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Living with LD
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 After High School
Assessing Your Interests & Abilities
Understanding Strengths & Challenges
Living Issues
You can't tell a person's strengths and weaknesses simply by looking at him or her. And you can't fully understand your own strengths and weaknesses without making the effort to recognize exactly what they are. That's why a more systematic approach to discovering your personal learning profile is important. A well-written evaluation, detailing your LD and your areas of strength, can be the first step toward success.
Screening
The first step in gathering information, screening can be a formal or informal way to ask questions about your patterns of strengths, interests and needs. Some important screening questions are:
- What problems are you having?
- When did they begin?
- How have you tried to deal with them?
- What may be possible reasons for these problems?
Formal Assessment
Based on the results of the screening, the evaluator will select the formal tests that will be most helpful in identifying your learning strengths, interests and disabilities.
Tests of Cognitive Abilities
These tests are used to assess the ways people think and solve problems.
Achievement Tests
Achievement tests are given to determine how well you do in different skill areas, such as reading (decoding and comprehension), mathematics, vocabulary, spelling and writing.
Information Processing Tests
These tests examine how you organize and understand information presented in different forms (i.e., auditory or visual).
Reporting Test Results
Most test results are reported with standardized scores and percentiles, as required by college Disability Support Services (DSS) offices.
Your Results.
You should always get a copy of your results in writing, and be sure to discuss what the report means and how it can help you plan for the next steps in your life. The evaluation process should result in a test report that you understand. The testing should help you be better able to explain your learning strengths and needs to others.
Employers and schools most likely will ask you for up-to-date documentation of your learning disability, so it's important to make sure that you have a current assessment completed before you leave high school. If you do not have an up-to-date assessment from your school, you may need to locate a private evaluator to update the testing.
Your local Vocational Rehabilitation Agency may also be a helpful resource. A vocational evaluation can help you choose types of education programs and possible careers that may be a good match for you.
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