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The articles listed on this page are written by LDAO or shared/submitted by our partners; sources are listed within each document. The broad headings below are a quick-glance guide to the categories; the articles are also Tagged when they are uploaded, so that they can appear at the bottom of relevant pages throughout the site. These articles can also be accessed by using the search feature at the very top of any page. If you would like to submit or suggest an article, please submit it below this page.
Author: Brenda McBride, LDA of Canada, Consumer Representative, Saskatchewan
Source: National, Winter 1999
Having a Learning Disability forces one to develop several positive aspects of one’s life. There are many positive traits that come from having a Learning Disability but there are a few key traits which make the life of an individual with a Learning Disability a positive experience. A combination of finding meaningful relationships, hard work, and getting to know yourself create a powerful mix which will take anyone far.
You must develop meaningful relationships with people who will give you support along the way. You do this consciously or unconsciously as you manoeuvre yourself into a network of people who are willing to accept you as you are, and to help you in time of need. In the last year, I have completed my university degree with the help of dorm-mates, professors, and classmates. To this day, I feel they do not fully understand the help they were during study groups or when I would ask to look at their notes after a professor had skimmed over a very important point. Through discussions, I was able to gain better understanding of subject matter and to help others look at the world in a different way.
With a Learning Disability, you soon learn that hard work is a requirement for success. I was not labelled a geek, but rather an individual who was hard working and determined. The strong work ethic allowed me to put the extra effort into my projects that was absent from the work of those who take learning for granted and for whom new skills came easily. If I hadn’t explained to my dorm-mates that I had to work hard for my grades then there would have been some misunderstanding. The strategies I used as I went through the material of the day allowed me to achieve my goals for each semester. Since I was in a dorm situation, my example of hard work, and the techniques I employed were adapted by others.
This work ethic also pays off as you move from post-secondary into the workforce. Hard work, extra effort and diligence don’t go unnoticed. Employers look for these characteristics in employees. In the work place, others come by to see how they can understand and help their friends who are in need. I find that we are able to find the accommodations for our own needs.
So when someone comes along and finds out that you learn in a different way, they are willing to do extra things and make extra accommodations for you.
When a person is identified with a Learning Disability, they should understand their strengths and weaknesses. Discovering yourself as an individual with Learning Disabilities has certain benefits. Understanding and accepting yourself allows you a voice and sets an example for others around you. Every person is quite different but once you understand how you learn best and what you do well, you can capitalize on this knowledge and use it to your advantage. The strengths of a person with Learning Disabilities are areas in which one can see wonderful success.
In the twenty-first century there will be more information available about learning disabilities. This information will allow for empowerment of the individual as this invisible handicap becomes better understood and accepted. It is not that we are lazy, crazy, or stupid. It is actually the opposite in many cases.
As you can see there is a dynamite combination that offers the tools for a successful situation. In many cases, it is a team effort which increases understanding of one’s self and others. Through this process, we create a synergy or positive energy. Strong relationships, hard work, and understanding ourselves empowers us to accomplish our goals. Our circumstances force us to find the keys for the life skills we need to be successful.
Author: Liz Bogod
Source: reprinted with permission
This is the story of how I came to accept that my learning disability is nothing to be ashamed of.
Through a long, painful journey to arrive at this acceptance, I have come to know my many strengths and to find skills that I did not know I possessed. I offer my story to other LD children, youth and adults, in the sure knowledge that, if they can come to the realization of their own true abilities and talents, like me, they can shed the sense of shame which all too often leaves people with LD feeling dumb, stupid and altogether incapable.
This story begins where all stories must start, at the beginning. I was six years old. It was September and the long, hot summer had come to an end. When I got to school, I knew something was not quite right. I was returning to the same classroom and the same teacher but there were none of the same students. I was in Kindergarten again. My parents told me that my birth date was in the wrong month, which meant I could not go into grade one and would have to repeat Kindergarten. At the time, I accepted this explanation.
It was not until the following year in grade one that I had any inclination that the excuse my parents used for repeating Kindergarten was a white lie. I did not know that the real reason was because I could only count to 10 while my classmates were counting to 100; I could not tie my shoes while classmates were tying them for me; and I could not write my first name.
I have vivid memories of my parents meeting my grade one teacher to discuss my school difficulties. After being sent out of the room fully aware of the topic of conversation, I was mad! How dare you, I thought, have a conversation about me without including me! My attempts to eavesdrop failed. But I did not need to hear what they were saying, I knew exactly that they were talking about me and my unfinished math book! I had tried to hide the fact that I could not cope with math and had hidden the math book in my desk.
Soon I was to be faced with one of the most traumatic experiences of my childhood. I found myself with my mother in an interview with a scary doctor who seemed to have no rapport with children. I was commanded to answer her questions. She frightened me and I instantly took a dislike to her. I shut up like a clam and was totally uncooperative. I remember my mother arguing with her so evidently things did not go well. Many years later, I discovered this scary doctor was a very eminent child psychiatrist at a major children’s hospital!
The next thing that happened to me was that I was moved into a special education class. I wondered what was so special about me? I was just a normal kid who wanted to fit in, do well in school, and make my parents proud of me, but somehow my inability to do math and other learning disabilities seemed to make me “special”. So the “special” kid went into a “special” class with seven other “special” kids, with other “special” problems. I felt different and abnormal.
I remained in the special education class for two years. During this time, I was slowly reintegrated back into the mainstream class. My academic reintegration went fairly smoothly but my social re-integration was a disaster. On my first day I went to class wanting to make friends, but I really did not know how. My poor social skills made it difficult for me to relate to people. I had trouble understanding humour, keeping up with conversations, and using and understanding body language. As a result, children did not want to play with me.
The memories I have of my early school years are of isolation, loneliness and the many recesses when I sat alone on the school steps. When I set out to find a friend the kids ran away from me. One well meaning, but misguided, teacher took pity on me sitting by myself and decided to assign me a “friend”. News of this assigned friend got around the school and I was told, “You’re such a loser, you had to be assigned a friend.” Throughout my elementary school years, I experienced this kind of social rejection over and over again. This was the part of my learning disability nobody understood.
The story moves forward, to high school. To help with my learning disabilities in math, science and French, I would spend one period a day in the school Learning Centre, often called the Romper Room! Math and French were compulsory in grade nine and I had a lot of difficulty with these credits, but coping socially weighed much more heavily on my mind. I dreaded group work because I was always the last one to be picked to join a group.
I was really very unhappy in high school. I felt totally isolated, and soon became depressed. I was labelled as being mentally ill and passed from one psychiatrist to another. Many interpretations were made to explain my problem. I was told I had a depressive mental illness and was put on medication. I was told I was too dependent on my parents which I have since learned is very common with learning disabilities.
With hindsight, I know all my pain could have been prevented. To know the cause of my problem would have enabled me to cope with it. It was the not knowing that left me in the dark. I am not sure quite when I discovered I had a learning disability. I think I always knew, but could not put a label to it. One day I found myself at a Learning Disability Association. Here I read some of the literature on the topic and here I found a revelation. As I filled out a learning disabilities checklist, I was amazed to find how much of the list applied to me. I was also amazed to learn that many of the symptoms had to do with social skills.
To be able to label my problem as a learning disability was the beginning of my recovery. I had a reason for being as I am. I was not mentally sick, retarded or stupid. As I continued to explore this subject, I found out how many famous people have learning disabilities, and as I was able to speak to others on this topic, I found how many people there are who have a learning disability.
Finally, I decided to come out of the closet altogether! I decided that much more was to be gained by shouting out my learning disability and making others aware that though it takes us longer, is more difficult, those of us with learning disabilities get there in the end and can be successful, productive members of society. I wanted to be proud of my new philosophy.
This is why I decided to start a web site called “LD Pride Online” (www.ldpride.net).
Author: written in collaboration with adults having learning disabilities
Source: reprinted with permission from Learning Disabilities Association of Quebec
Having a specific learning disability is an inherent, life long condition that can affect friendships, school, work, self-esteem or daily life. Many adults with learning disabilities have graduated from high school, college, trade schools or university, becoming successful in business, the arts or in their chosen profession. But for many, success has not been easy. Even though they are intelligent, some adults are conditioned to believe that they are stupid, lazy and defeated, resulting in frustration, disappointment, low self-confidence and failure.
What Is A Learning Disability?
