"My LD": children's voices on the Internet.

Abstract. This study examined children's presentations of the "LD experience" as expressed in online messages on a public website designed for children with learning and attention problems. Earlier research has demonstrated that children view the Internet as a social medium that enables communication and promotes personal relationships. In the current study, we assumed that students with LD would treat this specially designed website as a "safe environment," enabling them to present their self-identities as children with LD and to share the personal meaning of their challenges. By studying their online messages, we sought to develop a deeper understanding of the children's thoughts, feelings and attitudes, as well as the ways they present themselves online. Theme analysis was performed on 4,903 e-mails sent from 164 self-identified LD participants ages 9-18. Six major themes emerged: (a) LD identity presentation; (b) disclosure of academic difficulties; (c-d) disclosure of emotional problems and social distress; (e) requests for help; and (f) description of positive aspects of LD. Results demonstrated the potential the study of online messaging has for understanding the LD experience. Implications for practice, considerations regarding future studies, and study limitations are discussed.

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In the 1999 surreal film comedy Being John Malkovich, a man accidentally finds a passageway, or "portal," into the mind of actor John Malkovich. Anyone entering this portal sees and experiences the world as Mr. Malkovich. As researchers, we can only fantasize about how such a portal into the mind of a child with learning disabilities (LD) would enhance our knowledge and understanding of the "LD experience." Although such a possibility is merely fantasy, the entry of the Internet into the lives of children may provide a window from which to view the "inner life" of children with LD. Thus, the establishment of virtual, but authentic communities, where children exchange electronic communications on topics of personal significance and interest in what they consider to be a comfortable and "safe" environment presents researchers with a new and rich data source for understanding the "insiders' perspective." Indeed, these virtual communities may be the closest thing we have to a portal into the minds of children with LD.

The current descriptive study examined children's presentations of the "LD experience" as expressed in their online messages written on a pre-existing public website designed for children with learning and attention problems (see p. 257 for website description). (1,2) We assumed that students with LD would treat the Internet as a "safe environment," allowing them to present and share the personal meaning of their LD. By studying their online messages, we sought to develop a deeper understanding of their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes--both positive and negative--as well as the ways in which they present themselves online. Thus, their messages were used as a portal to view the hopes, fears, needs, joys, as well as difficulties and frustrations of children with LD. Our research utilized a "child-centered" approach, viewing children as active agents in the virtual environment, establishing their personal and social identities, exhibiting their strengths and struggling with their difficulties. This research also sought to explore children's descriptions of their difficulties and abilities relative to those described in the research literature.

In the first part of this article we present a survey of the literature and the conceptual underpinnings for studying people's (including those with LD) self-expression, self-perception, and self-presentation on the Internet. We believe such a theoretical review is necessary considering the promise virtual environments hold for clarifying inner experiences and the limited research in this area to date.

Existent life stories of adults with LD (McNulty, 2003; Rodis, Garrod, & Boscardin, 2001; Wambsgan, 1990) provide insight into distressed experiences, but do so from a retrospective point of view. Studies investigating the LD experience from the child's "insider perspective" are quite limited (MacArthur, 2003). Additionally, while these studies (e.g., Albinger, 1995; Guterman, 1995; Reid & Button, 1995) have shed light on the insider's view, they included a small number of children, and employed interview, discussion, and writing prompts initiated by adults. In contrast, the present study investigated the serf-initiated communications of a relatively large number of children with learning difficulties in a virtual, but nonetheless authentic environment.

One study (Ferri, 2000) did use an electronic-mail discussion group to study the experiences of women living with LD. However, this study focused on adults and, therefore, was not representative of children's voices. To date, we have not been able to find published studies that have used the Internet to explore the emotional and social experiences of children with LD as they unfolded in "real time" through serf-generated electronic communication.

DIFFICULTIES OF STUDENTS WITH LD

While acknowledging the heterogeneity and individual differences of children with LD, the academic, social, and emotional difficulties of this population have been well documented (e.g., Bryan, Burstein, & Ergul, 2004; Kavale & Forness, 1995; Kavale & Mostert, 2004; Swanson, Harris, & Graham, 2003; Swanson, Hoskyn, & Lee, 1999; Swanson & Keogh, 1990; Vaughn, Elbaum, Schumm, & Hughes, 1998). Many students with LD experience and report academic difficulties in such areas as reading, writing, speaking, listening, math, organization, and memory (e.g., Stone & May, 2002). Additionally, research indicates that children with LD are often socially rejected by their peers, and have difficulties establishing and maintaining friendships (Wiener, 2002, 2004; Wiener & Schneider, 2002). Furthermore, children with LD are at greater risk for experiencing loneliness, low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression than nondisabled peers (Margalit, 1994; Margalit & A-Yagon, 2002).

It is important to note that not all students with LD experience this range of difficulties. Indeed studies have documented a resilient group of individuals who succeed in coping with their challenges (e.g., Margalit, 2003). Our research and interest in resilience and empowering approaches for students with LD directed our attention to the possibilities of the Internet as an environment that may enhance resilience and help students with LD to cope with their distress by openly sharing their identities and concerns. Without discounting theoretical approaches that consider LD a social construct--locating learning and learning problems in the context of human relations and activity (Dudley-Marling, 2004; Reid & Valle, 2004)--we consider students with LD as active individuals who struggle with their difficulties. In order to empower their efforts, we explore their self-perception and interpersonal experiences, searching for a clear identification of their differentiated needs for help, support and understanding,

The Internet as a Safe Environment for Interpersonal Communication 

The entry of the Internet into the lives of children presents a new opportunity for them to disclose their inner lives, and for researchers to gain a deeper understanding of children's self-perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. Computers and the Internet have prompted many changes in the lives of students with and without disabilities, comparable to, and even beyond, the impact of television (Cole et al., 2004). Thus, the Internet is a social medium for many children, enabling communication and prompting the formation of personal relationships. Therefore, it may be considered influential in transforming the social life of youngsters and affecting their communication and self-expression (Kraut et al., 2002).

The internet enables new forms of communication, extending the boundaries of time and space, freeing individuals from the constraints of geography, and possibly the isolation brought on by disability or poor social skills during typical face-to-face interactions. Further, the Internet allows people to join groups on the basis of common interests without dependence on the accurate expression and interpretation of the social cues required during face-to-face interactions (Kraut et al., 1998). At the same time, it is unclear whether the Internet, in some instances, is causing people to become socially isolated and to be cut off from face-to-face social relations, as they are able to communicate with anonymous strangers through a "socially impoverished" medium (Turkle, 1996). Recent surveys of studies exploring the effects of the Internet (Bargh & McKenna, 2004) have shown that, at present, no clear social impact can be generalized and that people's individual goals, as well as their unique personalities, interact dynamically with the distinctive characteristics of the Internet.

