Serving Adults with Special Learning Needs

Welcome to our Library...

Books and other resources described in the Library section may be requested for a 30-day loan. We will mail each borrower up to five loan items at a time (just two for first-time borrowers), and even include a postage-paid return address sticker for mailing them back to us! Borrowers must be affiliated with a non-profit program providing adult or family literacy services. Annotated bibliographies of our entire library of resources are available in hard copy by request, or can be viewed on our website. Call 800-441-7323 or e-mail tcall@tamu.edu to check out materials described here or to request hard copy listings of even more resources.

A Brutal Way of Learning: Does it Have to Be?
Dan Haley and Jane Davidson. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada: Davidson Communications, 2000. Haley overcame an abusive childhood, substance abuse, and becoming an abuser of his own wife and children by seeking help in literacy education and turning his life around. Davidson analyzes the challenge of preparing literacy teachers for the emotional pain of abused adults and for learners who may have been labeled as “borderline mentally retarded” or learning disabled.

Conquering Math Anxiety: A Self-Help Workbook
Cynthia Arem. Pacific Grove, California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1993. This workbook offers a variety of exercises, worksheets, and visualizations that will help adults prepare for success in math.

Learning Disabilities TETN Session
Texas LEARNS. Houston, TX: Texas LEARNS, August 2006. In this 2-hour event, LD expert Neil Sturomski described a proposed state professional development plan to prepare teachers to work with LD adults. Presentation was followed by an open forum discussion with many questions and answers.

Literacy Tutor Handbook: For Use with Adult Students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing
Deaf Action Center Literacy Program. Dallas, TX: Deaf Action Center Literacy Program, 1992. Specifically designed for use by tutor trainers and tutors who are teaching deaf/hard of hearing students. Includes: teaching techniques, lesson plans, student evaluations, goal-setting strategies, literacy objectives, literacy documentation forms, tutor tips, and a bibliography.

Meeting the Challenge of Learning Disabilities in Adulthood
Arlyn J. Roffman. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company, 2000. Adults with LD, many of whom also have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), describe how they have met disability-related challenges at work and at home. Practical tips and proven strategies are offered. Texas educators ONLY may borrow this title.

Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level
Sally Shaywitz, M.D. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003. Shaywitz describes how the latest research, including brain imaging studies, is uncovering the mechanisms underlying dyslexia. Popular and harmful myths are corrected, such as the belief that dyslexia is primarily a male problem.

Overcoming Attention Deficit Disorders in Children, Adolescents, and Adults, Third Edition
Dale R. Jordan. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed, 2002. Jordan provides up-to-date research and explanations of how Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) interfere with classroom learning, behavior at home, job performance, and social skills development. Texas educators ONLY may borrow this title.

Promising Practices: What We Learned as Pilot Programs
Learning Disabilities Training and Dissemination Project. Syracuse, NY: ProLiteracy America, 2003. In partnership with Bridges to Practice, 22 ProLiteracy-affiliated adult literacy programs developed practices to better serve adults with LD. Texas educators ONLY may borrow this title.

Taking the Mystique Out of Learning Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Literacy Tutors
Ricki Goldstein. Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada: Laubach Literacy of Canada, 2000. Chapter titles include: Identifying Adults with LD; How LD Affect Adults; Diagnosis; Identifying Specific Problems and Determining Educational Needs; More About Remediation; Compensatory Strategies; Accommodations; and more.

Understanding and Managing Learning Disabilities in Adults
Dale R. Jordan. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Co., 2000. Jordan writes, “This book is about replacing crushed spirits with cheerful hearts.” Chapters describe the types of LD that exist throughout adulthood: dyslexia, attention deficit disorders, Scotopic Sensitivity syndrome, Nonverbal LD, Social-Emotional LD, and mental health factors that frequently accompany LD.

Enhancing Nurturing Parenting Skills in African American Families
Lessie Artis and Deborah R. Moody. Park City, UT: Family Development Resources, Inc., 1995. Manual presents a series of 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hour sessions for use by professional parent educators as a supplement to parent education programs. Texas educators ONLY may borrow this title.

Families as Primary Partners in their Child’s Development and School Readiness
Kathy Seitzinger Hepburn. Baltimore, MD: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2004. Toolkit was created to help promote early childhood development and school readiness, and includes guidance, resource materials and references that will assist communities in working with parents.

Home Visiting: Procedures for Helping Families, Second Edition
Barbara Hanna Wasik and Donna M. Bryant. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2001. Issues include dealing with families in stress, child abuse predictors, ethical and professional issues, assessment, and documentation. Checklists, sample questions, charts, and forms are included. Texas educators ONLY may borrow this title.

The Home Visitor’s Guidebook, Second Edition
Carol S. Klass, Carol S. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2003. Home visiting is discussed from all perspectives: the parent-home visitor relationship, establishing positive feelings, father involvement, pregnant mothers, teen parents, interpersonal skills, diverse families, supervision, peer mentoring, and dilemmas. Texas educators ONLY may borrow this title.

Parent Involvement Begins at Birth: Collaboration Between Parents and Teachers of Children in the Early Years
Sally Goldberg. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. Book presents a dynamic parent involvement model built on a foundation of public-school-based parent education seminars and home-based infant-toddler play-and-learn activities. Texas educators ONLY may borrow this title.

Understanding Families: Approaches to Diversity, Disability, and Risk
Marci J. Hanson and Eleanor W. Lynch. Baltimore, MD: Brookes, 2004. Topics include the effects of disability on family life, risks and resilience on families in poverty, addition and violence, diversity, evolving family roles and functions, theoretical perspectives, family-professional alliances, and communicating and collaborating with families.

User’s Guide to the Early Language & Literacy Classroom Observation Toolkit, Research Edition
Miriam W. Smith and David K. Dickinson, et al. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2002. ELLCO is a three-part assessment including the classroom literacy environment, classroom observation and teacher interview, and a literacy activities ratings scale. The age range addressed is prekindergarten to third grade.