School counseling
Strengths and Challenges Inventory for Students with Learning Disabilities
Student with a learning disability sees themselves as entirely broken or deficient, and this identity collapse prevents them from using the strengths they actually have.
A learning disability is a specific neurological difference. It does not mean a student is stupid or incapable. Many students with learning disabilities have strengths in other areas: creativity, spatial reasoning, relationship skills, persistence, problem-solving. Naming both the challenges and the strengths gives the student an honest picture and opens possibilities.
This inventory is an antidote to the shame that often comes with diagnosis.
Strengths and Challenges Inventory for Students with Learning Disabilities
Write honestly about your learning disability:
What is hard for me: (Reading. Spelling. Focus. Math. Memory. Writing. Sitting still.)
What does this cost me: (Frustration. Time. Shame. Feeling behind. Having to ask for help.)
What is not affected by my disability: (My creativity. My common sense. My ability to fix things. My sense of humor. My ability to understand how people work. My persistence. My kindness.)
What do I actually do well, regardless of my disability: (Describe something you can do that shows a real skill.)
What do people notice about me when they are not focused on what I struggle with: (What do they come to you for? What do they trust you with? What do they like about you?)
You have a specific challenge. This does not make you generally broken. You are a person with a particular shape. Some things are harder. Some things are easier.
Your job is not to be good at everything. Your job is to know what you are good at and build your life around that. The hard things, you find tools or support. The good things, you lean into.
Write down one strength from above. One real thing you do well. Then ask yourself: how could I build more of my life around this strength?
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