Surveys of studies (Bargh & McKenna, 2004; McKenna, Green, & Gleason 2002) reveal that (a) people are better able to express their "true selves" (those aspects of themselves that they feel are important, but that they are usually unable or not ready to present in public) to their partners over the Internet than during face-to-face communication; and (b) when Internet partners like each other, they tend (more than during face-to-face interactions) to project qualities of their ideal friends onto each other. According to McKenna et al. (2002), people who are lonely or socially anxious are especially able to find their "true selves" on line, which leads to the formation of close and meaningful online relationships that appear to be durable and stable over time. These results are important for students with LD, since studies of their social experiences have revealed that, as a group, they report higher levels of loneliness (Margalit, 1994; Margalit & Al-Yagon, 2002) as well as social skill deficits (Wiener, 2002, 2004; Wiener & Schneider, 2002) than their nondisabled peers.

The relative anonymity of the Internet may contribute to the formation of close relationships and trust by reducing the risks inherent in self-disclosure. Further, because self-disclosure contributes to a sense of intimacy, making self-disclosure easier should facilitate relationship formation. In this regard, Internet communication resembles the "strangers on a train" phenomenon described by Rubin (1975), whereby intimate details of one's "self" may be disclosed to a stranger even more so than to one's friends or family. The intimacy developed on the Internet may serve to increase the rate of interpersonal trust (Bargh & McKenna, 2004). Overall, the evidence suggests that, rather than being a personally and socially isolating maladaptive activity, communicating with others over the Internet not only helps to maintain close ties with one's family and friends, but also, if the individual is so inclined, to facilitate the formation of close and meaningful new relationships within what is felt to be a relatively safe environment. In order to increase an understanding of this process, we now present the theoretical basis of self-disclosure.

Self-Disclosure and Self-Identity

Self-disclosure is the act of revealing personal information to others (Archer, 1980). Usually, the behavior of self-disclosure is associated with close relationships and friendships. However, Internet-based behavior can be characterized as fostering high levels of trust, leading to increased self-disclosure even among people who are not initially in close personal relationships with each other.

Several explanations have been offered for this phenomenon. Some researchers have suggested that computer-mediated communication (CMC), because of its reduced social cues, may lead to a reduction in social constraints (Joinson, 2001). However, this interpretation is not without criticism. Joinson (2001) has stressed that the anonymity of online interactions allows the individual to express his or her "true mind," or "authentic self," unfettered by concerns of self-presentation (e.g., physical appearance, nonverbal communication deficits) and the outcomes of face-to-face self-disclosure. People disclose more information about themselves during CMC compared to face-to-face communication. This is not necessarily due to any de-individuation experience (loss of internal, self-regulated control over behavior resulting from anonymity and reduced private self-awareness [Bargh, 2002]), but may be due to the interaction between anonymity (i.e., reduced public self-awareness) and heightened private self-awareness. Thus, it is possible that the environment in which people engage in CMC encourages private self-focus. Since CMC is often undertaken in a quiet room as a solitary activity, it may foster the development of an introspective and/or reflective state of mind.

A further explanation may be that the computer acts as a "mirror" that reflects back to the communicants themselves, leading to private self-focusing. While emotions are usually expressed face-to-face (e.g., we smile in response to a smile), an electronic text-based communication sent in private may lead to heightened self-awareness by focusing the user on his or her inner feelings rather than reacting to another person face-to-face. The ability to communicate within a virtual environment without the need for face-to-face interaction may be particularly liberating and have compensatory value for children with LD who have difficulties in face-to-face nonverbal communication (Axelrod, 1982; Dimitrovsky, Spector, Levy-Schiff, & Vakil, 1998; Nabuzoka & Smith, 1995; Sisterhen & Gerber, 1989). Alternatively, it is not known whether the writing difficulties of children with LD might interfere with the spontaneous disclosure of their "selves"--their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes.

Research indicates that our selves are portrayed by both physical and psychological features (Harter, 1998). Therefore, the anonymous nature of online interactions may provide the freedom to present the self in other ways that are less constrained by the realities of "real-world" settings (Calvert, 2002). Several projects inspired by Turkle's analysis of a "culture of simulation" (Turkle, 1995) argue that children use computers to experiment with themes of selfhood and identity (Livingstone, 2003). In this regard, online interactions may provide a forum for self-expression and self-exploration, making it an important venue for examining how children develop their identities and communicate with one another (Calvert, Mahler, Zehnder, Jenkins, & Lee, 2003).

According to social identity theory, our social identity is determined by the groups to which we belong (Abrams & Hogg, 1990). If we acknowledge belonging to a certain group, the known characteristics of the group are likely to be reflected in our behavior. Thus, a group's members accept assigned social category memberships as a relevant self-definition in a given interpersonal context (e.g., "we," "the LD"). This social identification in turn leads us to perceive ourselves in terms of the characteristics we share with other members of our in-groups (our shared social identity) rather than in terms of the idiosyncratic characteristics that differentiate us from other individuals (Michinov, Michinov, & Toczek-Capelle, 2004; Sassenberg & Postmes, 2002; Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987).

Existing autobiographic reports of adults with LD provide detailed descriptions of their distressed experiences as children and their continuing struggles as adults with their self-perceptions and identity issues (McNulty, 2003; Rodis et al., 2001). However, they were provided from the adults' perspectives. The Internet, on the other hand, enables and encourages children to share their current concerns. Thus, we expect these children to express themselves through their identification with the LD group, as well as raise important aspects of their individual self-identities, reflected in their interactive electronic messaging on the Internet. Since people develop personal as well as group identities and close connectivity with online groups and virtual communities (Michinov et al., 2004), this research provides an opportunity to examine both the self- and group identity that children with LD present online.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to examine the presentation of the LD experience and "LD identity" as expressed in the e-mail narratives of children communicating on a pre-existing, free-of-charge public website designed for children with learning and attention problems. Based on the self-disclosure conceptualization presented above, we assumed that some children with LD would consider the website a safe environment that enables them to disclose and share aspects of their LD identity (identity as a child with an LD), and reveal their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes toward living with their LD. (It is important to emphasize that this study was not intended to evaluate the efficacy of the website.)

In keeping with a qualitative ethnographic approach (Spradley, 1979, 1980), we attempted to refrain from imposing any rigid preconceived notions regarding emergent themes, focusing instead on capturing the "insider's perspective." Nevertheless, knowledge of past research in LD inevitably led us to form several expectations regarding emerging themes. For example, we believed that disclosure regarding LD might encompass academic, social, and emotional domains.

While recognizing the possible emergence of themes related to difficulties in the aforementioned domains, we did not want to be limited to deficit-driven expressions of LD. Therefore, a general category of positive expression of LD was formulated. This theme was conceived prior to the natural emergence of other themes in the analysis. We believed that a category dealing with positive expressions was necessary in light of LD literature suggesting the importance of special talents, refraining, self-awareness, goodness-of-fit, and compartmentalization in achieving positive life outcomes (Goldberg, Higgins, Raskind, & Herman, 2003; Higgins, Raskind, Goldberg, & Herman, 2002; Poplin, 1995; Raskind, Goldberg, Higgins, & Herman, 1999; Reiff, Gerber, & Ginsberg, 1997; West, 1991).

