Stories from the resource room: piano lessons, imaginary illness, and broken-down cars

The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze unstructured, open-ended interviews with children in the first through sixth grades who were identified with specific learning disabilities. The analysis focused on how the children felt about their learning disabilities and how they perceived themselves when labeled learning disabled. Themes emerged from the data that suggested children fabricated stories about (a) where they went during resource time, (b) not being able to read, and (c) being called names and feeling bad about themselves. These findings were discussed in relation to previous research and implications for future placement decisions.