It is a disorder that affects individuals of potentially average to above average intelligence by interfering with the central nervous system and its ability to process information. Learning disabilities affect the way in which an individual takes in, remembers and understands information, as well as how an individual expresses that knowledge.
Some adults may experience problems in one or more of these general areas:
- Memory
- Reasoning
- Coordination
- Communication
- Social Competence
Common Signs and Characteristics
Adults with learning disabilities may excel in the following areas:
- Imagination
- Creativity
- Motivation
- Perseverance
- Spoken language
- Verbal information
- Visual information
- Mathematics
Or they may have difficulty in the following areas:
- Reading, writing, spelling, communicating and calculating
- Following written instructions
- Expressing ideas in writing
- Completing job application forms
- Finding or keeping a job
- Budgeting and managing money
- Managing time and activities
- A short attention span, restlessness or hyperactivity
- Carrying out simultaneous tasks
- Remembering and following the sequence of instructions
- Breaking tasks down into segments
- Following verbal instructions
- Understanding appropriate social behaviour
- Poor coordination and spatial disorientation
- Classification and organization of information
- Problem solving strategies
How Many People Have Learning Disabilities?
You are not alone! Learning disabilities affect approximately 1 out of every 10 people. This is more than 2 million Canadians.
Is It Too Late?
Before 1980, very little was done to help adults with learning disabilities. What can you do? If solid coping skills and compensatory strategies are not developed, the learning disability may continue to interfere with work, education and social relations. By developing skills and taking advantage of new technologies adults with learning disabilities will be able to succeed. Remember, it is never too late to ask for help.
Using Successful Strategies
- You can make a difference by taking control of your life and achieving your potential.
- Develop coping strategies
- Know and manage your specific learning disability
- Find other adults with learning disabilities for sharing strategies and information
- Be assessed by a professional trained in learning disabilities (neuro-psychologist, educational psychologist, etc.)
- Get counselling
- Develop your self-esteem through your strengths
- Set goals based on your abilities
- Know and use technology to compensate for weaknesses
- Know your legal rights
- Things to Remember
- Having a learning disability is a condition for life
- You are not alone
- Support and information is available
- Celebrate your uniqueness
- Never give up
Author: Carol Yaworski, Former Executive Director, LDAO
Source: LDAO
“I don’t want my child labelled!”
In my almost two years at LDAO, I believe that this phrase best characterizes both our greatest triumph and frustration as an organization, and represents a parent’s greatest educational dilemma. Countless times since my arrival, I’ve heard this phrase and its faithful companion, ” My child’s school doesn’t want him labelled.” The context is usually a scenario in which a child several years into their education is struggling to keep up. An otherwise bright child is not learning to read or is failing math and his parents and sometimes his school are desperate to find out why. The decisions begin. Is an assessment necessary, should an IPRC be held or is this just a manifestation of immaturity which time will correct? Valuable time is often lost and the child falls even further behind. At the heart of this statement is a parent’s wish that their child’s opportunities not be limited and their fear that the label will do just that.
In our efforts to help the public understand learning disabilities, LDAs have delivered a series of messages that can both reassure and demoralize. People with learning disabilities are of average or above average intelligence. The term “gifted and LD” is not an oxymoron. We all know of successful people in many high profile endeavours who have a learning disability. This reassures us that with the right help, a different way of learning can lead to success. That’s the good news, the positive message.
There are other accurate, yet less encouraging descriptors with which everyone affected by learning disabilities struggles. It’s neurologically-based. Does that mean brain damage? It’s called a disability, a word that some reject in favour of euphemisms such as ‘learning differences.’ And finally, it’s a lifelong condition which removes hope for permanent solutions or for outgrowing the problem. These latter messages, while being honest and accurate, are not messages of hope and understandably some people with learning disabilities or those who care for them accept the positive messages and reject the others. What’s the harm, they’ll ask?
There are two types of harm here. The first is a denial of access to services and the second a more abstract but equally damaging kind of denial.
Let’s deal with the first. The fact is that in order to receive the appropriate remedial assistance under the new funding formulae, an assessment resulting in identification is necessary to access intensive funding (ISAs). Furthermore, under the Special Education Per Pupil Allocation (SEPPA), receiving basic and sufficient remedial services is often made very difficult. Too many school boards are attempting to avoid the IPRC process and are not committing adequate resources to professional, timely assessment. This is sometimes done under the guise of wishing to prevent a child from being labelled. Even if we accept a benevolent motivation, a lack of access to the education that remediation brings seems a high price for a child to pay. How can feeling better today be worth a lifetime of underachievement? How can we also ignore the reality that the most successful people with learning disabilities are those who understand what they can and can’t do and what they need to move forward?
More than it has been in the past thirty years, school attendance is becoming a measurable process. Starting next year, students must pass Grade 10 literacy tests to graduate from high school. As an association, LDAO is pushing hard to ensure that LD students are accommodated and not exempted because if they are, they will not leave high school with the diploma and skills necessary to succeed in post-secondary education, if that is their goal. A certificate of completion and being warehoused rather than educated is a surefire path to a life of dependency or at best subsistence jobs, when the potential for much more often exists. It is our view that high school students with learning disabilities must have access to the accommodations necessary to level the playing field and to do that it is essential to recognize the learning disability and what remedies are required. Identification or labelling holds the educational system accountable and provides the roadmap to appropriate remediation. There may be occasions when a child receives the appropriate help without identification, but they’re becoming increasingly rare and it’s a risk with lifelong consequences.
Finally, let’s look at the other argument against labelling, namely the consequences on a child or adult’s self-esteem and how they’ll be viewed by others. A disability is simply not being able to do certain things, such as hear, see or walk. For someone with an auditory processing problem, it can mean the inability to decode complex oral instructions when a written list of those same instructions poses no problem. For such a person, certain jobs, such as paramedic work for example, will always be a problem and in that context they will be disabled. However, any number of other options exist and with the right information, the right choices can be made and doors can be opened. When I hear a parent’s reluctance to “label,” I’m usually struck by the thought that the child knows that something’s wrong and that the learning disability label is invariably preferable to the other labels they carry such as lazy, stupid, immature or bad.
My most satisfying moments at LDAO have usually been with adults who are delighted to learn after decades of heartbreak and confusion that the source of their frustration has a name and that, while this means that they’ll continue to experience difficulties in some areas, through self-awareness and eventfully self-acceptance, new opportunities and options appear. We recently heard from a member who wrote to thank us for help and support over the years which has resulted in her son soon successfully completing his first year at university. She describes with pride his ability to articulate his strengths and weaknesses and identify the things that he needs to offset his limitations. By facing his situation head-on, this young man’s parents have helped him to turn a label into a set of instructions leading to a bright future.
Author: R.S.
Source: Reprinted with permission of the author
For many years I worked diligently at hiding my failures (disability). I felt threatened by my inability. My disability interferes with how I process information, especially when it comes time to put words on paper. I compensated for my poor writing by listening, reading and when it is my turn, I speak. My ability to speak and to understand contextually are my strengths.
According to my teachers, I could not write well. I have difficulty remembering the basic spelling of words. My cursive writing is so poor that others beg me to use the computer. There wasn’t an opportunity to use computers when I grew up. The difference with having the use of a computer is the span between a D plus and a B minus. I graduated from college by being selective about course options (multiple choice, short answers) and some luck.
At times I felt quite despondent. I compensated for my poor self-worth by running. I was running away from my inability. I worked hard at being a good runner. It didn’t make me a better person or student. However, I was good enough to receive a scholarship. Yet Tennessee was the wrong place for a man of colour. I was happy to leave, but it was as an academic failure.
I was told that success comes to those who make an attempt. I feel in control when I try. So I continued to try. However, professionally, I was at a low point. Weekly, my supervisor threatened to fire me. According to her, my clinical skills were great but my reports were “garbage.” I once read that the pen is mightier than the sword. I imagine the person must have used a red pen. I am thankful to the support I received from my family and friends. One friend revealed that he had a learning disability and suggested that I get tested.
So I’m diagnosed as Learning Disabled. It takes a while (years!), before I adjust to the label and realize that I have a right to receive accommodations. I’ve only begun to use the accommodations at Ryerson. I assumed that life would be easier upon acknowledging my disability to the University or supervisors at work.
Years ago, when I was in high school, I tried my best. My teachers told me that I did not try hard enough, that I had not applied myself. When I told my supervisor that I had a Learning Disability, she said I didn’t try hard enough. The difference was twenty years. No real difference.
