About My LD

Hey my name is Nicole. I am 13 years old and in grade 8. I’m going to tell you about my lifelong struggle with my LD. I have always had struggles with almost everything to do with school, reading, writing, and math.

It was not just school. It was all life situations where you had to remember numbers, letters, words, or even decorations. All of my elementary years I was called lazy and bad. Also that I didn’t listen or try hard enough, even when I knew I was truly trying my hardest.

When I moved to a new school, in grade 7, I was sitting in class. The teacher called on me to do one of the division questions we had for homework that night. I sat there trying to figure out how to do it. The entire class was staring at me. It was so embarrassing. Finally I said, “I don’t know how to do division. She said, “Oh alright, well it’s not that hard. Stay after class and I will show you how.”

So that’s what I did. She was getting ready to show me how. First she showed me a simple addition fact like 2+4. It took me a couple seconds to come up with the answer. Then she new something was up. We kept going over them: 5+2, 2+4, 2+3, 6+2, and 1+2, over and over. They weren’t sticking. Finally we got resource to help, then guidance, then ligature support, then extra time, then less work.

Then one day, some of my teachers got together and told me I was going to see a doctor, a special kind of tutor. They said I can play cool games, read stories, and even look at pictures. But I had to go on this big huge waiting list, like 4 months long. Then they put me at the top of the list because I really needed help.

He came to the school and we worked together for about two days. It was fun. All the stuff we did was fun. Some of it was hard, but all together it was fun. About two weeks after, my mom got a call from the school saying we need to come in for a meeting.

So we went in. All the teachers came in and we sat down and the doctor told us that I had an LD. It was a processing disorder which would affect almost everything I do. This made a real life change for me — a huge adjustment for my life. I was going to see doctors, and meet with guidance counselors, tutors, support teachers, and even a hearing specialist. Together, we figured out plans and things to help me to learn better and more easily.

The best thing to do it not to give up on your self.