When I was in the first grade, every week the students did reading board where they sat in the hall outside the class and the teacher told us to read as many words as possible. This reading board created great anxiety and resentment toward my classmates proper spelling and word usage. When I misspoke, or used a word incorrectly, the teacher placed me in a lower reading level than my peers. I was upset because, my friend kept moving up and I was still stuck in first grade reading level. I learned that I had a learning disability, which would be the greatest challenge in my life.
The stigma behind having a learning disability in writing and reading terrified me. Trying to pronounce words was not my cup of tea. Many times I remember sitting with the
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“What this word?”
“Go-”
Then I just stop, beat down by my disability. The fear of messing up again and forcing my teacher to repeat herself. After, What was like forever in my mind.
“It’s ok, let's start again”
“Goes”
Living with a learning disability I have overcome many challenges in the classroom. Living in a society that views standardized tests like a preacher studies the bible, has made me feel badly about myself. However, I have gained wisdom with age. After many failed attempts and days of coming back in the hall trying to say “goes,” I slowly learned how to say it. From this moment forward, I learned that I can overcome this learning disability . In
In the video presentation of How Difficult Can This Be? The F.A.T. City Workshop, Richard Lavoie is able to simulate several of the difficulties that a student with a learning disability has to face at school. Some of the difficulties experienced by the students are intrinsic to the disability itself, but many other difficulties are directly related with the emotions that the student experiences when attending a class, and as a result of his or her interactions with teachers and classmates. Both the United States law and the education system, have the opportunity to make a huge difference in the learning experience of every student with disability. Students with disabilities need to be guided to a path to education that is both feasible and accessible for them; with achievable goals, and by being provided what they need in order to succeed, and to be able to overcome any obstacles.
“The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal” by Jonathan Mooney is the story of his journey around the U.S. in short bus nonetheless to meet with different children and their families who have faced challenges in school due to ADD, ADHD, Autism, and other learning disabilities. Jonathan Mooney himself faced the disability of Dyslexia and often had to deal with many challenges in school himself, but he appears to be one of the more fortunate ones, who was able to grow from his disability and ultimately get a degree in English. Needless to say, his book and journey lead the reader to question what really is “normal”, and how the views of this have caused the odds to be stacked against those who don’t fit the mold. Throughout, this story, for me personally however, this story gave several events that I found moving, and had the potential to influence my further work in education.
Alison’s story is the perfect example of what many families must go through when faced with the possibility of having a child diagnosed with a learning disability. Alison was not diagnosed with visual and auditory dyslexia until the summer before entering college. However, while still a toddler, her symptoms had been brought to her mother’s attention by her sister’s teacher. Alison’s mother then noticed her habits in repeating words incorrectly and how Alison would need tactile clues to follow directions. At the recommendation of her kindergarten teacher, Alison was tested for learning disabilities and the results from the school psychologists were that she was acting stubborn or disobedient. Her family did not stop with the school’s diagnosis. They had private testing completed that confirmed Alison did not have a specific learning disability. The final word came from a relative that happened to be a psychologist. He insisted Alison would grow out of her difficulties. So Alison continued on with her entire elementary, middle and high school journey as a student and daughter with an undiagnosed learning disability.
It was believed by members of society; people with learning difficulties should not be a part of the wider community or have the same rights. This opinion was reinforced when the government began to have large institutions built to house all the people described as ‘mental deficiency’: ‘idiots’, ‘imbeciles’, ‘feeble-minded persons’ and ‘moral imbeciles’. (The Open University (2011) DVD Unit 7, Lennox Castle timeline).
My People with Disabilities Single Story Narrative In 6th grade, I remembered seeing the ambulance outside the windows of my elementary school. I was in the classroom when there was a rush of EMTs entering the building. Students all started to run towards the door, including me, but were told to get back to our seats. Throughout the day, I was wondering who might have gotten hurt while praying it wasn't my sister or brother.
