Learning Re-Abled: The Learning Disability Controversy and Composition Studies

224 Pages·1995·11.57 MB·English

by  Patricia A. Dunn

LEARNING
RE-ABLED

LEARNING

RE-AILED

The Learning Disability
Controversy and
Composition Studies
Patricia A. Dunn
Utica College of
Syracuse University
Boynton/Cook Publishers
HEINEMANN
Portsmouth, NH
BoyntonlCook Publishers, Inc.
A subsidiary of Reed Elsevier Inc.
361 Hanover Street
Portsmouth, NH 03801-3912
Offices and agents throughout the world
© 1995 by Patricia A. Dunn.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage
and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher,
except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders and students
for permission to reprint borrowed material. We regret any oversights that
may have occurred and would be happy to rectify them in future
printings of this work.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dunn, Patricia A.
Learning re-abled : the learning disability controversy and
composition studies / Patricia A. Dunn.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-86709-360-9 (alk. paper)
1. Learning disabled-Education (Higher)-United States.
2. Learning disabilities-United States. 3. Dyslexics-Education
teaching-United States. 1. Title.
LC4818.5.D85 1995
371.91-dc20 95-19316
CIP
Editor: Peter R. Stillman
Production Editor: Renee M. Nicholls
Cover Designer: T. Watson Bogaard
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper.
99 98 97 96 95 DA 1 2 3 4 5 6
For Joey and Larry

Contents
Acknowledgments
ix
Introduction
1
Chapter One
Learning Disabilities: The Controversy
9
Chapter Two
Gaps in Composition Theory and Practice
45
Chapter Three
Multisensory Teaching Methods: Tutoring Joey
75
Chapter Four
Learning Differences: The Perspective of

LD College Students

96
Chapter Five
Implications for College Instructors
154
Conclusion
199
Works Cited
203
vii

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my husband Ken Lindblom for his encourage­
ment, for his enthusiasm about this project, and for his logical and
extremely useful readings. I would like to thank my sister Kathy for
her wide and varied reading habits, and for her creativity and
insight. I am grateful to my mother, Rita Dunn, for reading and
commenting on this manuscript in its earliest draft and for her ever­
present faith in me. I would also like to thank some good friends,
Sister Judith Dever, Marie Jordan-Whitney, and Kathleen Thornton
Chamberlin, for their confidence in me. I am grateful to Utica Col­
lege of Syracuse University for giving me a summer grant to work
on this book, and especially to Frank Bergmann for supporting all
my scholarship at Utica College. I would also like to thank Lil Bran­
non and Peter Johnston, who gave me productive critiques very
early on in this project. lowe a special thanks to Steve North, who
helped me immensely with his close, careful readings and candid,
thought-provoking observations. His commitment to the field and
contribution to it has inspired me. I am also indebted to the many
people who allowed me to interview them, especially the three stu­
dents featured in Chapter Four, who gave so generously of their
time and ideas. Finally, I am very grateful to Peter Stillman for his
excellent suggestions and the chance to publish this text.
ix