Welcome

I appreciate your site support and hope other adults will use this site as well.
I myself have LD and ADD. Even though school has been very rough, I am finding that working is even rougher than grad. school. At least in school I got more help and understanding than what I get now … matter of fact, I got fired from a large hospital because of my disabilities, even though they knew about my LD and ADD when they hired me. I now work at another hospital but it’s not in my chosen profession that I love and have my degree in.
I would greatly appreciate amy help that you could offer.
Thanks,
Maria

Just keep on trying! That’s all that we should be asked to do. I work at Super Target Overnights. At first the work was a little hard and I needed to be told to do thangs differenty

Dear AA, Jennifer, and Kathleen,

I would like to thank all of you individually for replying to my message with words of encouargement and to have these 2 adult sites. It helps so much to be able to talk and connect with others like myself because many times I tend to feel alone since I’m not in school anymore; even though the work was very hard, at least I had support and friends on campus who I could see everyday. Now, the adustment to the “real world” of work is not only different but difficult as well since I need to learn a whole new set of rules that I really don’t understand and I can’t seem to find anyone to really help me because my family (parents and siblings, and other family members) and Voc. Rehab. can only do so much.

To answer your question AA, my field is Recreation Therapy and the real reason why I got fired is partly because of my LD and ADD … there are many reasons why I got fired but the gist of it was that I my supervisor felt “threatened” by me (as told to me by colleagues on the fl. above me), my gifts of caring for others was not liked, not get trained very well (1 day on all the charting for the big hospital (no tour of the hospital, just the unit I was working on) which I couldn’t comprehend, I also took longer to complete assessments since I had to look up previous charts to use as a guideline since my supervisor was never around since she was working between two large hospitals, and the biggest mistake I made was not listening to my fellow co-workers (worked with them from the floor above me) who told me not to trust anyone on the 6th fl. where I worked.. I should have listened to them and take their message more to heart but I didn’t think people could actually be that evil until I got fired. How I got fired was very nasty and I don’t want to waste your time with all the details. I was completely devastated because I was only certified for a couple of months before I got fired from my first job. I now have a job in a hospital but it’s not in my chosen field and I tend to get so depressed about not having a good job, etc. Well, tomorrow I have an interview at another hospital as a recreation therapist so we’ll see how it goes.
I hope this makes sense, and I hope I answered your question.

Maria

Maria,

I am a wife (15 years) of a man with severe Learning Disabilities, a mother of a son who is Talented and Gifted with Learning Disabilities (I think my husband would have been TAG, too) and a teacher of high school students with Learning disabilities. 3 years ago, I worked for the principal from Hades. Nothing I could, was right or worked. Others tried to tell me that this principal had a “bullet with my name on it”, but I felt that I could overcome. I, too, felt that I had stared evil in the face.

I am writing to let you know that at the ripe old age of 48, I found out the world isn’t all wine and flowers and I have lived to tell about it and ended up in a better situation than before. I was non-renewed. I was devastated.

Subsequently I moved from a school in which I could nothing right to one where I could do almost no wrong.

I have decided that in my case, as well as my husband and son, and the students I teach, we thrive under different conditions. The best thing you can do is, without announcing your disabilities, be sure to tell others what you need - if you need the supervisor’s help - don’t hesitate to ask for it (or from others who can assist). Don’t let the turkeys get you down, Maria. There are too many of them.

I hope I’ve helped. These things happen to all people, but I know it’s especially devastating to someone in your position.

Hi Maria!

Oh Wow! I’ve been reading your posts and am very inspired. I am hoping to get into a disability-related field, but have been hesistant to do so. You’ve showed me that despite the struggles, it is possible for an LD person to pursue a Masters Degree. I’ve never truly understood my LD, so I’m getting retested to get a better understanding, plus have current documentation should I decide to go back to school and get support.

I also know what it feels like to be fired without being given much of a chance. I just can’t believe a hospital would do that, much less a department that supposedly has an understanding of disabilities! Just hang in there. I am in a job in a really good place, but I’m not really doing what I want. I hope you find a job that you like because I am a real believer in doing a job you love and can identify with, not just to get a paycheck.

Good luck to Maria and everyone else on the board. This board is really great idea!

Take care!

Christine

Dear AA, LMJ, and Christine,

I just wanted to thank all of you for your great support! It means a lot to me to know that I’m not the only person in the world who is going through similar tough situations in life. What life lessons I have been learning this past yr. or so.
It gives me hope to know that there is a place out there that is just right for me. Even though I feel like giving up many times, I know I must go on for myself, and for others as well.
The large hospital I was working at did know abut my LD because when I did my internship there before I entered grad. school (had to have an internship in Recreation Therapy since my undergrad. degree was in Social Work and Psychology). I find it to be very ironic that my LD didn’t bother them during my internship or when they hired me for the position to take over while the other therapist was on maternity leave. In retrospect, I met evil and starred it in her face. No matter what I did, just seemed to enraged her more. Even though I’m still very hurt by her actions, I have learned a lot and have made some great friends from the floor above. This has lead me to get more help with the ADD part of my disability which wasn’t really addressed much in school since it was clumped together with my LD as part of the same group of disabilities. I have also learned that having LD and ADD has given me a unique perspective on life in which I can see my strengths as well as weaknesses - strength of persistence, determination and caring and genuine compassion for others and weakness of having to do things differently than others which doesn’t mean it’s wrong, it’s just different … unfortunately many people cannot seem to relate to others who need to a project, or whatever, in a different way and I feel sorry for those individuals because they are missing out on so much that life has to offer. I must also give credit to my family and friends who never told me that I couldn’t go to college like my siblings , they just said that I haven’t found the right school for me, and they were right.

All of your comforting messages has helped me to continue with what others have told me … which is that I should write a book about my life experiences, all the trials and tribulations concerning my LD, ADD, getting through school and now trying to find my way through the vast maze of the working world. Just to let you all know, I have been working on my book for a little over a yr. now and I already have a title, a dedication, and about 150 pgs. of notes so far. All of you have touched my heart and are thought of with fondness. I look forward to seeing you on this great site.

Thanks again for opening your hearts,
Maria

I want to thank LD on line for starting this new area. I like the way that you set it up. It helps to read all the responces in the area and preview what is written. The continuity really helds me in regard to the disability problem that i have. I will be repsonding in more detail in about a week once I finish my three proojects. Is there any way that you can cahnge you older files so that the topic are all together with the number of respondences as the new one. Thank You agfian for starting this and the way in which you set it up.