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Steps to Independence

by Dale S. Brown

Editor's Note: Dale S. Brown is an author of five books about disabilities. She won several national awards for her leadership in the self-help movement for people with learning disabilities. She recently retired from twenty-five years of public service developing federal policy in the field of disability. The Learning Disabilities Association of America asked her to update Steps to Independence for People with Learning Disabilities, the first book she wrote. It is a self-remediation handbook that guides young adults with learning disabilities to become independent. In the following profile, she discusses how she wrote the first edition of the book:

I grew up with severe learning disabilities and was educated in public schools in ordinary classrooms. Nobody could figure out what caused me to struggle to read, write, and get along with other children.*

"I came in to have art. I broke my blue crayon a second time. I looked at everyone else's crayons. Beautiful, with the paper still on. Only one or two boxes had a broken crayon. And then at my own. Each was broken at least once. None had the paper covering on it. All were mutilated with my hot, sweaty hand. I can still remember bringing them home as one, big mess."

As a young child, it seemed to me that I had a disability. Why couldn't I catch and throw a ball? Why did I learn to skip in fourth grade instead of first and second? Why was I learning to read from my Mom instead of playing like everyone else? Many adults told me that I was "not bright", "not trying hard enough" or "emotionally disturbed." These explanations made me feel powerless and depressed. They also made no sense. So I imagined a mysterious handicap with no name.* My belief was that it was probably a made up fantasy. But, nevertheless, I acted as if it was the truth.

To me that meant working hard. My parents were very supportive. My life seemed to consist of school and homework. In high school, I didn't let my parents excuse me from school to go on overseas trips with the family. I stayed with neighbors and studied instead, a clear necessity for me. My "made-up belief" that I had a disability enabled me to accept the need for doing that. My sisters could go off, visit Europe, go to the beach and then return and just make up the work. The same effort that got other students "A's" bought me "C's."

Completing my college studies was a major challenge.* But the most important event was finding out about my learning disabilities. This discovery - which validated my inner life and self-management strategies- gave me self-esteem and inspired me to start the self-help movement for people with learning disabilities. The mother of one of my friends influenced the process. Here is what happened:

We were discussing where and when we would meet. "Dale, you've checked with me about this eight times," she said, irritated. "I think you should know by now we are meeting tomorrow morning here at 8 AM." I apologized and told her that I had auditory perceptual problems and often got times and places mixed up.

The next day, when we were driving home together, she told me that she thought she had the same problem. She explained that she was a psychiatric nurse and that she was under the impression that staff members sometimes mixed up the meeting times on purpose. Because of our conversation, she would follow my example and check times and places - though less than eight times!

It excited me to see how knowledge about her learning disabilities improved her life. Sharing my situation made a difference to her. It seemed likely that many people were like us. I visualized myself speaking publicly about these problems and inspiring people to work together to help ourselves.

After college graduation, I found my first job, moved into a home with room-mates, and started my life as an independent young adult. The process was made more difficult by my learning disabilities which were not disclosed.

A woman named Gale Bell and I started Association of Learning Disabled Adults (ALDA), in 1980. Speaking publicly exposed me to discrimination when applying for new jobs- but it also started me on a quarter of century of work for the federal government on disability policy.

In those days, it was believed that learning disabilities existed mostly in childhood. Parents were told that their children would "outgrow" their learning disabilities. This filled them with false hope- and our self-help group made many feel disappointed as we explained that it was not true.

ALDA members worked together to help each other, to make recommendations to parents and teachers on transition, and to advocate for policy changes. We became a model chapter for the nation. Other chapters formed and joined together to become National Network of Learning Disabled Adults, which elected me as its first President. We attended ten regional hearings of the Rehabilitation Services Administration to explain that adults with learning disabilities needed services. At that time, I worked for the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. I would sometimes draft letters to my own agency and then draft the response back!

Barbara Scheiber, Director of Parent's Campaign for Handicapped Children and Youth (a federal clearinghouse that preceded NIHCY) became my friend. One day, I told her my dream of writing a self-remediation handbook for people who had learning disabilities. I thought it might help other people with learning disabilities to educate themselves, find jobs, and live independently. To my surprise, she told me that if I wrote the book, her clearinghouse would publish it and distribute it for free.

I began spending my Sundays working on the book, starting early in the morning until late at night. I worked in a small porch that was attached to my bedroom. There was very little information available. Interviews with many people with learning disabilities and professionals in the field were my major research technique. I loved crafting words. It was gratifying to look at my experience overcoming my learning disabilities and put it to use for others.

When the book was complete, Barbara Scheiber sat with me and edited it helping me make it perfect. It was very short and thanks to Barbara was well-laid out for people who had difficulty reading. It had sections on living on your own, finding a job, and remediating your own learning disabilities.

The book was incredibly successful. Most of what was written there was somewhat radical at that time. But having a federal clearinghouse distribute it brought the ideas to the attention of researchers- who proposed the ideas as hypothesis - and ended up proving many of them true. People with learning disabilities said that they felt like I was sitting next to them giving them friendly advice. Goodwill Industries of America reprinted the book in 1985.

Meanwhile, my job at the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities gave me many opportunities to contribute to the field of disability, such as inside work on the Americans with Disabilities Act, bringing the leadership of organized labor into the disability field, and coordinating an effort to make libraries accessible. I traveled all over the country and internationally speaking about employment of people with all types of disabilities. My articles helped parents to guide their children and professionals to empower their clients. Learning Disabilities Association of America had me on its Board and elected me to chair the Youth and Adult Section, a precursor to the current Adult Issues committee.

Unfortunately, Steps to Independence for People with Learning Disabilities went out of print. People called me and asked for it, even ten or fifteen years after it was gone. That is why I am so honored to offer the revised edition of Steps to Independence for People with Learning Disabilities through the Learning Disabilities Association of America. I updated it as a volunteer, following a proud LDA tradition.

The rewrite was a bittersweet experience. The field has grown so much! The book isn't radical any more. It sounds like common sense. There are resources available that weren't there before. However, the struggle to become independent remains difficult for people with learning disabilities. It is my hope that the book can help a new generation of young people become all they can be and move forward with their lives.

Dale S. Brown
Author
dale-brown@mindspring.com

*See additional articles by Dale Brown:

"A Letter to my Grandmother"
"Handicap with No Name"
"Learning Despite Learning Disabilities"

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