Would you take a pill to get rid of your LD?

Are there side effects from the pill?

If not, then likely yes I’d take it.

But to each their own and I could understand others feeling differently on the matter.

Are there side effects from the pill?

If not, then likely yes I’d take it.

But to each their own and I could understand others feeling differently on the matter.

If, right now, I could take a pill without side effects and suddenly have the ability to…
for sure!
Now, of course my personal challenges and quarks and quirks have helped carve me into the stellar person that I am… so I’m not sure what I’d change in hindsight, though a better memory would, I think, just be better period. Being forgetful doesn’t build character :-)

I agree with the above posters that it is impossible to tell how much of *me* would disapprear. How much of my personity is due to growing up with LD.

If I could keep my personality and all I have learned about me yet get rid of the LD I would do it in a second.

Barb

These are great replies.

No “medical” side effects but of course, Barb’s comment might be classified as a side effect: in getting rid of your LD how much of “you” goes with it?

I once asked this question of a bunch of college students and one said “I would never take it but I’d give it to my child.” What an interesting answer.

This hypothetical begs the question: is LD in all of its various forms something that can be isolated for easy removal?

Then there’s the issue: were there dyslexic brains in the pre-literate world? If so, what is it about the current situation that makes being dyslexic so hard? Might there be a time when things change enough so that being dyslexic or ADD or NLD might be an attribute?

Then there’s the diversity issue: if all brains were alike what kind of world would be live in? The eugenics issue is a big one in that our culture tends to feel that a certain look and a certain kind of intelligence (level and kind) is essential for success. There’s no doubt that Americans have big problems with diversity (not all but many) and not just diversity of ethnicity; diversity of learning style as well.

Then there’s the Einstein / Edison / et al, issue: did being dyslexic play any part in the way these people went about doing their work? If so, if they took the pill, what might have happened (or not happened)?

Okay, I’ll stop now… but I do love this question and the discussion it elicits.

“I once asked this question of a bunch of college students and one said “I would never take it but I’d give it to my child.” What an interesting answer.”

Maybe interesting but I’d bet common. My first thought was something similar. The reason being that I have found coping mechanizes. And, as an adult, I can pick and choose what situations I place my self in. My child has not yet picked up the coping techniques and it hurts him to have difficulities, to be slower than the other children. And he MUST be in school…the very place his LD is most likely to be a problem.

“Then there’s the Einstein / Edison / et al, issue:…”

You didn’t say this but most people imply that these people had LD and that accounts for their creativity. That without LD, these people would have been less creative and therefore less productive. Playing Devil’s advocate to that position…could it be that they simply were very creative people and would have produced MORE if not hindered by LD?

“Then there’s the issue: were there dyslexic brains in the pre-literate world? If so, what is it about the current situation that makes being dyslexic so hard? Might there be a time when things change enough so that being dyslexic or ADD or NLD might be an attribute?”

I beleive dyslexic brains have existed since the begining of mankind. The time we live in dictates that most of us spend a considerable amount of time reading and writing to earn our daily bread. If my child had been born even just two generations ago he would be in the field or shop at this age not fighting school. Might there be a time when LD traits heavyly outweigh the “problems?” Intersting thought!

Barb,

Great thoughts. Let me share a piece of writing I did on this a while back. I just reread it; don’t think I can do much better now.

;)

http://www.ldresources.com/articles/gifted_dyslexics.html

discuss???

No “medical” side effects but of course, Barb’s comment might be classified as a side effect: in getting rid of your LD how much of “you” goes with it?

In my case, I’d give up that part of ‘me’ in return for the increased abilities. It would be nice to be able to listen to a lecture without having to struggle to attend, to organize myself without feeling it a tortuous process, to calculate numbers in my head, the list could go on. It would have been nice to have been a young child in school without teachers screaming at me.

This hypothetical begs the question: is LD in all of its various forms something that can be isolated for easy removal?

Not yet but I’d look forward to the day when I might have the choice to have my ld(s) removed.

Then there’s the issue: were there dyslexic brains in the pre-literate world? If so, what is it about the current situation that makes being dyslexic so hard?

SCHOOL makes being ld hard. Ld people can function in the multitude of jobs there are in the real world but school is a contrived world that makes us all jump through the same hoop. School insists that individuals not be individuals and judges us on our ability to conform to one model.

Might there be a time when things change enough so that being dyslexic or ADD or NLD might be an attribute?

Let it be soon. My dyslexic son has some incredible visual qualities - he can see the other side of the mirror as it were - but all school wanted him to do was read at ‘grade level’ and answer the questions at the end of the chapter with correctly spelled answers and memorize the definitions to vocabularly words he couldn’t read.

