Hello all. I was diagnosed in the fall of 2001 by an Educational Psychologist who specializes in the assessment of ADD and LD. His final report said I have severe ADD and MRELD (mixed receptive-expressive language disorder). I’ve looked up MRELD and ran a few searches online to see what I could come up with, but there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of info available. The DSM IV does list it as a learning disorder, however.
Last year I was seeing a therapist who was helping me with co-morbid issues that had not been addressed, such as anxiety and depression. I asked him about the MRELD diagnosis and his opinion was not to put too much stock in the diagnosis, because he believes this is a disorder that can only be determined by a language or speech pathologist. I would assume the Ed Psychologist who administered the series of tests to determine the ADD would know this and account for it. But I don’t know who to believe. Does anyone know anything about MRELD?
I do know this: while I am very articulate and well-spoken, I often find that I have trouble deciphering meaning and/or salient points of class lectures, instructions from employers, etc. This was actually noticed and documented by my first English instructor in the fall of 2003 when I had returned to school. I’ve also noticed that I can hear what is being said, but I don’t always understand and often ask for clarification. This has created a plethora of problems for me in the workplace and also causes me to fall behind in college courses when assignments are giving verbally.
I’ve asked instructors to give instructions for assignments in writing to help me avoid misunderstanding, but wanting them to accomodate this and actually getting them to do it are two completely different things. Many of them are simply unwilling to work a little harder than they already are, and I have even detected annoyance from various instructors when I ask. It’s as if they suspect me for being lazy and not paying attention in class, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The hard part is, I don’t understand this diagnosis enough to actually implement a strategy for overcoming it. I’m a 46-year old man who just wants to build a decent life for myself.
Please help.
Ollin
Hmmm…. sounds like you’ve figured out lots of ways to compensate - could be working on how you phrase the questions might help so that it sounds more like you’re just missing a piece of something. (“When you talked about … could you review just how …. one more time so I can make sure my notes are complete?”) And then try to say something that is interpreting it if you can … something that show’s you’re thinking.
And… if they’re annoyed at working a little harder, so be it. Sometimes waitstaff are annoyed at working a little harder too - but if you need a seat further away from the smoking section you ask for it anyway. If your goal is to get an education from them, then don’t let annoyance keep that from happening. Kinda like that biblical widow who just kept being a pest ;-)