METHOD

Participants

To date, no protocol for selecting a sample of children with LD from an Internet website has been established, which presented challenges in the current study. For example, the information necessary (e.g., cognitive and academic achievement levels) to meet the criteria for identifying LD study participants (e.g., Rosenberg et al., 1992) is not likely to be available from electronic messages or online data. Furthermore, federal legislation (i.e., Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 [COPPA]) limits access to personal information about a child. Although it might be possible to contact and collect data directly from research participants (or gatekeepers, such as parents or teachers), such contact--even with consent--may threaten Internet anonymity and, thereby, influence the nature and authenticity of subsequent online messaging, as well as children's willingness to continue using a website.

Consequently, for this type of research new approaches need to be developed to ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, participants are, in fact, LD. The method described below for selecting the LD sample in this study is a first attempt at establishing a protocol for identifying children with LD on a public website. Inevitably, it is not as rigorous as selection criteria currently recommended (Rosenberg et al., 1992) for conducting LD research, but it is hoped it will serve as a starting point for a dialogue between researchers about the possibilities and risks of online research.

The sample consisted of 164 children, ages 9 to 18 (mean age: 12.5, SD: 1.65), who were "self-identified" as having an LD. Participants were drawn from a population of approximately 30,000 active, registered users throughout the United States on the free-of-charge public website SparkTop.org (see Website). Of the 164 children participating in the study, 108 were female and 56 were male. This proportion is in line with gender preferences indicated in research on children's messages online (Calvert, 2002; Calvert et al., 2003).

The site had been advertised and promoted to resource specialists and LD/special education teachers throughout the United States, as well as directly to children through national television commercials on Nickelodeon and the Disney channel. (The television spots did not indicate that the website was designed for children with LD.) No information was available regarding the participants' SES or ethnicity. Additionally, no diagnostic information was available. Children accessed the website from home and school.

The following procedure was adopted to establish self-identification of a learning disability. At the first stage, an online survey of 240 regular users of the website was administered in October of 2004. (The survey was not part of the current research, but was used by the website developers to evaluate the impact of the site.) This electronic survey, which also incorporated voice support (i.e., the respondent could hear the question read aloud by a recorded human voice as an accommodation for children with reading difficulties), included the question "Do you have a learning disability?" Respondents answering "yes" were included in the sample. An additional question on the survey asked "Do you have difficulties with learning or paying attention?" Children who answered positively to this question, and who also answered "yes" to additional questions indicating specific difficulties in reading, writing, and/or learning in general, were also included. However, children who reported problems only in math were not included.

Further, over 1,000,000 electronic communications (e-mails, message board submissions) from approximately 30,000 active, registered users were reviewed for content indicating the presence of LD. That is, searches were conducted electronically by key words/phrases, including "I have LD," "my LD," "my learning disability," "I have dyslexia," and "my dyslexia." A wide variety of misspellings of these terms were used in the search. Users who indicated difficulties only in attention or math were not included. (Examples of content indicating the presence of LD are provided in the Appendix.)

Website

SparkTop.org, the website used to study the online communication of children with LD, was developed by SchwabLearning, a program of the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation. Formally launched in fall 2003, the site was designed for children with learning and attention problems, ages 8-12, to provide an online experience and create a virtual community where children could "connect" with other children, build self-esteem, develop self-awareness, enhance self-advocacy, gain knowledge of learning strategies, create art, play games, as well as receive accurate information about learning and attention problems. Although the target users are children with learning and attention problems, the site is open to all children.

The site was planned as a "kid-centered" normalizing environment representing current youth culture, where all children are "free to be themselves and accepted for who they are" (Allen Goldblatt, personal communication, January 4, 2005). The website utilizes the most current technological tools, design principles, and "pop" culture trends in children's media and entertainment to help ensure the creation of a "cool site," and not a segregated site for "children with problems." Design and content for the site were based on two years of research, including national surveys of children with LD, focus groups of children with LD and attention problems and their families, ethnographic interviews of children with LD and attention problems, usability testing of children with and without LD and attention problems, reviews of the LD and attention problem literature, and consultation with LD researchers and professionals.

The website provides for multiple modes of input, including writing, speech, drawing, and photography. Animations are provided to support activities and content, and recorded human speech is available to support text. Children communicate with other children in multiple ways, including e-mails that are sent directly from one child to another, message board postings that are displayed for all users, graphic submissions, instant messaging (with controlled vocabulary), and games.

All communications are reviewed prior to posting. Submissions are reviewed by a professional team consisting of an educational psychologist and a former credentialed teacher. All approved submissions are posted within 24 hours, seven days per week. Messages that include insensitivity to other children, expressions of rude, abusive, and biased language, or include remarks of a sexual nature, have religious overtones, or contain copyrighted material are not posted. The site's privacy policy informs users and their parents that all communications are subject to review and approval from website staff and that nonpersonally identifiable information may be used to analyze site usage. In fact, every time a child sends an electronic message, a screen appears that alerts the child that the message will be read and reviewed by site staff.

Finally, the site is compliant with COPPA. Thus, children must register through an adult (parent, guardian, or a teacher) by means of Privo, a parent permissioning service. No personally identifiable information is put on the site (e.g., name, address, phone number, e-mail address). Personally identifiable information is also withheld from SparkTop.org staff. The authors considered this site to be a safe and secure base for children with LD to self-disclose and share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences of living with an LD.

Researchers

The research team consisted of three individuals. Each researcher has over 30 years of teaching, clinical, and research experience in the field of LD. All researchers are well-published in peer-reviewed journals with a combined total of approximately 200 professional papers. Their specific areas of expertise include psychology, anthropological linguistics, and sociolinguistics. The three researchers also have particular interests in LD as related to social/emotional functioning, risk and resilience models, and technology.

Procedure

The three researchers reviewed 4,903 e-mails sent from the 164 self-identified LD participants to other users on the site between July 15, 2003, and February 8, 2005. These messages had been sent to other self-identified LD participants, registered users who did not "self-identify" as LD, and guests. (3) Messages sent to four animated fictionalized characters were also reviewed. These fictionalized characters are based on three actual teenagers ("teen mentors"), as well as an adult doctoral-level "LD Expert." All characters were described as having learning and attention problems.

The researchers worked with a website programmer to develop a data-mining software tool that allowed searching for e-mails sent to/from specific users during designated time periods from the entire database of electronic messages (Dringus & Ellis, 2005). This tool also enabled the researchers to search messages by key words and phrases (e.g., "sad," "my LD"). Further, a special function allowed for the conversion of the database into a Microsoft[C] Excel file to facilitate data management and analysis. The database contained information on the age and sex of both sender and recipient, date/time of messages, and the actual written message. No personally identifiable information was available.

A content analysis was conducted .(Krippendorff, 1980; Kupferberg & Ben-Peretz, 2004; Mayring, 2000) in order to search for expressions of "LD self-presentation" in the online messages. Qualitative approaches previously used to study the narratives of parents, children, and teachers on the Internet (Fleischmann, 2004; Kupferberg & Ben-Peretz, 2004) revealed that most methodological conceptualizations are relevant for understanding online communications (Kim & Weaver, 2002). In our study, we examined children's communicative behavior. We assumed that the site would enable children to share the experience of living with an LD, revealing their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes toward navigating the world with learning problems.