I work full time as a child and youth worker facilitating parenting groups, social skills training, groups for sex offenders and anger management groups. I go to school, I am a full time dad and husband. My effort isn’t lacking. Yet a nagging thought echoed in my mind. Degree! My prospects for advancement were bleak, (non-existent) without a degree.
I was offered positions and I was turning them down. I felt inadequate, inferior and at times incompetent. I had no option but to re-attempt school. I applied and was accepted into Ryerson’s B.S.W. program.
Going to university this time around is more satisfying. The degree will help me become a better worker. My disability connects me to my clients. I don’t know everything, but I sense that they are trying. I know that inner struggles can not be seen by others.
However, it is important to listen to someone’s else struggles.
My disability is not a tool, nor a badge of honour. It gives me a perspective on life, a sense of reality, a way of understanding. I see the world through a different lens. I accept my disability, not as a crutch but as a token of reality. I continue to try harder. Not because some teacher thinks that I need to, nor because some supervisor says I haven’t tried. It is because trying is all I can control.
Author: Cy Pombier
Source: Reprinted with permission of the author
I’m a retired High School teacher, 39 successful years of teaching Debate, Government, and Economics. Chairman of the English Department [Jackson Parkside High School]for 16years and of the Social Studies Department for 14 years[Jackson High School].
I was a total non-reader through the 4th grade…a blue-bird with 2 other students with limited learning ability. Special Education didn’t exist in 1942+, but I was lucky enough to have a Mother who told the school I was Smart, “Leave him alone, he will read when he wants to.” I loved Tarzan movies and Mom told me there were book about Tarzan. I read 14 of ERB’s books that summer. I can’t remember learning to read…I just opened the book and it made sense. I am able to extrapolate key ideas, identify fallacies of reasoning, and draw logical conclusions. But don’t ask me the authors name or book title!!
I can’t spell, remember names of people, street names, phone numbers, or list of things [A-B-C’s are easy if I start from “A” and sing them]. I can’t sound out new words, till I hear them a few times.
School papers would have an “A” for content, an “E” for spelling and correct grammar, which averaged a “C.” Spell-check would have made me an A student…WOW!
I was a State champion in Debate in College for Central Michigan… flunked English composition from a teacher who demanded that Central Michigan throw me out as a poor speller and writer. [I would write simple sentences and one syllable words on in-class themes.] The debate coach kept me in college and the VP, Dr. Moore, who had been on a debate trip gave me individual writing instruction. He had me read Essay paragraphs, then attempt to re-write them.
I flunked out of MSU after a “C-” in a research paper class. Then completed my Masters in Speech Communication at Western Michigan University…Dr. VanRiper fame…
I loved teaching. Taught the AP classes, Debate, and a large number of mainstreamed special education students. I heard a speech on “Dyslexia” from a Prof.. from MSU [Can’t remember his name] but he described his own form of Dyslexia and the description was ME.
I always told my students that I could not remember names [Seating charts required], which was an advantage for them. If they created a problem one day I would throw them out of class…the next day, when they returned to class, I wouldn’t remember they had been a problem. I had a simple attendance rule: Be in class, on time, when possible. If not…come in when you can quietly! Most were there most of the time.
I’m not sure if my story of dealing with Dyslexia is of any value, but I’ll be happy to answer any questions.
Author: Raskind, M.H., Goldberg, R.J.; Higgins, E.L.; & Herman, K.L.
Source: Reprinted with permission from the Frostig Center.
What is Success?
Success is not easy to define. It means different things to different people. In addition, it may mean something different at different times in a person’s life. However, although views of success may differ, there appear to be a number of things that most people include when they think of success. These include good friends, positive family relations, being loved, self-approval, job satisfaction, physical and mental health, financial comfort, spiritual contentment, and an overall sense of meaning in one’s life. Of course, different individuals may place lesser or greater emphasis on these various components of success.
How Do Children With Learning Disabilities Become Successful Adults?
Children with learning disabilities grow up to be adults with learning disabilities. That is, many of the difficulties experienced in childhood continue into and through adulthood. Nevertheless, some individuals with learning disabilities follow a life path that leads them to success, becoming productive members of society and living satisfying and rewarding lives. Others find little more than continued “failure,” and are barely able to “keep their heads above water” emotionally, socially, or financially. Why, despite similar backgrounds and learning problems, does one individual end up with a rewarding career, long-term friendships, and financial stability, yet another, a life of loneliness, isolation, and financial stress? Learning disabilities research has provided some answers to this question.
Our research at the Frostig Center, (1) as well as several major studies by others,(2) has focused on identifying which factors contribute to success for individuals with learning disabilities. Results from these projects point to the importance of a set of personal characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors that can help lead persons with learning disabilities to successful life outcomes. By tracing the lives of individuals with learning disabilities throughout the lifespan, these studies have revealed a number of “success attributes” that guide an individual to either positive or negative adult outcomes.
What are the Success Attributes?
Our 20-year study, in particular, highlighted the importance of six success attributes for individuals with learning disabilities. These success attributes included: self-awareness, proactivity, perseverance, goal-setting, the presence and use of effective support systems, and emotional coping strategies. It is important to emphasize that not every successful individual possesses each of these attributes, and some attributes may be present to a greater or lesser degree. Similarly, persons who might be considered “unsuccessful” may nevertheless possess some of the success attributes, again, to a lesser or greater degree. What it does mean is that successful persons with learning disabilities are much more likely to have these characteristics than unsuccessful individuals. It is our hope that, by helping parents understand these success attributes, they will be better prepared to work with and guide their children toward satisfying and rewarding lives. It is also important to keep in mind that having these attributes does not guarantee success. Rather, it increases the chances of achieving a fulfilling and successful life. It is interesting to note that our research indicates that these characteristics may have a greater influence on success than even such factors as academic achievement, gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and even intelligence quotient (IQ).(3)
Each of the success attributes is discussed in the following pages. Quotes from successful adults with learning disabilities are used to help explain each attribute from the viewpoint of individuals who live with learning disabilities.
Self-Awareness
“As I said, I have dyslexia. I have never not had dyslexia, so it always has, and always will, affect my life. I don’t know what it’s like not to have dyslexia. I don’t know that I want to do life over again without it. It’s part of me. It will hinder me, as it has, and it will push me into places where I never would have gone.”
–Thirty-three-year-old male
Successful people with learning disabilities are aware of the types of problems they have, including academic problems like reading and math, academic-related problems such as attentional or organizational difficulties, and non-academic difficulties such as motor deficits or emotional/ behavioral problems. They are open and specific about their difficulties and understand how they affect their lives. Most important, these individuals have the ability to compartmentalize their disability. That is, they are able to see their learning difficulties as only one aspect of themselves. Although they are well aware of their learning limitations, they are not overly defined by them. As one successful individual states:
“You know, everybody comes with a package. And yeah, there are things that I am good at and things that I am not so good at. Some of my limitations are reading and writing. But boy, when it comes to putting things together, reading plans, and chasing down problems, those are some talents, some skills that I was born with . . . I carved a different path and my whole life has been that way.”
Successful individuals with learning disabilities recognize their talents along with accepting their limitations. This idea is expressed particularly well by one adult who stresses, “We all learn differently; we all have strengths and weaknesses.” Another adult with a learning disability shares, “It’s still there and I compensate . . . I think the problems that I had were no different than anybody else who is conscious of their weaknesses, and then some of their strengths. Some people are not conscious at all.”
In addition to recognizing their strengths, weaknesses, and special talents, successful adults with learning disabilities are also able to find jobs that provide the best fit or “match” with their abilities. For example, an individual with severe reading problems, but exceptional skills in woodworking might find a successful career in cabinet making rather than as a copy editor. A person with math deficits, but excellent writing abilities might shy away from a career in accounting, yet find success in journalism. And, the individual with poor reading and writing, but strong oral language skills might pursue sales and avoid jobs requiring substantial written language abilities.
Unsuccessful people with learning disabilities, on the other hand, often fail to recognize both their strengths and limitations, accept their difficulties, compartmentalize their learning disability, and find employment that provides the best fit for their abilities.
Proactivity
Successful adults with learning disabilities are generally actively engaged in the world around them — politically, economically, and socially. They participate in community activities and take an active role in their families, neighborhoods, and friendship groups. Additionally, they often step into leadership roles at work, in the community, and in social and family settings.
