Thanks for the forum!
I wasn’t diagnosed with my reading disability until I was in nursing school and struggling unbearably. I went to the learning center for help. They spotted the symptoms and tested me.
I had a lot of questions with the coming of the diagnosis and they answered most. One of my first questions was how could I have made it this far, and nobody ever thought to test me before? Their answer was that many LDs learn to cope on their own. This was true for me. Unfortanately, one of the many ways that I learned to cope was cheating in high school. I refused to cheat in college, but found myself struggling and near breaking that promise to myself.
Another question that I had is where did this come from. Of course, they provided a lot of possibilities, with no certain answer. Two of the most likely for me are heridity and I was a forcept baby.
I made it through Nursing School successfully. Assistance was offered, but I was on ROTC scholarship. I approached my ROTC counselor with the “hypothetical” situation that a scholarship recipient had this would it affect his scholarship standing. The response that I got was vague, but ominous. So, I managed with teqniques and tenacity.
I still have problems occasionally in my job remembering simple things, especially when I am overstimulated, or understimulated. I also have always been “quiet”. For the most part, I have attributed and accepted it just as the way that I am. I would like to be able to talk more, but words just aren’t there for me. When I do talk, I tend to mumble. Could this be part of this disability? I am questioning this now because my wife has been aching for more communication from me. She practically demands “Talk to me, honey,” which invariably puts me on the spot and even more at a loss of words. My usual response is “What would you like to talk about?” I was jovially laughing at myself when I told her once, “I’m slow, … . I was a forcept baby, you know.” Evidently, she didn’t know. She is a psychologist, and this seemed to give her great pause, not finding it funny at all.
What can I do to improve my memory for work?
What can I do to improve participation in conversation?
I don’t know why it took me so long to look this up on the net. Never thought of it before. Thanks for being here!
I have problems with being the “slow and quiet one” too. It could very well be a part of your ld. I have dyscalculia and problems with my “verbal working memory” - and it sounds like that this is your problem.
I don’t know how to work with that, how to get better. I never knew that verbal working memory was actually a thing - but now that I know, I can live with it better than before. Know, I can explain/defend myself next time someone says “you dont talk a lot, do you?” (and that comment is NOT rare). If the person I say it to takes it seriously is not up to me, but the fact that I CAN say something to that comment, gives me a whole lot of confidence.
I don’t mind being the quiet one, only the people who just cant take it. I’m not shy, I just have this problem and I can live with that.
I’m thankfull of this forum too. I never thought that my ld existed, so I have never looked it up, before I watched a program in tv where they mentioned dyscalculia.