusses on the social-emotional side of this deficit and gives a new perspective to the LD issue, as it emphasises its emotional side. Moreover, one can say it is the most relevant source for this topic, as family is mostly related to the emotional support that it must offer.

The article does not consist in a specific research and does not enunciate a hypothesis or evaluates a theory so, consequently, it does not draw a specific conclusion. Overall, it hightlights the importance of ensuring that children and adolescents with LD receive the social-emotional skills intervention they require, in order to help them evolve in indepedent young adults.