The data analysis procedures used were as follows: (a) Researchers independently read hard copies of 4,903 messages that had been generated from a Microsoft[R] Excel[TM] Workbook, searching for themes representative of participants' experiences and portrayals of their LD. Each researcher developed and wrote his or her own codes/category labels directly on the hard copies next to specific messages. In some instances codes represented general themes (e.g., academic difficulties, social problems) while in other instances, codes may have been more specific and reflective of general theme subcategories (e.g., reading problems and teasing, respectively). It is important to note, that coding was not a rigid, linear process. Rather, general, specific and overlapping themes often emerged simultaneously as the researchers read the messages in what may be described as a holistic and organic process. Additionally, each researcher began an ongoing process of clustering individual themes/codes with similar content/meaning into general themes, differentiating within general themes and adding more specific and refined codes as they emerged in the reading of the messages.

(b) An initial meeting between the researchers was held to share independent findings, brainstorm general themes, and begin formulation of a set of refined and specific themes representative of the messages. Overlapping, redundant and related thematic categories were collapsed--both general and specific--(e.g., "teasing," "social problems," "no friends," "bullies," and "social rejection" became "social difficulties") and subcategories were further refined and added under general categories. At this point, researchers began to reach initial consensus on general themes and subcategories, as well as establish coding definitions.

(c) Researchers again independently reviewed hard copies of the messages to further ensure that all messages representative of individual themes were being identified and coded, as well as to continue the process of refining the themes. In addition to reading the hard copies, and to further ensure identification of messages reflective of emerging themes, each researcher electronically searched the Microsoft[c] Excel[TM] database using an agreed upon range of "key words" they believed might serve to highlight the emerging themes. These key words included (but were not limited to) a range of topical categories (e.g., school, friends, mom/dad), a variety of both positive and negative expressions of emotion (e.g., happy, sad) and numerous "learning problem identifiers" (e.g., learning disability, my LD, dyslexia). A variety of misspellings were used in the search to help ensure identification of pertinent messages. Again, each researcher noted and coded supporting evidence of emerging themes (e.g., academic difficulties, social difficulties) directly on hard copies of the messages.

(d) Independent analysis alternated with regular meetings between the researchers over a 12- month period to continue to share findings, brainstorm themes and progressively refine themes, and ultimately reach final consensus on specific themes representative of participants' experiences and portrayals of their LD. Coded e-mails were sorted according to agreed upon thematic categories. The e-mail messages (or segments of) were extracted and used to support the "existence" of the identified themes.

Researchers made an ongoing effort to note individual differences in both the structure and content of the messages. Messages ranged from 1 word to 202 words, with an average length of 22 words. In line with an ethnographic approach to research (Spradley, 1979, 1980), the researchers made a strong effort to withhold any preconceived notions regarding the participants' thoughts, feelings, or motivations. Emphasis was placed on capturing and reporting the "insider's perspective" from the informants "living" within this virtual community. Direct quotations from the participants were used to verify and elucidate identified themes, as well as represent the shared experience of living with an LD among the members of this virtual community. Spelling errors in the quotations have been corrected to facilitate reading. Punctuation and grammatical errors have not been corrected. (Although beyond the scope of this study, these written messages would provide a rich data source for future research on the writing of children with LD.)

RESULTS

Six major themes emerged from the analysis of children's messages: LD Identity, Disclosure of Academic Difficulties, Disclosure of Emotional Attitudes, Disclosure of Social/Interpersonal Issues, Asking for Help, and Positive LD. Although this study focused on the identification and analysis of common themes, it is important to note that not every child wrote messages representative of each of the six themes. In fact, several children did not send messages that included content related to any of the themes, concentrating more on general popular culture and personal interests (e.g., music, fashion, hobbies). This is an important consideration for recognizing that individual differences exist within this group of children with self-identified LD. Nonetheless, taken as a whole, a very substantial portion of the group frequently and repeatedly expressed the shared experience of living with LD within the themes as presented below.

LD Identity

Although not all, many children--within their emails--identified themselves as individuals who belonged to a group of children with LD, communicating on a site for children with LD. (4) For example, they wrote questions and statements such as "Why do we have learning disabilities?"; "I also have the type of dyslexia that makes the words backwards ... what type do you have?"; "Dyslexia here too"; "I'm sorry about your dyslexia. but I have it too"; and "Hello, are you that guy on the LD problem thing? If so e-mail me."

Having LD is considered a problem as well as an identity, and several children kept asking questions such as "how did I get a ld, why?" and "How can you have dyslexia, and is it contagious?" Others asked questions regarding LD identification and validation: "How do you know if you have an LD?"; "How do I know if I have dyslexia?" "What is ld?"; and "Is there such thing as LD for handwriting...?"

These inquiries raise the question whether they are simply attempts to initiate contact, or if they are truly requests for reliable information (in an effort to more fully understand their problems). They may also be expressions of negative affect--wishing to know more about a topic that becomes part of the child's personal and social identity (affecting his/her sense of competency, and at the same time expressing his/her relatedness to the group of children who have LD that may be viewed by other children as "stupid" or inferior).

The children presented their "overall identity" by providing information about their age (e.g., "I'm 10," "age 12"); their sex (e.g., "I have an LD and I am a girl"); and their location in terms of a state or city (e.g., "I live in..."). Several children provided physical descriptions ("I am short, real short"); disclosed information about their families (parents, brothers, and sisters); revealed personal preferences regarding youth culture (teen idols, music, movies, TV, clothing, favorite colors); and discussed hobbies. Many messages contained information about themselves and their areas of competence and interest: "I know I am great at drawing, basketball, and volleyball" or "I am really into sports," showing that the LD identification is only part of how they define themselves.

The children seem to share the same "global" youth culture documented in the United States (Alvermann, 2004; Bucholtz, 2002) and as children in other countries such as Israel (Margalit & Ziman, 2004). However, at the same time, and side by side with age-appropriate descriptors of self-identity, they provided distinctive information about their LD. Although individual children used various identifiers to describe their difficulties (e.g., LD, dyslexia), and disclosed them in different ways (e.g., questions of causation, validation), it seems that having an LD was presented as part of the children's personal identity, as well as the "social identity" of belonging to a group of individuals with LD.

The idea that these children appear to identify with a group of other children with LD is an interesting notion. This finding is somewhat in contrast to previous research, at least as reported by adults with LD. As Higgins et al. (2002) found in a longitudinal study, despite a sense of "differentness," persons with LD do not consider themselves to be part of a separate group, culture, or "community" as do other "disability groups" such as the Deaf Community. However, the extent to which children in the present study actually view themselves as a distinct group cannot be discerned from the messages.