Then there’s the diversity issue: if all brains were alike what kind of world would be live in? The eugenics issue is a big one in that our culture tends to feel that a certain look and a certain kind of intelligence (level and kind) is essential for success. There’s no doubt that Americans have big problems with diversity (not all but many) and not just diversity of ethnicity; diversity of learning style as well.

No doubt and the biggest evidence of it lies in our schools.

Then there’s the Einstein / Edison / et al, issue: did being dyslexic play any part in the way these people went about doing their work? If so, if they took the pill, what might have happened (or not happened)?

Einstein did poorly in school - what else might he have accomplished if school hadn’t stifled him?

Okay, I’ll stop now… but I do love this question and the discussion it elicits.[/quote]

What I would rather do is have a pill that made normal people LD. Perhaps then some compassion, accomodation and understanding would be forthcoming.

That would be alot better than a pill.

I would like to administer that pill to doctors and educators. I would like the pill to be enormous with very sharp edges and I would like to administer it to them via their rectums with my foot.

Instead of wanting the kids to be changed to conform to the schools, why don’t we work on getting the schools to conform to the needs and learning styles of the kids?

This last post is wonderful, made my morning to read it.

I’ve just spent the last 25 years doing just that: traveling around the world (mostly in the US but plenty overseas too) talking about the connection between technology and the experience of having a learning disability in school.

I also share stories about my own experiences growing up with dyslexia and the social and academic liabilities of “being different.”

I think I’ve made a small difference… small. And, that fact is depressing. The culture of LD has changed very little since I started and the change that’s taken place has, in my opinion, made things worse for everyone: LD students, LD adults, and everyone who works with or is tied to us in some way.

Sounds like Brian has had some bad experiences with doctors and teachers and would like to kick some butt.

Remember, not all doctors and teachers are the enemy: there are plenty of good ones in both categories, some of whom are LD themselves. Gotta be careful not to stereotype “them” the way they seem to stereotype us.

What I see is a system that spends alot of resources inorder to promote innorance which is the status quo.

I don’t think there is anyone here who has had too many positive outcomes when dealling with the system.

I firmly believe that making idiots uncomfortable is the only way to motivate them. Only the poor and downtrodden are altruistic. The higher the salary the higher the selfishness.

Richard while I can appreciate your well reasoned and diplomatic style, I have long ago replaced diplomacy with militant advocacy.

The rich are decadent opressors while the rich wannabes aspire to be just like them.

Our educational system is in shambles. They are unable to educate normal kids adequately. Teachers are unable to keep order in their 15 pupils and under classrooms without having the kids doped up. There is a simple reason for this. Today’s teachers have it too easy and they are incompetent. The reason you have made very little diference is because you are working within a system that is designed to fail.

I would like to see the entire system fall into even more chaos and collapse.

The educational system is a farce and completely incompetent. It is based of disproven educational theory and is completly inflexible.

Those who can do. Those who can’t teach. Those who can’t teach, teach education.

Richard and Guest—

I think that just about sums it up. We’d like to change the schools and are working on it but after 25 years little has changed. Even though I continue to work within the system to change it so all children win, I realize my child will be long gone before “the system” is fixed. That doesn’t mean we should give up on working on it, though.

Somethings cannot be repaired. Our energy would be better spent dismantling the current mess and replacing it with something that works.

The flaws need to be indentified and teacher compensation should be based on merit.

All teacher should be able to pass basic competancy tests. As it stands now the majority of school teachers are sub par. Our kids deserve better and we deserve our money’s worth.

Passing competency tests does not mean that a teacher is able to teach. You cannot measure a person’s ability to work with others in a written test.

I don’t know how you would determine where the merit pay goes. Merit pay for teachers whose classes perform well on their tests is questionable. I have seen many teachers teaching to the test right before it is given as this is what you will have on today’s test. I have been around a long enough to to see that appearances on the outside are deceiving. No one can physically do all that some teachers claim they do. The problem is that only a few of us see the corners that were cut to achieve this outside appearance.

[quote=”Anonymous”]Passing competency tests does not mean that a teacher is able to teach. You cannot measure a person’s ability to work with others in a written test.

I don’t know how you would determine where the merit pay goes. Merit pay for teachers whose classes perform well on their tests is questionable. I have seen many teachers teaching to the test right before it is given as this is what you will have on today’s test. I have been around a long enough to to see that appearances on the outside are deceiving. No one can physically do all that some teachers claim they do. The problem is that only a few of us see the corners that were cut to achieve this outside appearance.[/quote]

If we follow your logic then all tests like driving tests, math tests, history tests are irrelevant.

