A NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE ASSESSMENT OF ADULTS WITH LEARNING-DISABILITIES IN VOCATIONAL-REHABILITATION

A description of cognitive, academic, and personality characteristics of adults with learning disabilities (LD) referred for services throug h the state/federal vocational rehabilitation system is presented. Thi s study builds on the work of Minskoff, Hawks, Steidle, and Hoffmann ( 1989) and validates their conclusions that, as a group, adults with LD participating in vocational rehabilitation are homogeneous relative t o other groups of adults with LD. By taking a neuropsychological appro ach to the assessment process, the current study further subdivided th e assessment categories described by Minskoff et al. This approach ass umes that the vocational competence of adults with learning disabiliti es may be better understood in terms of their visual and auditory perc eption verbal and nonverbal reasoning; verbal and mixed (verbal/nonver bal) learning; linguistic and nonlinguistic memory; semantic, expressi ve, and receptive language; basic and conceptual academic skills; and social and psychological adjustments. The data analyses identify sever al potential patterns of psychosocial and neuropsychological strengths and weaknesses that may be important in vocational rehabilitation eff orts.