In summary, it appears that the Internet served as a safe virtual environment, enabling children with LD to explore and present the "totality" of their identity. Furthermore, the feeling that they are not alone in experiencing difficulties--their belonging to a group of children who share similar difficulties--was regarded by several children as a source of relief.

Disclosure of Academic Difficulties

Although there is existing research on the academic difficulties of students with LD, we were particularly intrigued by the children's personal views of their problems. The information provided by the children about the nature of their LD is varied. Several provided very short and direct information, stating, for example, "I have LD," sometimes minimizing it, "I have a little bit of a LD," or in some cases exploring how serious it is: "I'm not good at any of the normal subjects, like Social studies, Math, English and Science. And, I'm in SPED. Does this mean I've got like A Major LD?"

Interesting, a few of these self-identified children posed questions regarding the validation/identification of LD, asking "How do you know if you have an LD?" "I don't know for sure if I have an LD or not but I don't know if I could get tested for one at my school!"; and specific queries like "Is there such thing as LD for handwriting, because if there is I might have it."

Most children who sent e-mails on the site knew and described their LD, relating it to different academic subjects but without relating it directly to their competence: "My LD is MATH"; "My LD is reading." In some instances they even used professional labels such as "I have Dyslexia" or "I have ADD." Others presented their LD using emotional terminology ("my handwriting is TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!") and relating it to competency issues ("I can't spell"), or in a seemingly joking manner ("spelling is not my strong point"). Other children wrote: "I have dyslexia. I have trouble with reading, I read slower and it some times affects others by letters getting mixed up but I just read a little slow. I have trouble with spelling by memorizing"; "Do you have a struggle with spelling? Because I do";" and "basically everything in math is hard for me I'm in 5th grade and don't even know all my addition yet." Several children mentioned having LD in more than one subject: "I have two LD--they are math and reading"; "My LD's are dyslexia and ADD";" "My Id is ADD and distracting from my work" "I can't pay attention in class. But I already have two LD's. Does that mean I have a third LD?" one of the children even wrote "I have LD with everything." One child described a "unique LD," writing, "My LD is having trouble asking for help." The difficulties described by the children are reflective of the full range of academic problems described in the research literature (e.g., reading, writing, spelling, math). However, from these self-initiated messages we are able to understand more about the "personal nature" of their academic struggles and concerns, in addition to what we may learn from a purely quantitative analysis of their academic deficits.

Some children described the help they received at school using such statements as "I go to a class that helps me with my LD on math"; "I am in the LD class," and making references to "special ed." Most of these descriptors seemed isolated from emotional expressions. Their tone was objective, providing facts, similar to stating one's age and sex. Several children expressed negative affect related to their educational placement or status. In some cases, children shared "secrets" such as "I just wanted to tell you a secret, I take special pills and it helps me with my LD!!"

Individual differences were reflected in the children's insights into the types, severity, and pervasiveness of their difficulties. Additionally, individual differences were expressed in their emotional tone with several children expressing clear distress, while others appeared accepting of their difficulties as part of their identity. It should also be noted that there were a few instances when children indicated that they did not have difficulties in specific academic areas (e.g., "I don't have a problem with reading."; "math ... no one gets it but me."). However, these instances were extremely rare and it was clear that the overall group openly expressed and disclosed their academic difficulties.

Disclosure of Emotional Attitudes

Although expressions varied, the majority of children who wrote messages disclosed emotional attitudes towards their LD, writing statements such as "I don't like LD what can I do?"; "School can get me really down sometimes"; "I'm sorry about your dyslexia. But I have it too it kind of makes me feel bad don't you think"; and "Dyslexia is hard for me too ... In school I'm doing good, but reading and writing are hard." Some messages revealed negative emotions regarding specific academic difficulties such as "My LD is MATH is it because I hate it and it is my worst subject???????" One child wrote, "When someone reads letters out loud to me, it's really hard for me to write them down the right way ... like u and w get confused sometimes too. Strange, huh?"

In some cases, the children's expressions showed a self-exploration for causation "Why I got LD"; "How I got it"; as well as desire to alleviate it, "Can you get rid of it?" Some noted that having LD affects their self-worth: "Did u feel u were stupid"; "If I have LD does that make me a nerd"; "My mom says that there's a smartness level. I feel like my smartness level is at--stupidity. I don't get it?"; "I feel like my family calls me stupid all the time. Why?"; and "... Some times I feel stupid because I have ..."

Several children disclosed their loneliness with such comments as "sometimes it feels like I am the only one with an LD" and "I have no friends." The emotional distress apparently extends beyond the children's present circumstances, and several children also expressed fears about their future school functioning and placement, asking such questions as "How do I catch up on reading"; "I have dyslexia and am in the 3rd grade. Does it get easier as you get older???"; "Is the 6th grade hard because I'm going to 6th"; and "I am scared am going to go down a grade because of my LD. I am not doing much of nothing .., just worried about going to the 4th grade with a LD, so what can you tell me so that I don't worry too much."

Teachers are very important in the lives of children, and their attitudes towards LD affect the children's quality of life. Thus, it is not surprising that several children expressed worries when they inquired about teachers' attitudes (e.g., "Will ... teachers get really harsh on you if you have an L.D.?").

Again, the children's messages are reflective of prior research in LD; in these instances, of the emotional and psychological difficulties encountered by many children with LD (Elbaum & Vaughn, 2003; Huntington & Bender, 1993; Margalit, 1998; Margalit & Al-Yagon, 2002; Margalit & Zak, 1984). The messages are vivid expressions of emotional distress, including feelings of sadness, diminished self-worth, loneliness, and fear, apparently resulting from their academic struggles, social rejection, and even family stress.

Disclosure of Social/Interpersonal Issues

A number of explanations have been offered to account for the social difficulties experienced by children with LD (e.g., low academic standing, nonverbal communication deficits, concurrent psychological problems, cognitive processing deficits), although there is little consensus as to the exact causes (Bauminger, Edelsztein &, Morash, 2005; Bryan, 1998; La Greca & Stone, 1990; San Miguel, Forness, & Kavale, 1996). Despite this fact, research indicates that as many as 75% of children with LD have social skills deficits (Kavale & Forness, 1996). Children with LD are often socially rejected by their peers and have difficulty establishing and maintaining friendships.

As reported in the literature, the children's messages in this study also indicate that being a child with LD does not mean only having academic and school-related difficulties. The children reported personal and social difficulties as well. Many viewed their social exclusion as part of their LD identity. General rejection was reported in such comments as "People don't want to be around me or hang out with me!"; "Why do my friends stop hanging out with me because they found out that I have a speech problem and I have to go to a special class? What should I do?"; "I'm a outcast and don't have a lot of friends and always called retarded and dumb," "I have a LD and people make fun of me because have am have spelled I can't spell help me Please"; "This girl at my school keeps teasing me because I have a LD. I told teachers and their parents but she keeps bugging me about it. What should I do?"; and "I'm not good at spelling, and, The other children make fun of me for it. I'm also embarrassed to ask the teacher. What should I do?"

