“With an LD you’re always mediocre and expect to be mediocre”: Perceptions of Adults Recently Diagnosed with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the educational and em-ployment experiences of 10 adults who had recently been diagnosed as having a learning disability. Seven of the participants eventually obtained a high school diploma or the equivalent and they all had held a variety of entry-level jobs. The participants felt that having an undiagnosed learning disability had negatively af-fected their past, present, and future educational and employment opportunities. The importance of a caring adult to advocate on behalf of at-risk students and a set of goals, skills, and abilities that should be developed while in school emerged from the findings.