Not surprisingly, therefore, successful persons with learning disabilities also believe that they have the power to control their own destiny and affect the outcome of their lives. In talking about how he took charge of his college experience, one successful adult remarks:
“I actually didn’t take classes as much as I took professors. The way I got through college was I looked at the classes I was interested in and I was over at the professors’ office times telling them I’m going to need extra time; give me the ability to take the written exam orally. There are a bunch of exceptions and I just listed them out for these people.”
This quote demonstrates the kind of creative self-advocacy and initiative we frequently observed in successful adults. In contrast, unsuccessful individuals tend merely to respond to events and are passive.
Successful persons with learning disabilities also show the ability to make decisions and act upon those decisions. Additionally, they assume responsibility for their actions and resulting outcomes. In talking about how his shyness interfered with trying to meet a girl, one successful adult shares:
“I looked at that lesson and said, ‘OK, you blew it that time. What are you going to do? How are you going to overcome that situation?’ So I systematically started working on getting over my shyness . . . And last spring . . . ”
When things don’t work out, successful individuals generally take responsibility for the outcome and do not blame others. Commenting on his career, the same individual expresses commitment to action, “Anything I’m going to do, I’m going to give it my all. Otherwise I’m not going to touch it.”
A willingness to consult with others while making decisions is also characteristic of successful people with learning disabilities. In that connection, they also appear to be flexible in considering and weighing options. For instance, when faced with a career-ending knee surgery, one successful athlete was able to smoothly shift her career focus to a pottery business. Another individual whose learning disability prevented him from passing required college courses, researched and transferred to a university that did not require those courses for graduation.
In contrast, unsuccessful individuals often do not recognize that situations can be altered, or that multiple solutions may exist. Instead, they are either passive, making no decision, or conversely, stick rigidly to a simplistic, rule-based decision even if it ultimately fails. Successful individuals, on the other hand, take responsibility for both the positive and negative outcomes of their decisions and actions. For example, one former student commenting on his success stated:
“I think that I worked hard and I made choices instead of letting things happen. I mean stuff that I haven’t actively gone and taken care of are the only things that I’m not as satisfied with. The stuff that I’ve gone and taken care of, I’m very happy with.”
Perseverance
Many persons with learning disabilities show great perseverance and keep pursuing their chosen path despite difficulties. They often describe themselves in such terms as “I am not a quitter,” and “I never give up.” However, successful individuals demonstrate an additional important ability — knowing when to quit. Although they rarely give up on a general goal, depending on the situation, they may change the way they go about achieving it, thereby improving their chances for success. In other words, after repeated failure, these individuals are able to see and pursue alternative strategies for reaching their goal, or know when the goal itself might have to be modified. Often they try several strategies until they find one that works. One successful adult states, “Once I have a failure, I can’t just dwell on that failure and restrict myself for the rest of my life. I’ll do something else.” In contrast, unsuccessful individuals are typically not flexible and often appear to “beat their heads against the wall,” failing to recognize when it is time to reevaluate their strategies, or the goal itself.
Successful persons with learning disabilities appear to learn from their hardships making statements such as “I have failed many times, but I am not a failure. I have learned to succeed from my failures.” In addition, successful people seem to agree that difficult situations are necessary for learning. In comparison, unsuccessful individuals with learning disabilities are often overwhelmed by adversity, back away from challenges, and give up much more easily and quickly than successful peers.
Goal-Setting
Successful individuals set goals that are specific, yet flexible so that they can be changed to adjust to specific circumstances and situations. These goals cover a number of areas including education, employment, family, spiritual and personal development. In addition, the goals of successful persons with learning disabilities include a strategy to reach their goals. That is, they have an understanding of the step-by-step process for obtaining goals. One successful adult pursuing a career in the entertainment field states:
“I always look at every move, like this particular move doing the video, as a stepping stone for the next project. That’s how I’m looking at it. As I said, the area I really want to move into is, I want to direct.
Successful people also appear to have goals that are realistic and attainable.
“I’ll tell you something. I’m very realistic in terms of what I know I can do, what I possibly can do, and what I cannot do. That’s why I knew right off the bat that I was not going to be a doctor.”
— Thirty-one-year-old male
Many successful people with learning disabilities set at least tentative goals in adolescence, which provide direction and meaning to their lives. A successful adult trained as a social worker says:
“When I was in late high school, I knew what I wanted to do when I grew up. I was given the opportunity to babysit and in the twelfth grade I worked at a day camp. I just discovered that I was interested in children and that this may turn out to be a profession. So there was kind of a break and something to shoot for; some sort of self-direction.”
While successful individuals with learning disabilities have concrete, realistic, and attainable goals, unsuccessful individuals often have vague, unrealistic, or grandiose goals that are not in line with their strengths, weaknesses, or special abilities. For example, one individual having extreme problems with eye-hand coordination and spatial relations aspired to be an airline pilot, while another with severe reading, writing, and organization difficulties wanted to become an executive secretary. Not surprisingly, both were unsuccessful at their attempts to reach these goals and experienced frustration and stress as a result.
Footnotes
1. Marshall H. Raskind, Roberta J. Goldberg, Eleanor L. Higgins, and Kenneth L. Herman. Patterns of Change and Predictors of Success in Individuals with Learning Disabilities: Results from a TwentyYear Longitudinal Study, Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 1999; Roberta J. Goldberg, Eleanor L. Higgins, Marshall H. Raskind, and Kenneth L. Herman. Predictors of Success in Individuals with Learning Disabilities: A Qualitative Analysis of a 20-Year Longitudinal Study, Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, in press.
2. Henry B. Reiff, Paul J. Gerber, Rick Ginsberg. Exceeding Expectations: Successful Adults with Learning Disabilities. Pro-ed, 1997. Emmy E. Werner and Ruth S. Smith, Overcoming the Odds: High Risk Children from Birth to Adulthood. Cornell University Press, 1992.
3. This is not to say that these factors do not have a substantial impact on the life outcomes of persons with learning disabilities, but rather that research has shown that the success attributes may play an even greater role. Of course, such factors as extreme poverty or severe psychiatric problems can have a profound affect on someone’s life and even negate the influence of the success attributes.
To view the whole document “Life Success for Children with Learning Disabilities: a Parent Guide” please visit www.frostig.org/LDsuccess.
Author: Dr. Allyson Harrison, Robin Schock, Marie McCarron and Virginia Dafoe
“Kindergarten was great but it was all uphill from there!”
Virginia Dafoe, On-Line to Success graduate.
Virginia Dafoe is in her final year of the Concurrent Education Program at Queen’s University in Kingston. She wants to be a teacher so she can positively impact students with learning disabilities like herself. Teachers in elementary school made learning a difficult process for her and her self confidence suffered as a result. Virginia’s experience is very common for students with learning disabilites (LD) who often feel deterred from following their dreams for post-secondary education. Although by definition, students with LD have average to above average intelligence; they are often made to feel stupid and lazy when they learn differently.
Virginia has overcome some of the obstacles she has faced throughout her early school life and attributes her success to family support and a program she took in her Grade 12 year . The On-Line to Success Program, targets students in grades 11 and 12 with learning disabilities who are planning to attend college or university. It is a 10 week transition course that incorporates research from the Learning Opportunities Task Force (LOTF) and delivers the content in both face-to face and on-line components. Students are placed in groups of 10 and are assisted by moderators (teacher candidates) who have on-line office hours, and can be paged and e-mailed when students need assistance.
On opening day, Virginia met other students from her high school that she didn’t know had LD. She was introduced to the on-line program, met students with LD’s who were successful in post-secondary, met with a learning strategist who helped her understand her own unique learning profile, participated in group discussions, and socialized with her peers. This helped her combat the feelings of isolation and embarrassment. Virginia and the rest of the students then went back to school and home to begin the on-line portion of the program. She learned how the brain works, study strategies, how to find resources in post-secondary and began to share with other students in discussion forums. Virginia explained that OLTS was her first online course and she found it a lot of fun. After opening day she was able to engage in online conversations with fellow group members and work with her moderator in a more satisfying relationship. Virginia commented that she really liked the course: “it gave you freedom but you also had to be really disciplined, there was nobody there to tell you to get it done.” Meanwhile, Virginia had a full semester and was involved in a school play while taking OLTS. She mentioned the benefit of the new self knowledge she gained outweighed the course workload.