Several children indicated specific occasions of rejection; for instance, one child wrote about not being chosen for a team, "They don't want me on their team." While some children didn't provide explanations why they believed they are not included in the group, others tried to search and understand the causes of their rejection stating "[why are] children are afraid of me? I'm just a girl with ADHD?" Other children expressed hurt feelings, and identified themselves as inferior through social comparisons with their peers, "I feel like my friends are better than me at every thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Whether it is a result of "passive distancing" by other children, or direct teasing and bullying, these messages clearly illustrate the deep and profound effect social rejection has upon children with LD.

Through their messages, the children openly shared their social identity, disclosing that having an LD has critical social ramifications (e.g., teasing, ridicule, social rejection). Several students expressed a fear of sharing their LD identity with friends, writing "If I tell my friend I have a LD he just laughs. What do I do?" Another child expressed a desire to hide the LD identity, "How do not show that have a ld so people won't make fun of me."

It appears that these children were not merely communicating hypothetical fears, but were describing difficult and hurtful social experiences: "People make fun of me and ask me so mean questions"; "I have no friends"; and "Why do children pick on me, do they know I have a LD?" They complained about social rejection from both same- and different-sex peers. One boy wrote, "How come all the pretty girls at my school hate me just from my LD," and a girl stated, "This girl at my school keeps teasing me because I have LD."

The children's complaints about the cruelty of their peers are vivid and emotional. For example, "My friends sometimes say that I am stupid. I don't know if they mean it as a little joke or if they really mean it. They never sit with me at lunch and they never play with me at recess." Another child expressed her emotions quite openly regarding her only friend and her self-identity as an isolated and different child:

   My friend is the only friend I've got and if he doesn't want to be
   friends with me anymore then it will be just like last year when I
   have to stand alone and everybody will just stare at me and think
   I'm a freak! And if they vote me the weirdo of the school then none
   will want to be my friend! Not even the only friend I have right
   now! What do I do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Several children described how they requested help from significant adults (teachers, parents) to deal with their social problems, "This girl at my school keeps teasing me because I have a LD. I told teachers and their parents but she keeps bugging me about it." Some children noted that their requests for help from teachers were met with a lack of concern, "This boy ... won't leave me alone. I tell him to stop bugging me. But he won't. I even told my teacher she won't do anything about it. How do I get him to shut his mouth?" Other children were annoyed when teachers showed special consideration, "Teachers treat me LD and all I want to be treated me the same." The emotional expressions of social distress were often accompanied by expressions of dissatisfaction with the LD identity, even a readiness to give up accommodations necessary for school success such as typing assignments on the computer. Evidently, the children wanted their teachers to treat them similarly to their peers in order to avoid being identified as different, rejected, and even abused by peers. This is an interesting finding in light of previous research. Higgins et al. (2002) reported a similar finding among adults with LD who reported a willingness to give up support services so not as to be identified as "LD."

In conclusion, the descriptors of social rejection and distress, negative affect, and fear demonstrate that the identity of LD was related not

only to academic difficulties, but also to social exclusion from peer activities, adversely affecting the basic need for positive relatedness to their classmates. Although there were rare instances when children indicated positive social relationships, (e.g., "everyone wants to be my friend"; "I have lots of friends.), the group as a whole overwhelmingly expressed social difficulties. Some children's decision to refrain from disclosing their LD to their peers reflects their identity struggle, a struggle that demands great personal energy. The contrast between the children's attempt to hold back knowledge about their LD to peers and the self-disclosure in their online messages reveals the importance of the Internet as a potential outlet for dealing with anxiety-provoking situations. Although individual children may have varied in the way they expressed their negative social experience (e.g., through general expressions or specific instances; groups vs. individuals), these children shared their experiences on the Internet in an open and elaborated manner, something they appeared to have greater difficulty doing in face-to-face interactions.

Asking for Help

Although not every child wrote messages asking for help, the vast majority did. The children often complained that they were distressed and not getting the help they needed. In some instances, it appeared that they did not feel trusting enough to ask for help from friends, family members, teachers, or other adults. However, many children appeared to trust the virtual characters (teen mentors, "LD Expert") as well as other children on the website, and seemed more than willing to share their difficulties and seek the advice of those with whom they identified (e.g., "some people don't understand me and I hope you do"). For example, children asked for advice in school/academic, emotional, and social areas. Examples of school-related requests for help included:

General requests. "I have trouble in school what should I do"; "Hi Kyle I'm not good at reading or spelling writing what should I do?"

Focus on homework. "How can I get my homework in on time"; "Why do I hate school and homework;" "How do I get rid of my ld what can I do to make homework more easier?"

Focus on low grades. "I get bad grades even when I study really hard. What should I do?"; "I need help! My grades are falling and my homework isn't getting done ... What should I do?"

Focus on attentional difficulties. "What should I do in class when I try so so so so hard to pay attention but I can't ... I wonder off thinking about things totally off subject. How can I stay more focused?"

Focus on specific academic difficulties. "I am having trouble with writing can you help me if you can send a message"; "I'm really confused on my math homework because of my LD, got any tips?"

Children also asked for help in the social arena with such questions as "How can I get ... people to stop picking on me"; "I'm not good at spelling, and, The Other Children make fun of me for it ... What should I do?" There were also requests for assistance in the emotional area such as "I know I've got to ask for help, but I'm embarrassed, and, I don't know how to ask for help. Do you have any tips on this?"; "I really feel bad what can I do"; "Was up Kyle I don't like ld what can I do;" and "Kyle, when u find u had L.D, did u feel u were stupid."

In turn, children showed appreciation to those offering advice and described how it helped them; for example, "Thanks for telling me about how you feel ... it helps"; "Hey Thanks for the nice comment"; "I really like all of your advice and your advice is better than anyone else"; "Hey dude Thanks for the advice. My teacher was totally cool about it and said she'd 'talk' to the other kids ..."; "Thanks your advice really helped! Now I have like 1 million friends!"

From statements such as these, it can be concluded that the advice provided in reply to children's requests often helped relieve their distress. It is not clear, however, if the children actually used the advice or simply benefited from the attention, support, relatedness, and opportunity to freely express their distress. It should be noted that about two thirds of the requests for help and advice were directed towards the teen mentors and the adult "LD Expert" (virtual characters with LD) and only one third to online peers. However, children also routinely reacted to one another, sharing worries and frustrations.

The children's request for help over the Internet were particularly intriguing to us in light of previous research indicating the importance of seeking and accepting help from others in achieving positive life outcomes for persons with LD (e.g., Raskind et al., 1999). The possibility that the Internet may provide an easily accessible, comfortable, and effective medium for requesting and receiving help in such a wide range of areas served to facilitate, if not necessitate, the identification and construction of this thematic category.

