The world is a lonely place when you are 16, in high school and struggling with a disability. Handling “hidden” disabilities, especially learning disabilities, can be particularly challenging for young adults. Feelings of isolation and frustration over being “different” can compound normal teenage angst, and leave young adults with learning disabilities struggling with low self-esteem and depression.

Despite the knowledge that learning disabilities impact 12-20 percent of all students today, many teachers still insist that students read passages aloud in the classroom. They pour praise on top spellers and those with perfect penmanship while students with creative, vital ideas lose essay points due to spelling or grammatical errors. After toiling to learn difficult material, students with learning disabilities often find themselves disillusioned and wanting to give up on school.

As Options for Independence's Education Advocacy Program has grown, we have seen more and more young adults with these types of concerns. Drop-out rates and the number of IEP (Individualized Education Plan) diplomas granted to students with learning disabilities, not just here but across the state, are alarming. It doesn't have to be that way.

With persistence, perseverance and patience, the obstacles faced by young adults with disabilities can be overcome. The old adage “it takes a village to raise a child” is apropos; in this case it takes a team to ensure success. Recognize that knowledge is power. Know your child; for young adults, know yourself. Learn as much as you can about the disability. Politely educate teachers and local school districts about special needs when necessary. Advocate for extra time for tests, readers, or other accommodations that will level the playing field and provide necessary supports to strengthen and build upon skills. Reach out for assistance if you need it. The Options for Independence staff is willing to accompany you to CSE Meetings, IEP reviews, and other meetings with school district personnel.

Above all, focus on the positive. Every young adult is a gift, and each one has something special to offer. Having a learning disability doesn't mean you are “broken;” it means that you process material in a different way and are unique.

Seek out role models. When we talk to young adults, we ask, “Do you know that Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Woodrow Wilson, Leonardo da Vinci and Walt Disney all had some form of documented learning disability? So do Whoopi Goldberg, Jay Leno and Patrick Dempsey.

I often use Dempsey as an example. The girls swoon, and the boys roll their eyes. Until we go beneath the surface. We look at movie scripts and photos of the inside of his race car. Daunting undertakings for anyone, let alone someone with dyslexia. Yet he has conquered these and other obstacles and excelled.

More importantly, the accomplished actor and race car driver embraces his dyslexia. He has publicly stated that it made him what he is today. In a recent interview he noted that, “It's just a gift in many ways and you just have to figure out the tools to survive it and move on.”

I have seen those powerful words motivate more than one young person who was ready to give up. We can't thank him enough for that.

What we can do, thanks to a generous donation by Silbert Optical, is hang a large poster of Dempsey, which we inscribed that quote on in our office. Dempsey autographed it last week, and I was able to thank him for impacting young lives. Hopefully the poster and those words will continue to help us motivate young adults with learning disabilities to accept and embrace who they are. Giving up should not be an option.

Tracy L. Murphy is executive director for Options for Independence