At the conclusion of the ten weeks, Virginia did a visual presentation of what she learned about herself during the course. As an OLTS graduate, she was offered the opportunity to have an updated, comprehensive -psycho educational assessment. The assessment assists students to clearly identify how their brain processes information and helps them to articulate the accommodations they will require at post-secondary.
Virginia found the feedback session where the Psychologist explained to her the results of the testing, most beneficial. Virginia discovered that she excels in reasoning and understanding concepts and that her struggle was with phonological processing of words and written expression. Virginia has used OLTS strategies throughout her degree at Queen’s. She learned more about time management and her rights under the Ontario Human Rights Code. Knowing her rights has given her the ability to speak directly and respectfully to professors and seek assistance from the Disability Services Office. Their assistance has been invaluable to her education so far.
In 2007/08, OLTS was offered to over 130 students from South-Eastern Ontario. Virginia’s experience is echoed by many OLTS graduates and attests to the benefit of this valuable program. Ongoing survey data of OLTS graduates, now attending university or college further demonstrates the necessity for this program. The surveys showed that students’ knowledge of their LD and the services provided in post-secondary increased significantly. When asked how university would have been different for her without the benefit of the OLTS program, Virginia said she would have been lost in terms of knowing the rights that she has and knowing where to go for the services she required. In fact she is still discovering accommodations that are available to her. “It is so awesome at university when you meet someone else with an LD to know you are not alone. You are not the only one that has to go to the teacher.” The future is bright for Virginia and most certainly a better outcome than she expected from her elementary and high school experiences.
Dr. Allyson Harrison, Director of Regional Assessment & Resource Center
Robin Schock, Assistant Coordinator Transitions Programs
Marie McCarron, Coordinator Transitions Programs
For more information please contact:
Robin Schock
Assistant Coordinator Transitions Programs
Regional Assessment & Resource Center
186 Barrie St.
Kingston, Ont.
K7L 3N6
613-533-6000 ext. 75220
schockr@queensu.ca
More information is also available on the ATRC website.
1 Learning Disabilities refer to a number of disorders which may affect the acquisition, organization, retention, understanding or use of verbal or nonverbal information. These disorders affect learning in individuals who otherwise demonstrate at least average to above average abilities essential for thinking and/or reasoning. As such, learning disabilities are distinct from global intellectual deficiency. (Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, 2002, p. 1)
2 The LOTF was commissioned by the Ontario government to determine the experiences for students transitioning from secondary education to post-secondary education, to determine what was needed for successful transition, to implement a transition program, to determine the outcome of the transition program, and to make recommendations for successful transition. For a more detailed description, please see the ATRC website or contact the author.
Source: Reprinted with permission from: Secrets for Success, York University Learning Disabilities Program
Understand Your Learning Disability:
- know how to describe you LDs to teachers and to employers without relying on professional jargon
- determine how and when you learn most effectively
- identify accommodations that help you operate more efficiently at school and on the job
- learn about when, where, and how to seek appropriate support
- think about the strengths and assets you may have developed because of your LDs (e.g. perseverance, creative problem solving, and determination)
Develop Helpful Life Skills:
- practice creative and assertive ways to advocate for yourself
- learn how to use computers and other helpful technological assists
- write down specific goals to help keep you on track
- develop the best time and stress management systems
- learn to accept constructive criticism and don’t permit negative feedback to deter you
- remain flexible in exploring alternative learning strategies
- nurture relationships with friends, family, or professionals to exchange support, encouragement, and important feedback
Plan Your Career:
- don’t let other people put a ceiling on your career goals
- learn about how your skills, interests, and personality relate to career options
- seek out opportunities for work shadowing, cooperative work terms, and volunteer experiences
- participate in extracurricular activities and summer jobs that foster skills, confidence, career knowledge, and important contacts
- research appropriate career information to make informed and timely choices
- develop creative and effective job search skills
- be informed about employment equity and human rights legislation
- contact employment equity officers to discuss equity goals, policies, and procedures of specific companies
Remember:
- maintain optimism and hope
- work hard to achieve goals and persevere over obstacles
- don’t be deterred if it takes longer to reach objectives
- many people don’t understand learning differences and jump to the wrong conclusions
- people with LDs are entitled to educational and job equity
I am on a mission to make the invisible, visible. I’ve lived with an undiagnosed learning disability for more than two decades and for the most part, I’ve been through this personal struggle alone.
I was left in the care of the Children’s Aid Society when I was five. After that, I moved from home to home and school to school. I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere. I felt alone and scared growing up. To make matters worse, I had a learning disability.
Although thoughts are clear in my head, I cannot translate those thoughts to paper. It’s like there’s a short circuit from my mind to my hand. Everything that I try to put down on paper is a scrambled mess. Anyone will tell you that if you can’t write it’s a huge setback.
Growing up, people had made up their minds about me. I was pegged as not being as smart as the other kids which made me feel ashamed and insecure. I knew I had greater abilities but I just couldn’t get them out properly. A learning disability is like having a wheelchair with square wheels. And I call it an invisible disability because the barriers I face aren’t as obvious to everyone.
In my 20’s, I had jobs in manual labour and eventually became a church custodian. That’s when my life started to change. A parishioner introduced me to a psychologist who diagnosed me as having a Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD). This diagnosis helped me understand that my challenge had nothing to do with my intelligence. Simply put, I learned differently and better yet, there were resources to help me cope.
Following that I enrolled at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. At first, I was frustrated, discouraged and often felt like giving up. Then, tragedy struck. Jessica, the psychologist who had given me so much hope, died in a car accident. Not wanting her contribution to be in vain, I found the strength to return to school — this time with the support of speech recognition software. I think and it writes! With this support, I earned my Arts and Sciences diploma.
One of the places I turned to for support was the Learning Disabilities Association of London Region, a United Way funded organization. This organization helped me realize the potential I knew I always had and inspired me to give back to others after enduring this challenging journey.
Today, I speak about learning disabilities and the experience has been rewarding. I was recently inducted into the Learning Disabilities Association Hall of Fame! Without the support of the Learning Disabilities Association of London and Region and United Way, this wouldn’t have been possible.
I also have a successful career. As a TD Canada Trust telephone banking specialist, I interact with different people every day. When I started working at TD, I needed a support assistant almost every day. Now I meet with someone once or twice a week for about 30 minutes. I’m really proud of that!
Today, I live by four words: I can do it!
You too can make a difference in someone’s life!
I am middle aged and still have learning disabilities. This is a learning condition that I was born with and has been with me since grade one. I was in special education classes in grade school, some years for half the day, others years for a couple of hours away from my classmates. In high school I was part of the Basic curriculum for four years with some integration in General curriculum classes. In my early twenties I was bouncing around from job to job trying to learn a trade, because my academic skills were very weak – why wouldn’t they be — no matter how hard I tried there were always reading, writing and math issues.
Learning anything new is like cycling up a hill with a flat tire — you will make it with a few water breaks along the way. The short term memory, processing information and social skills discrepancies are always present. Life is not about demanding respect from others, or being part of a gang or having a chip on your shoulder. Successful people have a network of friends, excellent social skills, and are usually excellent problem solvers and have a fantastic work ethic.
I believe in order to be a productive person in our society, we constantly have to invent ways to learn such as: include your home telephone number on your speed dial list, put a piece of tape on the back of your lock so you can always find it at the gym, find a permanent home for the things you use daily, use bright colors to help you find things , when you draw a line put a level on your line to ensure it is straight, when you park your car in a busy mall put something on your rear mirror inside your car to a attract your attention. When my wife and I build things she reads the instructions, and I paraphrase what was said so I correctly understand. At work, I use sticky notes for reminders and write the day of the week i.e. Fri. Oct.12/12 and not just Oct.12/12, as you never know when the numbers will get turned around i.e. Fri.21/12. Recording the day of the week can be a lifesaver. My filing system is monthly and not numeric, with extra notes on some documents.
Life has taught me there is a time and place for everything, a time to give your opinions, a time to take direction, and a time to comply with others. Unlike the grade school days when I use to fight with everyone bigger or smaller than me…now I understand my learning profile, and do not take comments to heart. When I was younger sports were my life. Watching, playing, and practicing were my passions. As people with LD we need to expose ourselves to new things in our own time, whether it to be walking the aisles in a department store, watching the food channel or going to the library. We need to be around different environments — just like a rainbow after some heavy rain. We need all the colors for us to daily cope. I feel the biggest asset we humans have is our inner desire to achieve anything, i.e. run a marathon, cycle 100 kilometers or to help a stranger.
