How To Become A Learning Disabilities Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a learning disabilities specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Mary Collins

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a learning disabilities specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.12 an hour? That's $48,090 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 13,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a learning disabilities specialist?

Mary Collins

Professor, Creative Writing/Nonfiction, Program Coordinator, Writing Minors, Career/Internship Advisor, Central Connecticut State University

The main point: your career STARTS IN COLLEGE. The one best place to secure good skills is at the university itself. You can take on tasks at the Student Center that no company would hire you for because you are so inexperienced. So edit the literary journal, write for the newspaper, work for the radio station. Take an internship for course credit. Those that do these things and secure a good faculty mentor do much better when they get out than students who do not. Indeed, national studies show that these factors are more important than the school you go to by far.

ScoreLearning Disabilities SpecialistUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,090

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.9

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.38%

Asian 3.71%

Black or African American 8.86%

Hispanic or Latino 12.13%

Unknown 3.99%

White 70.93%

Gender

female 79.25%

male 20.75%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.8

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a learning disabilities specialist

Explore learning disabilities specialist education requirements

Most common learning disabilities specialist degrees

Bachelor's

58.9 %

Master's

30.5 %

Associate

6.3 %

Start to develop specific learning disabilities specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Support Services	43.77%
Learning Styles	17.18%
Physical Disabilities	15.57%
Student Learning	10.62%
ADHD	4.46%

Complete relevant learning disabilities specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New learning disabilities specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a learning disabilities specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real learning disabilities specialist resumes.

Research learning disabilities specialist duties and responsibilities

Lead strategic planning for eLearning initiatives and manage company-wide training for laboratory information system update.
Help students with organizational and study skills.
Provide consistent on-going consultation to teaching staff to support differentiate instruction for children with IEPs or with challenging behaviors.
Work directly with e-training manager to create training procedures in PowerPoint and convert them into interactive e-training courses in articulate storyline.

Prepare your learning disabilities specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your learning disabilities specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a learning disabilities specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable learning disabilities specialist resume templates

Build a professional learning disabilities specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your learning disabilities specialist resume.

Apply for learning disabilities specialist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a learning disabilities specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do learning disabilities specialists rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Learning disabilities specialist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

First of all, i'll say that i like the routine. I have had amazing health benefits because of waking up early and go to school because i live quite far. In the school, i like the working mechanism and how everyone is committed and dedicated for the job. The most important thing i like is that how i am able to make my place in the room of young, enthusiast children who see me as their mentor. I love being the change maker and i's always love to be a professional learning specialist because this is what angels would do.