Positive LD

As discussed under Purpose of Study, we not only wanted to consider difficulties/deficits associated with LD, but also sought to explore positive manifestations in light of literature suggesting the importance of special talents, reframing, self-awareness, goodness-of-fit, and compartmentalization in achieving positive life outcomes for persons with LD. However, despite our focused attempt to locate such expressions, only a few children made positive statements regarding their LD, or challenged negative attitudes toward their LD; "What is bad about having an LD," or about educational alternatives such as home schooling: "It's nice to be home schooled because I have an LD." Others expressed satisfaction with attempts to challenge their difficulties: "I have Dyslexia. I am overcoming it though." Some reported achievements and triumph over difficulties (e.g., "I can read a lot better in 5th grade thanks"; and "You can still get good grades if you have LD"). In addition to these positive expressions being rare, they also appeared somewhat "subdued." In sum, none of the messages could be considered "strong" or passionate positive emotional reactions to living with an LD. The lack of positive expressions of LD was a disappointment to us considering their relationship to positive life outcomes.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

This study examined how children with LD present themselves online to peers and virtual characters in messages written on a public website designed for children with learning and attention problems. We assumed that the Internet medium would be considered a safe environment that promoted enough trust by the children to prompt self-disclosure, including aspects of their "LD identity," as well as their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes regarding living with an LD. Results of this study are consistent with studies indicating that individuals tend to self-disclose online (Joinson, 2001; Maczewski, 2002; VanLear, Sheehan, Withers, & Walker, 2005) and provide unique and direct insight into children's perceptions and concerns regarding their self-identity as individuals with LD.

This is the first study to show self-disclosure behavior and the sharing of "inner life" on the Internet by children with self-identified LD through self-initiated messages. It appeared in several instances that the children were more willing to self-disclose through online messages than in face-to-face "real-world" interactions (e.g., "How do not show that have a ld so people won't make fun of me."; "I know I've got to ask for help, but I'm embarrassed, and, I don't know how to ask for help. Do you have any tips on this?"; I'm also embarrassed to ask the teacher. What should I do?"). This finding is consistent with past research regarding the formation of online relationships (Bargh & McKenna, 2004) and self-disclosure (Joinson, 2001) and has special importance for a population of children who often have social skill deficits and are prone to social rejection, as the virtual environment may offer a social context that does not accentuate their deficits, and provides a place where they are more likely to experience positive interactions with their peers.

Results of the study also corroborate existing research on the challenges experienced by children with LD, including academic difficulties, emotional problems, and social distress (e.g., Kavale & Forness, 1995; Swanson et al., 1999; Swanson & Keogh, 1990; Vaughn et al., 1998) as well as other qualitative studies of children (e.g., Albinger, 1995; Gutterman, 1995; Reid & Button, 1995) and adults (Goldberg et al., 2003; McNulty, 2003; Reiff et al., 1997; Rodis et al., 2001; Wambsgan, 1990) aimed at capturing the insider perspective.

These results document that a large number of children demonstrate knowledge and understanding of their difficulties in line with current LD research (e.g., reading, writing, math, memory, processing speed), whereas others continue to ask such questions as "What is LD?" Most children expressed negative emotions, complaining not only about varied academic difficulties, but also about their emotional distress and social isolation. In addition, many reported negative attitudes from their peers and, in several instances, even abusive behavior, in line with the research on peer relations (Bryan, 1999; Kavale & Forness, 1995; Vaughn et al., 1998; Weiner, 2002). Their messages often expressed negative past experiences, as well as concerns and fears regarding future school experiences and peer interactions.

The social and emotional distress expressed by these children is consistent with the finding of the limited number of previous studies also focused on capturing the inner voices of children with LD. For example, Guterman (1995) found that elementary and secondary students with LD felt their typically achieving peers had negative stereotypes of LD and viewed them as less intelligent, resulting in efforts to conceal their LD. Albinger (1995) reported that elementary students with LD complained that other students called them names (e.g., "stupid," "dumb"), which made them feel "sad." Similarly, Reid and Button (1995) found that elementary students with LD in grades 6-7 expressed feeling isolated from, and victimized by, their peers. It is disconcerting to think that now--more than 10 years since these studies were published--children with LD continue to face the same kinds of social rejection and victimization.

Most of the children also wrote messages asking for help from both their peers and the virtual characters on the site. The importance of helping resources for students with LD has been established in earlier studies (Stone, 2004). In our study, the children's reactions generally indicated that they were satisfied with the response to their requests for help and advice. Considering that several children appeared hesitant to ask for help in the "real" world, and were afraid of their peers' reactions, the virtual world of the Internet might provide an important alternative, or complement, to assisting and supporting children with LD. The potential of the Internet as a support system is particularly important in light of research showing that individuals with LD who are willing to ask for and receive help from others are more likely to attain "life success." For example, longitudinal research by Raskind and colleagues (Goldberg et al., 2003; Raskind et al., 1999) has shown that successful individuals with LD were more likely to seek and accept support offered by others than a group of LD adults with less positive life outcomes. Similarly, Reiff et al. (1997) found that "social ecologies" (supportive and helpful people) play a crucial role in the life success of persons with LD.

Only a few children reported positive expectations for a better future, the likelihood/possibility of overcoming difficulties, or expressed any positive aspects of their LD. Thus, based on their online messages, most children considered their LD and "associated difficulties" as an undesired part of their identity. They used possessive language like "I have LD," and "my LD," self-disclosing their LD identity along with words indicating a lack of competence, such as "I cannot," "Have trouble with ...," and "... is hard." Several children went further, expressing negative attitudes towards their deficits and a desire to "get rid of" their LD. This finding presents a challenge for counselors and educators to help empower these youngsters to cope with their difficulties and "reframe" them (Reiff et al., 1997). Thus, as suggested by Higgins et al. (2002), individuals with LD who are able to view their disability as a positive source in their lives may be in a better position to achieve positive life outcomes. Future interventional studies should explore ways to help children with LD develop positive views of their day-to-day challenges, moving beyond a mere focus on deficits.

Beyond the disclosure of difficulties and LD identities, the online messages illustrate that the participating children shared age-appropriate youth culture (e.g., music, fashion, movies, "romance") (Alvermann, 2004) and that their LD's represented only part of their world. This is a positive finding as research has indicated that the ability to "compartmentalize" an LD, that is, to see it as only one aspect of one's self and not be overly defined by it, is associated with "life success" (Goldberg et al., 2003). Future studies may do well to explore how participating in "popular" youth culture may serve to empower, "normalize," and promote compartmentalization and self-awareness in children with LD. Individuals with LD who are able to compartmentalize are more likely to develop awareness of their special talents and abilities, while accepting their limitations. An awareness of one's strengths and the settings in which to foster them has also been equated with positive life outcomes for persons with LD (Goldberg et al., 2003; Reiff et al., 1997; Werner, 1993).