It makes me sad to see so many young people get involved in gangs because I know many of these people have learning challenges and can be easily misled. I think back at the days when I was called a delinquent, or the days my mom used to cry because my behaviour was out of control and I now shake my head. I look at the people who drive the luxury cars, the bankers, or business men who head our economy. These are the people who read a lot, these are the people who are able to multitask, and are good with numbers, education and social skills. These are their keys to success.
I get up extra early to practise my math tables, to read a magazine article, or my thesaurus and write in my journal “record and learn”. Life has taught me not to be bitter about how I learn.
The biggest champions of LD kids are the parents, as they have the power to heal deep wounds. A child who is a “bully” is just trying to understand how they learn.
Surround yourself with successful people and if the social skills get in your way, then read about ways to improve social skills.
As adults we have to help ourselves, and need to take responsibility for our actions and give something back to the community.
Sharing is how we grow,
Marteen
Author: Isabel Shessel
Source: Reprinted with permission of the author
At 30 years of age, Rob still reads at a grade-three level. He left school after grade II. Is he another one of the unemployed, disillusioned statistics that we often hear about? Not for a moment! Rob has worked for the same company for 13 years (moving from lineman to supervisor), owns his own home and runs a thriving business of his own.
We are left wondering why some people, despite significant learning disabilities (LD), are able to cope very well, while others experience lifelong failure, disappointment and dissatisfaction.
This article examines some of the strategies people like Rob have mastered to lead productive, self-fulfilled lives.
The concept of risk suggests that individuals exposed to negative circumstances (e;g., poverty, disability, child or sexual abuse) are more likely to experience negative long-term effects than those who have not been exposed to such factors. However, research and clinical reports indicate that “even under the most adverse circumstances, many individuals develop and/or maintain healthy personalities and become successful and satisfied adults.” This ability to overcome, or protect oneself against, significant risk factors has been referred to as “resilience.”
People with LD have long been known to be at risk for a number of negative outcomes across the lifespan (greater high school drop-out rates, underemployment. workplace difficulties, overdependence on others, social/emotional problems). But research on individuals with LD suggests that many, despite significant learning difficulties, have managed to overcome the risk factors in their lives. Research in the fields of social psychology and learning disabilities has begun to examine and identify these characteristics of success.
The information provided here has its roots in my own research on adults with LD. The study examined what strategies some individuals employed to “survive,” despite their LD, and how their beliefs have also assisted their resilience.
The first strategy I would like to discuss is persistence, which can be defined as the ability not to give up in the face of failure. Individuals in my study used many words to describe this quality (determination, perseverance, tenacity, stubbornness and “stickability”). As one individual said, “If I wasn’t a little bit stubborn, I don’t think I’d be where I am today.” A group of researchers in the U.S. have suggested that persistence is “perhaps the most striking characteristic of the successful adults with LD.
Another strategy which appeared important for people with LD is well-developed self-advocacy skills. For some of the individuals I interviewed, this was crucial. One person said: “If I hadn’t been able to stand up for myself, nobody else would have… My life’s survival has depended on this.”
Another individual mentioned the distinction between “best-interest advocacy” and “self-interest advocacy.” He explained that “best-interest advocacy” involves someone other than yourself acting on your behalf for what they think is in your best interest. “Self-interest advocacy” is acting on your own behalf for what you want, and having the capacity to make decisions regarding your own future.
Clearly, the ability to act on your own behalf is the optimal situation. One does, however, need the appropriate skills and knowledge to do this effectively.
A third adaptive strategy is the use of humour. This appeared to be a unique strategy (that is, it was not mentioned elsewhere in the literature on LD). The ability to laugh at themselves was a powerful tool in the lives of some of the participants. They indicated that it was an “important catharsis” in relieving stress, anxiety, and frustration for themselves and those around them. One individual explained it this way: “It makes it liveable.” Even those individuals who did not use this strategy indicated that humour was valuable, admitting they took life “too seriously.”
What people believe about themselves and their environment can have a powerful impact on what they do in life. According to Martin Seligman, noted psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, the way people respond to setbacks or obstacles – optimistically or pessimistically – is “a fairly accurate indicator of how well they will succeed in school, in sports and in certain kinds of work.” This response style has been referred to in the psychology literature as “explanatory style.”
In my own research, I found that whether individuals viewed life as a tremendous struggle or as a series of learning experiences seemed to determine their personal sense of well-being, accomplishment and success. Those who viewed life more positively were more successful in using adaptive strategies and in achieving their goals.
Cognitive refraining theory (a term from the field of psychology) suggests that an individual has the capacity to reinterpret negative experience in more positive ways, and this in turn reduces stress, anxiety and negative self-esteem. This positive thinking allows one to focus attention on more proactive tasks (like working towards personal goals).
What people believe about themselves and their environment can have a powerful impact on what they do in life.
This reinterpretation of experience was evident in a number of people interviewed. One individual offered the following advice: “You can’t internalize failures… you have to learn from them.” The ability to look at negative experiences in more positive and constructive ways is a valuable adaptive strategy for people with LD.
According to Dr. Seligman and his associates, adaptive strategies for living can be learned. It therefore becomes vital for professionals in the field of learning disabilities (teachers, counselors, psychologists) to assist children and adults with LD to develop appropriate strategies that will empower them to become self-sufficient, productive and self-fulfilled members of society.
Included with this article is advice for people with LD, which I compiled from my research. Individuals with LD willingly shared their ideas, in the hopes that the life experiences of other people with LD would then be less painful and frustrating. I have also included some references. Three of these books are biographies of people who have truly triumphed over their hidden disability.
Advice to People With Learning Disabilities
- Learn to communicate effectively.
- Learn to “speak for yourself” (self-advocacy skills).
- Be creative and flexible in problem solving (look at alternatives).
- Learn to take risks.
- Develop a good support network (including family, friends, professionals).
- Take responsibility.
- Be “tenacious.”
- Believe in yourself.
- Do not allow your learning disability to consume you.
- Disclose your learning disability when and if it is appropriate.
- Set Goals for yourself
- Learn from failures: do not dwell on them.
- Develop personal strategies for daily living and learning.
- Understand “who you are,” your strengths and your weaknesses.
- Understand your rights and how to obtain them within systems.
- Do not be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
- “Like who you are.”
- Do not be ashamed of your learning disability.
- Develop good stress management strategies. Learn to work through your strengths.
- Never apply for a job that you are not qualified for.
- Make the right career match.
- Strive for balance in yourself.
- Learn to laugh at yourself.
- Develop good organizational skills.
- Look for the positive in all situations.
- Develop self-discipline.
- Never say. “I cannot.”
References:
Faking It, by C. Lee and R. Jackson. Personal biography. Published 1992 by Boyton/Cook Publishers, Portsmouth, NH.
Brilliant Idiot, by A. Schmitt and M.L. Clemens, M.L. Personal biography. Published 1992 by Good Books, Intercourse, PA.
The Optimistic Child, by M.E.P. Seligman, K. Reivich, L. Jaycox and J. Gillham. Parent reference. Published 1995 by HarperCollins, New York, NY.
Reversals: A Personal Account of Victory Over Dyslexia, by E. Simpson. Personal biography. Published 1991 by The Noonday Press, New York, NY.
Succeeding Against the Odds, by S.L. Smith. Practical techniques and inspiring stories. Published 1991 by Jeremy P. Tamher, Inc., Los Angeles, CA.
An interview with John Dyson
“I’m conducting an interview today with John. John is forty something years old and wants to share his story, his challenges of living with a learning disability. I know the last few years of John’s life have changed dramatically, as he has returned to school and started to come to terms with his disability. Today John feels that his life has been given back to him. John still has a lot of challenges ahead of him. Thanks to adaptive technology, John feels he has been given a chance to reclaim what was taken away from him as a child — his ability to learn, and the rights to a productive and fulfilling life! One of the most important things that John would like to do is to write a book. John feels very confident that one day soon that will happen. Today we are going to conduct an interview with John; we’re going to find out about John’s challenges and where he is at today, with his challenges!”
