Frequently Asked Questions

The Learning Disabilities Association and its chapters receive many phone calls a day from individuals with learning disabilities, as well as their friends, families, and support professionals.

The provincial office and chapters have compiled a list of frequently asked questions to answer some of the common questions that are asked.

Question:

My adult son was just let go from another job this year. This is really upsetting for him as he tries so hard to do well in everything that he does. His father and I are frustrated and we think he might have a learning disability, although he has never been tested. What can we do to help him?

Answer:

Without more information, it is difficult to determine whether or not your son has a learning disability or if there are other issues involved. However, it does appear that he needs support.

Regardless of where you live in Alberta, you might want to contact Alberta Immigration, Employment, and Industry for an interview with one of their career counselors.

Career counselors can assist you with career planning to help identify your career interests and aptitudes, provide you with occupational information on careers that your son might be interested in, and help him identify a career planning path, and then support him on that path.

It might be that your son will need an assessment to test for a learning disability. This would be arranged through the career counselor and be completed by an appropriate psychologist.

If your son requires further training or upgrading in order to reach his career goal, the career counselor can suggest appropriate schools in which to take this training, and refer your son to the school’s learner support services, if needed. Additionally, the career counselor can help with information on how your son can apply for student loans, grants or bursaries, and scholarships.

For more information on how you or your son can contact this service, please call 422-4266 (in Edmonton) or 1-800-661-3753 to find out where your son can access the nearest Alberta Immigration, Employment, and Industry service centre, or you may access this information on the web at http://www.alis.gov.ab.ca/career/cs/abcareer.asp.

Reference: http://employment.alberta.ca/cps/rde/xchg/hre/hs.xsl/3155.html