There probably are teacher who pass competency tests that are not vey good teachers but is a teacher is unable to pass a basic competancy test I think it is time for them to find another job.

Teacher’s performance should be evaluated. All other workers can an are judged by their employers as to their competence. Competent workers are usally rewarded while incompetant one end up in the unemployment line. Why should it be any different for teachers?

I agree that teachers need to know their subject matter. The problem I was referring to with competency tests is that just because you know the subject matter doesn’t mean you can break it apart and teach it effectively. There is a big difference.

Yes, everyone needs to be evaluated, but I’ve seen too much outside appearance stuff get rewarded when other, more important items, were left undone. It is the outside appearance stuff though that people see.

Sometimes too, people expect miracles from the teachers. With a classroom of 25 children, you are expected to take care of the ills of all and successfully teach to the individual needs of all. If not it is the teacher’s fault. People need to look more at how the system is set up. I will say it again, the educational system needs to be changed to conform with the needs of the children. It is just not working the way it is now.

[quote=”Anonymous”]I agree that teachers need to know their subject matter. The problem I was referring to with competency tests is that just because you know the subject matter doesn’t mean you can break it apart and teach it effectively. There is a big difference.

Yes, everyone needs to be evaluated, but I’ve seen too much outside appearance stuff get rewarded when other, more important items, were left undone. It is the outside appearance stuff though that people see.

Sometimes too, people expect miracles from the teachers. With a classroom of 25 children, you are expected to take care of the ills of all and successfully teach to the individual needs of all. If not it is the teacher’s fault. People need to look more at how the system is set up. I will say it again, the educational system needs to be changed to conform with the needs of the children. It is just not working the way it is now.[/quote]

Part of the reformation of the educational system should be standards for teachers. Teachers whine that they are credentialed professionals. Most professionals need to periodically demonstrate their competency. The majority of teacher are unable to pass competency tests.

Teachers are not entirely to blame for the state of the school system. There is plenty of blame to go around.

this teaching to the test topic is a great one; as is dismantling “the sytem” but might I recommend that we post a new topic on this and maybe get back to the question at hand:

Would you take a pill to get rid of your LD?

;)

Hey, I drift more than most, just trying to gently moderate from the sidelines.

And, if somehow you end up going this new way I’m interested in that too and will be happy to join in.

[quote=”Anonymous”]Passing competency tests does not mean that a teacher is able to teach.

I agree. I think all schools should do what’s often done on the college level. At the end of every semester, you fill out a survey on your professors. Secondary teachers should be required to do the same thing. Parents and students comments should be added into the decision of merit pay and who can teach and not teach. A compentency test does not mean a teacher can teach. Parents, students and other faculty members know who can teach and who can’t teach.

People need to look more at how the system is set up. I will say it again, the educational system needs to be changed to conform with the needs of the children. It is just not working the way it is now.[/quote]

Absolutely. But high on the list of people who need to look at the system are teachers themselves. The teachers’ union is the second largest union in the country - if they would raise their voice for changing the system or even reducing class size, likely they’d get it. But all the teachers’ union does is ask for higher pay.

Teachers are one of the biggest obstacles to changing schools for the better.

People need to look more at how the system is set up. I will say it again, the educational system needs to be changed to conform with the needs of the children. It is just not working the way it is now.[/quote]

Absolutely. But high on the list of people who need to look at the system are teachers themselves. The teachers’ union is the second largest union in the country - if they would raise their voice for changing the system or even reducing class size, likely they’d get it. But all the teachers’ union does is ask for higher pay.

Teachers are one of the biggest obstacles to changing schools for the better.

No. I’d be too worried that it would change parts of my personality that are shaped by my disability. I don’t think I’d exchange my creativity and high language skills for the ability to do logorithmic(sp?) equations in my head.

Well said.

I think what promted me to ask the question was to get an idea of what people thought the trade off might be.

No way to know exactly but I like your thinking.

Hell yeah! I wish I could be cured of AD/HD forever.

My daughter was dx’ed in grade 3 with ADHD, in 8th grade with NLD. Life has been a struggle for her and, as a single parent, for me. I have spent thousands of dollars trying to discover the diagnosis and we do not enjoy a good relationship through her teen years because normal developmental issues are attenuated by NLD and ADHD. We have been victims of the inept professionals for so long that it is almost a joke.

In what turn of the universe would I not jump at the chance to fix this problem permanently? Oh, please

No- I would not take a pill to “fix” my LD. I feel it is what makes me unique. I have learned to deal with and accomodate for my LD, why would I want to suddely change that. That to me is like making the whole world the same. Being LD is what makes the world go around. I am perfectly happy the way I am!