Interviewer– “Thank you John. You were saying you think it’s important to share your background history, prior to your discovery of your learning disability”.
John– “I think it’s really important that I share a little about my background. I think my background impacts where I am at today. My childhood was a nightmare. I came from a very dysfunctional home. I don’t have a lot of memories of my mother. I know that she loved me and cared for me as best she could. Unfortunately, my mother was also an alcoholic and a drug addict. I don’t know very much about my father’s background. I do know that both my parents had very little education. When I was born my parents had already separated, and I was already being bounced back and forth between the two of them. I think you get the jist of what it was like being with my parents. The hardest thing my mother had to do was come to the realization that she could no longer look after me. She reached the painful decision to give me up to the Children’s Aid. Once in their care I became a Crown Ward. The day my mother left me will stay with me always! The trend was starting at this time — I did not have a voice! I was a small child in a very scary world”.
Interviewer– “That must’ve been a hard time in your life. To your credit John you’re still standing. To stay in the content of the interview John, can we focus on your educational experience, as you were growing up?”
John– “My educational experience as a child was really a blur. I don’t know how many schools I went to. The only thing that I do know — I was always the new kid, had lots of fights, and had very little success, academically speaking. Writing and math were a nightmare. Whenever I got to do something orally — no problem. Teachers always commented on how well I presented my views or questions. My notebooks, on the other hand, were a mess. Math was also a nightmare. I could never get the numbers right on paper, and was always getting confused about the order of addition, division and subtraction. History, on the other hand, was something I enjoyed; I loved to study ancient history, but once again, I could never put anything down on paper. The frustration in school led to lots of problems, no self-esteem.
Interviewer– “When did it start to dawn on you, John, that you had a learning disability?
John- “At that time when I was in school, there was no such thing as learning disability. The closest concept to a learning disability was dyslexia. That was what I thought I had. Unfortunately, no one was really talking to me about how my schooling was going. I did not have my voice yet”
Interviewer- “Can you remember kindergarten? What was it like for you?”
John- “I was still living with my mom at the time. Being in kindergarten was kind of an escape, from the chaos at home. I don’t think I played very much with other kids. I did enjoy playing with building blocks, and creating things. I also enjoyed looking at picture books. For the most part, I don’t think there was any detection of my learning disability through my kindergarten time.
Interviewer- “When you started grade 1, detections of your learning disabilities started to appear?”
John- “That’s truly where it began. I was born left-handed — that was my first strike. They wanted me to learn to print with my right hand. I think it was a mistake. I just did not have the coordination to create the letters. Everything started looking a mess. I had enough challenges just learning how to spell my own name. I’m not sure, but I think my reading skills were pretty good. I had a pretty good memory of what I was reading, but don’t ask me to write it down on paper. My spelling was horrible — lots of questions around that aspect of my schooling.”
Interviewer- “How many elementary schools did you attend?”
John- “That’s a really interesting question. Unfortunately, I don’t have any idea — there were so many of them. I think I lost count after 4 or 5 schools. There was absolutely no stability for me, regarding my education.”
Interviewer– “John, I only have limited space for my article, so I was wondering if we could jump ahead to your adult life, and some of the struggles with your LD. We will find time to finish up with your struggles as a child with LD. We’re going to have to break this into a two-part interview.”
John- “Sure, just tell me where you want me to start.”
Interviewer– “Tell me about your employment. What type of employment, did you have?”
John- “I never finished high school, so I did not have a diploma, nor did it have any real skills. I can’t tell you how frustrating it was going around looking for work. I knew my opportunities were going to be very limited. My very first job was washing dishes at McGinnis Landing. I only lasted one day — I could not keep up. I was extremely ashamed of myself. I also had to go on welfare to support myself. I was also very ashamed of that. I swore to myself that I would not be dependent on welfare. I then proceeded to take jobs doing cleaning. That was something I could do”.
Interviewer– “Your voice was breaking when you were sharing that with me, John. You did the best you could.”
John– “I did not see any opportunities to go anywhere with my life. It was a very low time in my life.”
Interviewer– “At that time John, what were other areas of your life like — relationships, friends? Where were you living?
John– “I had very few friends, too ashamed. I had days when I wanted to go to bed and never wake up. I was moving around a lot. I think I was living in a fantasy world, hoping that someday this nightmare was going to end. Relationships were something that I wasn’t even thinking about — too much damage from my childhood. I now sought out therapists, spent a fortune trying to get better. I kept going from therapist to therapist asking the same question over and over again. How do I get better?”
Interviewer– “That does not sound like much of a life. Sounds like all you were trying to do was to survive. When did you decide to give school another try?”
John– “I found a job at a church, where I’ve been working for the last 15 years. It’s been a good job, but in my heart I knew I could do so much more. I then sought to find out whether or not I did have a learning disability.
Interviewer- “Where did you go to get this information?”
John– “The place I went to was called the Learning Loft. That was where I met Jessica Colson. I can’t begin to tell you how indebted I am to this woman. For the first time in my life I started to feel good about myself. Jessica ran a battery of tests to find out whether or not I did have a learning disability, and I did! What a sense of validation this was. This cost me a small fortune, but that was important for me.”
Interviewer- “Okay, what did you do now, John? Were you happy?
John– “To be honest it was a surreal feeling. I felt pretty numb. I still had no idea what to do. Getting the documentation was really important. I was still extremely upset. Maybe even more ashamed now, because I knew it was true.
I went off to Fanshawe College and with documentation I was able to take a few courses in social work. What was really interesting is that I started using the documentation as my guide. Jessica gave me a list of recommendations to help me with my educational opportunities. I have to admit, it was hard to tell the teacher that had a learning disability, but I did. I was allowed to answer all tests on tape. This made the difference. I got my first A! I took a number of other courses in the social work area and passed them all with flying colors. Unfortunately I still had no computer skills and when it came time to do reports etc., my disability came back to bite me! You just never know where your disability is going to come back to haunt you.”
Interviewer– “So did everything get better John?”
John– “Far from it. As a matter of fact, maybe I got more frustrated. I could still not get my words down on paper. There were a few new computer voice recognition programs. However compared to the current Dragon versions they were very primitive. At that time, I do not have the patience to really try anything. I think I was set on living the rest of my life feeling sorry for myself. This too was going to change.”
I still had lots of challenges. I was still not comfortable with relationships or my self-esteem. I also began to develop an eating disorder and found out I had a serious problem with depression. Lots of challenges!”
Interviewer– “Now I’m really curious John, what turned things around? How did you get where you are today?”
John– “Sometimes it takes a tragedy to turn things around. Jessica was killed in a car accident and that totally crushed me. That also motivated me not to waste all the time and effort she put into helping me to understand that I had a learning disability.”
Interviewer– “Wow! You’ve had a lot happen in your life John. I think we’re getting a little off topic here John. For the rest of this interview, let’s just focus how your LD has changed in your life.”
John– “Okay, I understand what you’re saying. Getting involved in the enhanced general arts and science program for people with learning disabilities at Fanshawe College was an incredible step. I learned the importance of advocacy, and communication, and perhaps most importantly, that people really do care. I can’t say enough positive stuff about the teachers at Fanshawe who are trained to work with people with learning disabilities. They helped me so much. My computer skills when I first started at Fanshawe were just limited to e-mails. I knew nothing else. Basically I didn’t even know about right clicking the mouse to see if I had made a spelling error using the Word program. I had so many things that in some ways overwhelmed me during my time at the college. I did succeed in achieving my certificate. That was very positive. Okay here is the only drawback — I still had no idea how to use Dragon or make a résumé. And perhaps the most challenging thing — how do you explain that prior to last year I could not write. I don’t know how that would look in a résumé.
Interviewer– “So how did you learn to use the Dragon software?”
John- “My counselor at Fanshawe encouraged me to check out the CAT lab located at the London public library. CAT lab is short for Creative-Assistive-Technology. I can’t say enough about that style of setting for a person with a learning disability, and the facilitators of the lab, Grace and Allison — I learned so much from these two ladies. I also went out and bought a new computer for myself and the Dragon Naturally Speaking version 8. I taught myself how to use the Dragon. With encouragement from Grace, I explored other adaptive technology programs, such as Kurzweil and Word Q. I then took a creative writing course at the college and really started working with my documentation of my disability — basically using my documentation as a guide to not feeling ashamed of acknowledging that I do have a disability. I was not going to let the shame dictate my life any more. I’m happy to say I passed the course. It was the first time in my life I ever passed an English course — the mark was a 70.”
