Learning disabilities interfere with the brain’s ability to receive, store, process or produce information. Thomas A. Edison High School is a proven alternative for students who struggle with these “invisible disabilities.”

Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder, also known as ADD/ADHD, is a condition that often co-occurs with learning disabilities. Features may include marked over-activity, underactivity, distractibility and/or impulsivity and inattention.

Dyslexia is primarily used to describe difficulty with language processing and its impact on reading, writing and spelling.

Dysgraphia describes the difficulty of expressing thoughts in writing and graphing.

Dyscalculia involves difficulty with math, the abstract concepts of time and direction, and sometimes the location of the numbers on the face of a clock and/or the geographic locations of streets, states, countries, oceans, etc.

Nonverbal Learning Disorders (NLD) is primarily used to describe difficulty with nonverbal information, difficulties adjusting to transitions and novel situations, and deficits in social judgment and social interactions.

Visual and Auditory Perception Disorders create difficulty with the process of recognizing

and interpreting information received through the senses of sight and hearing.

Mainstream high schools often lack the necessary resources to offer the specialized education students with learning disabilities require. The long-term consequences impact not only those LD students, but also society as a whole.

• In 2009, there were 2.5 million American public school students identified with learning disabilities.
  Source: Report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2011
• 27,659 students in Oregon have learning disabilities.
  Source: Oregon Statewide Report Card 2009-10, Oregon Department of Education
• One-third of LD youths are suspended or expelled from school.
  Source: National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, 2009
• Over 14% of incarcerated juveniles are identified with LD.
  Source: Report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2011
• Twenty-eight percent of LD students report having been arrested.
  Source: National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, 2009
• In 2009, 22% of LD students dropped out of high school.
  Source: Report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2011
• Students with LD are less likely to enroll in postsecondary programs than their nondisabled peers (45% vs. 53%).
  Source: National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, 2009
• In 2005, twice as many adults with LD were unemployed as adults without LD (6% vs. 3%).
  Source: Report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2011

At Thomas A. Edison High School, our criteria for measuring our students’ success is:

• Graduation from high school and
• Attending a post-secondary institution or
• Working full- or part time

A 20-year study identified six key factors that differentiate successful LD students from unsuccessful LD students. They are: goal setting, self-awareness, perseverance, emotional coping strategies, support systems and pro-activity. The study determined that these characteristics “may have a greater influence on success than even such factors as academic achievement, gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and even intelligence quotient (IQ).” We actively work on all of these areas throughout the four years that our students attend Edison.

Source: http://www.ldsuccess.org/research.html