I think one of the things we must do as individuals and also as a group is speak out on learning disabilities every chance we get. Let people know the pain we live with, thhe poverty and lack of decent job opportunities ensuring a life of hardship for LD’s, the fact that when we do struggle to get educations to hopefully qualify us for a shot at good jobs, we get riddiculed and made to feel like we don’t belong. Ball and I have both endured ridicule from snot-nosed younger “normal” students in our respective colleges when we had difficulty and prevailed upon peers for help in a class that was not “LD friendly”. As if our lives are not hard enough that we should be subjected to ridicule and bad treatment for having a problem and needing help. We are the ONLY disability class of the disabled population to be deinied SSDI, welfare, and employment opportunities. Many LD’s I know are drug addicts and alcoholics because they reached their threshold limit of pain a long time ago, but being addicts they at least could qualify for some help from welfare. I don’t know of any LD whose postsecondary educational experience was rosy. The ridicule from cruel rotten kids in the classes in college, discrimination and unjust failing marks from profs who refused to accommodate us in the class, being told by some bureucrat that we should “be realistic”, eg. accept our lot in life as being poor, never getting a chance at good jobs, and not belonging,etc This is what we want the “normal” world to know: That they being the ones who are oh-so-smart obviously are not smart enough to help someone instead of hurt them because of a disability they do not understand or care about until one of their kids is born LD.
Re: LD Awareness
Ball:
PA may be somewhat better than rural central NY because in any one of the metropolitan areas where there are colleges, there is an ADA Coordinator on campus. But the situation still leaves much to be desired. Also, the awareness for sensitivity to our needs is increasing somewhat. It is much better for LD’s in the cities than in the rural areas where all attitudes are backwards, especially regarding the treatment of women and equal opportunity employment. I can tell you this from experience because I went from living in Philadelphia, PA with a population of 1.5 million to living in Meadville, PA located 40 miles south of Erie, where the whole population of Crawford County is maybe 40,000. But the colleges in PA are better here about being ADA compliant than in CNY. I have also learned a neat trick for being accommodated: A formal letter of complaint to the Chancellor’s office. The State Chancellor oversees higher ed and is very concerned w/ being ADA compliant. I had to go that route when I was in school at Kutztown State University and had a prof refuse to abide by the accommodations set forth in writing from the campus ADA Cooordinator. I damn near sued the school, and would have. Hardball is often the ONLY language the shmucks understand.
Re: LD Awareness
I agree about speaking out on ADHD and LD. I was given the opportunity to speak with a reporter from Newsday a few weeks ago. My occuptational therapist set it up. I was the only adult to speak and a few of my comments are supposed to be published shortly. The article is mainly about children with Sensory Integration Dysfunction, but it goes on to explain what happens to children as adults if not diagnosed and treated and how in some cases the effects can be extreme. My own family who I would say is somewhat dysfunctional does not really understand how I feel about it. The thing is in alot of cases our disability is hereditary. I know in my case it definitely is. My family made due with their limitations and had a decent lifestyle. My parents do not have my education and do not understand the pain of getting a professional education, passing a qualifying exam and having to deal with the fact that because of a disability in my case mainly visual processing and motor skills not being able to perform at the level required. I understand the subject matter in a verbal or oral sense but do not have the visual understanding and processing speed that is necessary.
People do need to be educated and gradually they are.
Re: LD Awareness
I am a 29 year old African American woman who overcame both a learning disability and delayed language development. I recently had received a Bachelor’s degree and I do agree that we all must stress that having a leaning disability does not make us any less it is just we all learn differently.
Re: LD Awareness
Jacqueline - HANG IN THERE!!! It feels good to read what you wrote - I’m 40 y.o. and found out several months ago through a PrimeTime Live special that I have the symptoms of adult hyperlexia. The anger and frustration you feel are REAL - but don’t let the feelings disable you emotionally.