In summary, the results of this study provide in-depth, authentic, first-hand accounts of children's day-to-day experiences of living with LD. The study enabled us to capture the children's inner voices through self-initiated communication and show the current and potential benefit of the Internet for enabling new and wider social connections for coping with distress by sharing concerns and obtaining social support. Paradoxically, Internet sites may provide a sense of relatedness and closeness, as well as encourage self-disclosure despite the actual physical distance that exists between users. Children using the Internet may feel close to one another, similar to the idea of "secure base" within the attachment conceptualization (Wright, 2004). "Secure base" is terminology proposed initially by Bowlby (1988), who considered the role of care-giving to a baby in terms that are similar to that of an officer in the army who provides a secure base to a soldier,

   ... from which an expeditionary force sets out and to which it can
   retreat, should it meet with a setback. Much of the time, the role
   of the base is a waiting one but it is none the less vital for
   that. For it is only when the officer commanding the expeditionary
   force is confident his base is secure that he dare press forward
   and take risks. (p. 11)

Thus, individuals (babies, as well as children and adults) who have a secure base can "make sorties into the outside world" (p. 11), knowing that they can return for comfort, reassurance, and/or assistance if they encounter difficulties along the way. The need for a secure base by children with LD, and the important role of teachers in this regard for predicting socio-emotional adjustment and academic functioning, has been demonstrated by Al-Yagon and Mikulincer (2004). Future research might explore the role the Internet may play in providing a virtual secure base for children with LD, empowering their coping abilities and promoting their adjustment by creating social environments that facilitate and encourage the formation of close relationships and self-disclosure, as well as promote exploration of their identity.

Implications for Practice

The results of this study have several implications for practice. First, the findings can be used to help sensitize educators and counselors to the social and emotional distress experienced by children with LD. It was clear from the children's messages that they struggle with more than just academics. Increasing awareness of these difficulties, from the insider's perspective, may serve to facilitate the development of effective individual and group interventions that address the social rejection, loneliness, fear, and low self-esteem voiced by these children.

Second, as previously discussed, research (Goldberg et al., 2003; Raskind et al., 1999; Reiff et al., 1997) has indicated that individuals with LD are more likely to have positive life outcomes when they seek and accept support offered by others. Noting the hesitancy of some children to ask for help in the school setting, compared to their apparent willingness to request and receive assistance on the website, practitioners might do well to explore the use of safe and secure virtual communities to provide support. Support and advice might be provided by adult professionals or by peers, some of whom may share the common experience of living with LD. Furthermore, Internet communities may also offer children with LD the chance to give support. Research in peer tutoring has documented that providing help may be as beneficial to the helper as it is to the person receiving help (Topping, 2005). However, children with LD, usually the recipient of assistance, rarely have opportunities to help others. Future projects might do well to explore the ways in which the Internet can be used by children with LD to provide support and help to their peers.

Third, we need to further explore the use of safe and secure Internet communities as a means of fostering children's resilience, sense of competence, and positive self-identity. In a number of instances, children in this study appeared more willing to share their LD identity and experiences of living with LD in an online community than they were in the real world. Educators and counselors may want to provide opportunities for children with LD to participate in virtual communities that enable them to more freely express their inner voices--their struggles and triumphs--and interact in an environment where they are more likely to experience positive interactions with their peers. Such virtual environments may also serve to "normalize" peer interactions by providing a place to share in popular youth culture. Furthermore, participation in virtual communities may provide children the opportunity to explore and accentuate their strengths, abilities and special talents, removed from the real world that often places a greater emphasis on deficits.

Despite its positive contributions, this study has several limitations. It is a descriptive study that, due to legal, practical, and ethical concerns, cannot validate the identification of the sample as "LD." Self-identification of LD was used, with the recognition that research on the Internet ultimately requires the development of innovative procedures to ensure the validity of the sample and the authenticity of the information retrieved. This is a key consideration for future research as the Internet can provide "insider information" that otherwise may not be available.

Further, the study only included children who identified themselves as "LD," and the majority of registered users of the site did not identify themselves as LD. Thus, it is not clear if the children who did not identify themselves as LD are actually not LD, or whether they are, but did not want to disclose their LD identity. Clearly, the study sample may be biased if it primarily consisted of LD children who already had a propensity toward self-disclosure and, therefore, were not reflective of the range of individual differences within the LD population. Unfortunately, at this time, we are unable to determine the hereto- or homogeneity of the sample. Regardless, even if the sample possesses a certain bias, we have been able to capture the self-presentations and inner lives of a group of children with self-identified LD.

Despite its limitations, we believe that this study has shown that the Internet can serve as a safe environment that enables children through self-initiated messages to disclose their LD identity and openly share the experience of living with an LD. In the absence of any "magical passageway," the Internet may be one of the best portals we have into the minds of children with LD and, ultimately, as a medium for addressing their diverse needs.

APPENDIX

Examples of Message Content Indicating Presence of LD/Dyslexia (Spelling errors have not been corrected)

LD

   Was up Kyle I don't like ld what can I do?
   wy do i get teased at school beacause i have an LD
   I have LD in reading what can I do to help
   Why did i have to be the one with ld and my sister wants ld to.
   I have LD
   I have a LD and people make fun of me because have am have speal ed
      i can't spell h
   I have a LD problem and people don't want to be around me or hang
      out with me!
   I am in the LD class.
   do you have an Ld like me.
   Why do i have LD?
   My boyfriend doesn't know that I have a LD.

   I am 10 and live in ... my ld is writing
   i want to tell my friend s about my ld but i dont know how, can you
      help?

   i have 2 ld.
    wy do i get teased at school beacause i have an LD
   I have LD in reading what can I do to help
   How do I get rid of my ld

   Dyslexia

   i also have dyslexia
   I'm sorry about your dyslexia, but I have it to
   I have dyslexia and am in the 3rd grade.
   yes, i have ld or dyslexia, do you?
   I have dyslexia, if I told my friends that would they still like
    me.

AUTHOR NOTE

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the staff of SparkTop.org for their assistance in conducting this research. Although we gratefully acknowledge all staff for their extraordinary efforts, we are particularly thankful to Rajiv Gadkari for developing the data-mining tool that enabled a detailed and systematic analysis of the online messages. Finally, our deepest appreciation goes to the children in this study who revealed their experiences of living with learning disabilities.

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FOOTNOTES

(1) An independent institutional review board (IRB) found this research fully compliant with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' regulations governing the protection of human subjects and exempt from IRB review. This opinion was based on the fact that "there were no human subjects under the Common Rule definition" (45 CFR 46.102(f)). Further, according to the IRB, even if there were human subjects in this study, the research would be exempt under category (b)(2) since "there is (i) no identifiable information and (ii) disclosure would not reasonably place the children at risk for being damaged."

(2) The first author of this paper is employed as director of research by the foundation that developed and operates the website. Although he was not involved in the initial development of the website, he has provided ongoing consultation regarding content, accessibility, and user communications since its public launch in the fall of 2003.

(3) Guests include non-registered users, as well as registered users who may have signed on as guests.

(4) Participation in the study was based on self-identification of LD from surveys, message board posts, and e-mails. Please note that not all participants self-identified again in emails

MARSHALL H. RASKIND, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, San Mateo, California. MALKA MARGALIT, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. ELEANOR L. HIGGINS, Sierra Madre, California.

Address correspondence to: Marshall H. Raskind, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, 1650 S. Amphlett Blvd., Suite 300, San Mateo, CA 94402; [e-mail]