Interviewer– “That’s amazing John. You should be very proud of yourself. How did things improve regarding employment opportunities, etc.?”
John– “That aspect things have not changed. I’m getting more frustrated now than I was before, because I know I can do more. I almost feel like I’m not supposed to. I don’t understand — how does a person who’s had no job experience apply for jobs. People with learning disabilities can do a lot of things. Just think back a few months ago. I could not write. Our whole society is based on what you can put down on paper. If you can’t put things down on paper nobody’s going to look at you. I think I’ve a few more questions that I would like answered, so that I’m not as frustrated.”
Interviewer– Okay, John give me the five questions that are most on your mind. Let’s see if we can find someone to answer them for you.”
John– “That sounds good, just give me a few minutes to think about it.
Ok, here are my 5 questions:
- How do I get to the other side, where the smart people are?
- What opportunities are there for people who prior to just a few short months ago could not write?
- Are people with learning disabilities looked on as being intelligent?
- How do we educate others about the diversity and ability of people with learning disabilities?
- Please help me to get the other side.
Interviewer– “I just want to thank you, John, for all this time that you’ve spent answering my questions and helping me to put together this article. I want to wish you nothing but success as you continue to pursue employment opportunities, and in your advocacy ventures to prove that people with learning disabilities are intelligent and very capable of doing things. Thank you again. “
Reproduced with permission of John Dyson
Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario
by Marteen
Learning disabilities can be compared to the branches of a big oak tree. No two branches are exactly the same. Every condition is unique to an individual. The following are examples of how visual‑spatial discrepancies impact on my life: I become disoriented in new surroundings; experience difficulties finding a particular item in a store; struggle to assemble things through pictorial instructions; have difficulties judging distances; find it strenuous to read maps; have difficulties with eye‑hand coordination; have trouble managing time, manipulating three dimensional drawings and putting puzzles together.
I first noticed it when I was ten years old playing first base on the community all‑star softball team. I was the first baseman who could catch and seldom made an error but had a very difficult time hitting the ball. I remember spending a lot of extra time during batting practice receiving advice from many people: team mates, coaches, parents and friends. “Keep your eye on the ball, move closer to the plate and change your grip on the bat” were ideas mentioned to improve my swing but nothing worked. I usually batted ninth and often struck out. The following summer I played on an all‑star I team, and once again found myself playing first base at the start of the season. Wow! I was a member of an elite group of baseball players. Throw a baseball at me from any distance and I could catch it. Hitting, however, continued to be a challenge. Subsequently I quit the team half‑way through the season and decided to chum around with my friends for the rest of the summer.
In my early twenties I desperately wanted to learn a trade. School was never enjoyable for me and I struggled for the majority of my academic life. At the time I did not understand my visual-spatial difficulties. “Look and learn” were words I often heard, and the idea seemed to be simple enough. After my first apprenticeship was not successful, I tried another and another. I could not understand how things worked. In plumbing I would often pass the wrong size pipe, the wrong pipe fitting, and use tools awkwardly. In autobody I would have difficulty parking cars into the garage: inches were important and I nudged more than one bumper a night.
During this time in my life I felt I could not do anything right. Everything I touched seemed to break or I would hurt myself. I was wasting my time and money, buying tools for jobs I knew were extremely difficult for me. Shortly after my last apprenticeship, I found a job as a sales person and after the first week I became a sales trainer. I was able to talk to people, had the ability to persuade individuals and unlike my previous jobs, I did not have to make, assemble or or fix things.
I now know that I have to work very hard at being organized. I label most things and prefer shelves to drawers for storing items. I have obtained a compass, that I keep on my key chain, to help me compensate for my poor sense of direction driving or walking. I now wear a watch to assist me with time management.
I also participate in activities that require visual‑spatial skills such as playing pool, word‑find and maze games. I participate in the odd bingo game and visit flea markets. These activities require visual-spatial orientation so I tend to develop headaches and eyestrain but I know these activities help me develop necessary skills to cope with life.
In the past I often questioned my manhood because of the stereotype that men are able to fix cars, assemble bicycles, deal with plumbing problems and be generally handy. These are all areas where my visual‑spatial skills are not the equal of most peoples. It has taken me a long time to understand that no one is perfect and our imperfections are what make us human.
Sharing is how we grow.
Reproduced with permission of the author
Website: www.ldao.ca
by Marteen
Picture the ideal job, working at your pace, having total control of your environment, being recognized for your efforts and setting your own time. It sounds too good to be true especially if you’re an adult with Learning Disabilities. Yes that was my world, I was solely responsible the purchasing, shipping and receiving for over two years. My difficulties with: visual spatial skills, reading comprehension, processing information, writing skills, and mathematical struggles were all under control.
In matter of fact I was so comptent at my job that I was offered a promotion to work at our main location. There would be a dramatic increase in pay; no more lifting and I would have six employees, which I would supervise. I talked it over with my family and friends and with some apprehension decided to accept this promotion. That is when life changed for me the day I walked into my office. Gone was the slow pace which I was use to, my computer screen was full of new emails, the telephone seemed like it never stopped ringing, people were complain and I was putting in 14 hour days.
Settling down into a new environment is challenging for most people, but for people with learning disabilities the ladder has some more rungs. Coming into a production environment at a peak time, well it was a struggle to say the least.
After the third day I went to my manager and ask him to sending me back or get me some help. You see I was not fully trained at my new job, the products were new, and the pace was ten times faster. All my past failures flashed before my eyes. Comments such as “H2O is water”, I can not believe you don’t know that, and what do you do” all ran through my mind like a broken record. I felt as if I had jumped in the middle of the ocean with no life jacket in site, and in time I would sink to the bottom like a
Rock. At times just as these one has to be very careful to whom they turn
to for help some people will supportive and tell you that you can do it, while others will turn things against you. I turned to my girlfriend, she assure me that I was smart and capable of doing the job, but at night I felt like putting the blankest over my head and never waiting to get up in the morning. Yet my survival instics took over I would not run away from my challenges I would work, work and work some more, learning from my mistakes and hone the skills that I did well.
Knowing most of my formal education had been in isolated classrooms away from the main stream. One on one education in small groups had been my history. The uneven intelligence pattern with some peaks and a lot of valleys is the blue print of my learning profile. Having all my Phycocology Educational Records with me, which outline all my shortcomings, but also gave potential coping strategies was my blessing. Having been tested from the ages of 7 through the 19 and again at 27 the last of which I paid for, gave me the tools to survive. Out came the study skills, proof reading, grammar and motivational books. The biggest coping strategies would come from my past experiences. A month later another person was hired to help me with the workload that was a huge relive. But I knew that my work would be closely watched. We dived the work load in half the mist which has surround me had lifted, our department began to run smoothly, it seemed like the things which I had done well in the past was able to do well aging, but this time on a higher level. The last year a half has been very humbling, rewarding, and challenging.
In magnagemnet you are always sent on courses which is very intimidating to me, I am always concerned about having to read out loud, or write on the black board, or not being able to properly express my option. But I know that these feelings will always stay with me, but some how I will learn from each of them and do better the next time. Weather it be asking for the material a week prior to the course, or taking a little longer on quizzes and or working through my lunch there will always be a way.
A while back I wrote to an organization for kids at risk thanking them for my two-week experience out in Northern Ontario over 20 years ago which produced a dramatic attitude change, a little camping, canoeing, portaging and a lot of mosquitoes can do wonders. Kids at risk are individuals who have been identified at an early age as potential law breaks. My parents enrolled me in this program through the counselor I had back then. Most of the fights, the bullied tactics and my apparent disregard for the law in hindsight were calls for help. How ironic an LD person being asked to speak to kids and parents about my experiences. Our own personal struggles are unique but if we can share them with other people who have kids with LD’s or work in the LD field our message can be positive.
Some of the strategies, which work for me, are:
- Word search (assist with visual spatial attention to detail)
- Read for 30 minutes in the every morning (improve compression)
- Keep a daily journal to learn from mistakes
- Break number into two i.e. 24, 89, 12 (assist in processing information)
- Keep work book by the phone to (assist with sort tern memory)
- One touch keys for telephone and fax numbers
Learning is how we grow.
Reproduced with permission of the author
LDAO
Website: www.ldao.ca