I FEEL I CAN JUMP FOR JOY!!! when I read what you wrote - I had similar frustrations in college in the early ‘80’s (some of it at a college that closed several years ago in western PA - called Alliance College in the town of Cambridge Springs). I wish I knew then what all of us are dealing with now - the insights, the action to take to deal with the pain and frustration, with - for me - is now an undiagnosed LD. I was just simply ignorant of my condition, and got through college and have a Master’s in Library Science, but have worked in my dad’s textile business for the last 10 years - because I got tired of the struggle - until watching PrimeTimeLive.
It really feels good to know that, no matter what LD each of us has, we each are going through or have gone through a lot of stuff that, only God knows, make us stronger on the inside.
I am trying to get together adults with diagnosed/undiagnosed hyperlexia, but I am open to adults with other types of LD’s with whom we can swap “war stories” and offer each other realistic advice, support, and a shoulder to lean or cry on. I don’t know if you are interested in such a group, or could point me to people (or websites) who could help me find such a group, but I’d like to hear from you anyhow, whether or not you can help me. I’m told I’m a good listener, and I enjoy writing, so maybe here’s my place to SHINE. Please feel free to write me whenever you feel most comfortable, or if you just need someone to VENT to. I’m on “emotional overdrive” a lot myself, so I’ll be here to listen.
Looking forward to hearing from you - take care! - John
Re: LD Awareness
I was just told from a professional that i have dislexia. I think I spelled that right. Anyway, I don’t understand anything about it. I have a 3.6 in college. Is it common to maintain a GPA that high and still have dislexia? I am uncomfortable about this whole thing. I know i have a hard time with reading comprehension. Do they go hand in hand? I am lost and concerned.
Re: LD Awareness
you make a great point of people turning to drugs and alcohol to escape the pain and beign a place in society to treat these with some form of help. Yeah, I have said more then once when I was down that I wish these types of substances would help me escape from how I’m feeling for just a short period of time, but it just makes me sicker and feeing worse is easy to do without adding drugs and alchol so i just try and get by day by day. It’s interesting to see society having to have some type of system helping those that provides funding. Money really has to do with society and how we make changes. Interesting isn’t it?
Re: LD Awareness
I’ve been there- just over ten years ago, when I wasn’t working, I was either skunk drunk, or tokin’ the doobie to numb the pain…bad thing about it is- that all it did was turn me into a mean, cruel, abusive, evil individual- someone I actually hated- myself…on dope and drunk as a skunk. I’m just amazed that I’m not an alcoholic or a drug addict…I still smoke cigarettes, though…After a near scare of a drug bust- which I had nothing to do with- I dropped it. Anymore, if I drink, it’s just one or two fuzzy navel’s- and that’s once or twice a year. Been dope free since January 1994….LOL but I guess you could say I exchanged one “addiction” for another- Creativity….instead of drinking or getting high, I cross stitch, or crochet…but lately, it’s been more crocheting than the other…
Also, I really think that it’s those that HAS the money that has the power- in turn they’re the one that’s going to decide the morals, policies, rules, ect of our society….And you all know as well as I do, that they’re NOT going to do a damn thing to help in a major way- the way it NEEDS to be done…because it’s going to take from that nice well padded bank account of theirs….However, I do think that the time is going to come, when LD’ers and others that have gone with out due to this corrupt,greedy,inhumane system are all going to rise up, and TAKE what we want and need from those that are Have’s….I don’t think they’re going to like it when it DOES happen- or when Karma jumps up and bites them on the butt cheek! I for one wanna see the shocked scared feces-less looks on their faces when it does! Wonder if they’re going to like how it feels when the shoe’s on the other foot…I, for one, intend to be just as merciless as they were to me, durring my times of need…What comes around goes around!
Nita
I got zero official accomodation but I had two non-egghead instructors who gladly gave me extra help. These guys weren’t degreed teachers. They were just two decent common sense kind of guys who were smart enough to know that they didn’t know everything. The accomodation for LD students at the community college that I attended was non existent. I hold a special place in my heart for the two guys that cared enough to help. They figured it was just common decency. They were right.