When I was growing up, I struggled a great deal in school! In third grade I started a new school. They had three tiers of classes. One with the regular kids, another with kids that needed a little bit of help in math and reading, and thirdly, a category that had mentally retarded children learning life skills. I was being placed in that third tier. I absolutely loved school before they had placed me in that class. All that
During my junior year of high school, I was transferred from the Boces Program to East Meadow High School. This was an exciting time in my life! I was finally going to attend classes with "hearing" students. So many emotions filled my head. I was happy but, on the other hand, I was scared. I thought these kids would tease me and not accept me for who I am. When I went into the classroom, every student looked at me as if I were different, but they liked me anyway. Much to my surprise, within a couple of days I had made friends. I quickly realized that they didn't think of or treat me as I were different. They saw me for who I am on the inside, not a person with hearing aids on the outside.
Over the course of my childhood I faced an obstacle of my identity as a child, I was becoming everyone else image of me instead of creating my own portrait. Unfortunately, I began to dress, talk, and behave like the people around me, I became a product of my environment. Myself started to change I gained a reputation of this little girl with a careless attitude, and a malicious looking face. I wasn’t being recognized by my own family members, and it started to affect my relationship at home. I started slacking in my studies, and just started diminishing myself and my personality. The issue was focused in middle school when I joined the Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Scholars after school team. I was a fanatic about learning about
My family and I discovered I had dyslexia when I was in the second grade. Honestly, it was quite a traumatic event. What was an eight year old little girl to think about a doctor telling her “she was retarded” (that she had dyslexia.) I pondered long and hard about the diagnosis, but soon learned to accept it. I made it my goal to overcome my dyslexia. That’s the amazing thing about me and actually one of the few factors that drives me to work harder and not be a dyslexic statistics. I knew was an anomaly. I was called out to be different and took pride in the fact that I blossom with every challenge I encounter. My goal now was to always be different: someone who proved the expected failures of dyslexic wrong. I wasn’t “retarded” and I
Learning about learning disabilities has been an eye opening experience. I have worked with children who had home life issues that they struggled with at school. But to see and realize that these children cannot change how their brain operates is difficult to watch. My case study is a typical young boy who really doesn’t want to be in school. He would rather be with his dad hunting with guns in the woods. I know now that he probably dislikes school because he struggles with completing the tasks and assignments given to him. Hopefully, this study will provide me with more insight into ways that I could help him and others like him once I become a certified teacher.
Have you ever experienced a moment of clarity that changed your perspectives and life goals all in a single flash? My sudden insight came during the summer of 2011 when I volunteered at Schramm Educational Center, an alternative school for children with severe to profound disabilities. Normally, I assisted a preschool classroom with activities and field trips, however, on this particular day, an incredible speech therapy session inspired me to pursue my studies in Speech and Hearing Science. I watched in awe as a nonverbal, wheelchair-bound child with significant cognitive and motor impairments used her eyes to express yes and no. Most people would have difficulty recognizing ability in this child, unable to see past her physical limitations.
In middle school I was diagnosed with a disability with the way I expressed myself through writing. Ever since, I have gained multiple values and learned several lessons about self confidence. I was taught to push past my limits, in order to be successful in reaching my goals along with my dreams. Today I am a senior in high school who was once thought to struggle, but was able to succeed beyond expectations. To some, a disability may seem like a setback from achieving goals, but to me I used it as a challenge for myself. I accepted myself for who I was and looked at my disability as a unique trait of mine. I was able to provide a message to others that anything you set your mind to is possible with dedication and hard work. It might take
During my 17 years, I have met many who are unfamiliar with hearing disabilities and deal with their ignorance by stereotyping me. In elementary school my principal told my parents I belonged in a school for the deaf. My classmates told me ...
My experience with school was very challenging and overcoming my personal struggles was not an easy feat. I started Kindergarten with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and I’m thankful that my preschool teacher recognized my learning challenges and encouraged my parents to have me evaluated. We found out that I had ADHD and learning disabilities that would make academic achievement a challenge for me. More specifically, I had difficulty decoding words and pronouncing some letter sounds such as “R’s” and “W’s”. As a result, excelling in school was a challenge due to my disability and the reaction of other students to my disability only made it more difficult.