Learning Strategies for Adults: Compensations for Learning Disabilities

George G. Ambury is an associate professor of adult education at
Queen’s University.

The author brings the experience of many years of teaching at the
elementary through postsecondary levels to bear on the problem of how
best to teach adults who have learning problems. Most educators of
adults fall into the role with little formal training, and even those
with training often find little time to conduct lengthy assessments of
learning difficulties. Crux comes to the rescue with an amazingly
promising little book based on her own system of assessment and adaptive
education, called HELP (Holistic Educational Literacy Process).

Having introduced the basic concepts, Crux provides an eight-step
process for identifying areas of weakness in reading, writing, oral and
written communication, and abstract reasoning. The process is designed
to be interactive, nonthreatening, and directly applicable to choosing
specific supports and instructional strategies. Her “compensatory
strategies” are grouped under four chapter headings: Environmental
Supports and Study Strategies; Goal Setting and Time Management; Reading
Fluency and Comprehension; and Notetaking and Written Language.

This book represents an effective blend of theory and practice. Crux
recommends a system that should work in many of the situations in which
adult educators find themselves—situations involving learners who seem
unable to learn but who are not sufficiently handicapped to warrant
special testing. Nevertheless, where further testing may be indicated,
Crux suggests which tests might be suitable. What is particularly
appealing in her approach is both the appropriateness of the test method
to adults with low self-esteem and its direct relevance to practice.