Learning Disability Help Series

This is a unique book in this field intended for problem learners and parents and teachers. The strategies herein have been developed and used by the author Jon Van Loon. Despite having a severe learning disability for example resulting in his being at a Grade 9 level in spelling and grammar and with a visual memory in only the 40th percentile Jon earned a PhD and became a full Professor at the University of Toronto. The material is written to help the problem learner choose a set of unique strategies that work for their particular learning style.

A must have for individuals that suffer from Bullying and related problems and for their parents, loved ones, teachers and employers. This small book outlines the experience of my struggles with bullying oppression and other related difficulties. Despite being bullied and hounded from a variety of doubters and academic skeptics I turned my life style failures and academic mediocrity into a major academic and professional success. As a Full Professor with an earned PhD at the University of Toronto I published 6 text/research books and 120 peer reviewed research papers mainly in Environmental Chemistry. This book demonstrates that the utter discouragement and serious emotional trauma need not prevent the attainment of a successful professional career. Readers with Bullying and related problems are normally concentration challenged due to the nature of their problem. Thus a relatively concise treatise of a subject is welcomed. Books describing this level of achievement from persons with Bullying and related problems are seldom available from authors that themselves have experienced a high level of success. Most books on such a topic come from special educational specialists and are often not nearly as uplifting and encouraging.

Have you attained adulthood and wondered why you possessed traits that made it difficult during your formative and vocational years to learn by conventional methods? You might have an undiagnosed learning disability. This book is uniquely different from most others, it having been written by an actual person who has a severe learning disability. Despite my problems I have developed special strategies that allowed me to achieve high level academic and professional success. Like you the reader, I have faced unique personal, schooling and vocational difficulties daily and hence can provide a different dimension of material compared to most non learning disabled experts. The phrase ‘Learning Disabled’ is used in this book title only because it is the standard and familiar designation relating to those of us who have experienced difficulties learning in the conventional manner. This phrase has become the moniker of choice for anyone that has demonstrated visual and/or auditory memory and other problems identified as being associated with the conventional learning process. Another common but now less utilized term for those of us in this category is ‘Dyslexia’. This latter term used for many years after the discovery by Orton in 1937 of these problems, actually roughly translates as reading blindness and hence covers only a fraction of the discipline. Rather than use terms that have a negative and often in the minds of the general public derogatory connotations, I prefer to call us ‘Special Learners’. Thus I have opted wherever possible to designate those of us known publically as Learning Disabled in this book as Special Learners or as being Learning Challenged, terms I have justified in earlier eBooks on this subject that were geared mainly for those of student age.

A must have for individuals with learning problems (10% of the population thus suffers severely with many more with a lesser difficulty); this small book outlines the experience of my struggles and victory over a severe learning disability. Despite being bullied and hounded from a variety of doubters and academic skeptics I turned my life style failures and academic mediocrity into a major academic and professional success. As a Full Professor with an earned PhD at the University of Toronto I published 6 text/research books and 120 peer reviewed research papers mainly in Environmental Chemistry. This book demonstrates that the initial discouragement of a learning disability for young people in particular need not prevent the attainment of a successful academic and professional career. Readers with learning disabilities are normally concentration challenged due to the nature of their problem. Thus a relatively concise treatise of a subject is welcomed. I have presented this material in lectures to students, parents teachers and a variety of other professionals including psychologists, school principals and specialists and have always had an enthusiastic response. Books describing this level of achievement from persons with severe learning problems are seldom available from individuals that have experienced this type of success. Most books on Learning Disabilities come from special educational specialists and are not nearly as uplifting and encouraging.