I am currently writing a memoir about my struggles growing up with a reading disability in the 1990's, the emotional toll of my learning disability, and how I was misunderstood by teachers and others. Ironically, I have shared my experiences in this book with few people, and I have told few people about my learning disability.
I think that it is important for me to tell my story, because it provides insight into how children with learning disabilities were treated in the 1990's, the misunderstandings people have about learning disabilities, and how I ended up overcoming my disability. My experiences growing up with a learning disability and in special education are what prompted my interest in becoming a special education teacher, which is why I am currently studying special education. I hope this book will provide awareness to the true nature of learning disabilities. As a society we must reduce the stigma attached to having a learning disability.
Throughout the course of this blog, I will provide information and statistics related to learning disabilities, and on the status of my book.
Many people experience struggles in school for a variety of different reasons. I am open to hearing about your experiences in school. Do you have a painful experience you would like to share? Do you feel you were misunderstood or mistreated by teachers when you were a child?
I am looking forward to reading your book. As you know, I had a learning disability too when I was in elementary and middle school and I would feel so embarrassed to go to another classroom for Math and Reading where there was a special education teacher helping out in that classroom. Now it seems like a lot more kids have disabilities and I would definitely be interested in seeing what the statistics say about learning disabilities.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing Terry. The embarrassment you are talking about is part of what I was referring to in my post about reducing stigma related to learning disabilities. I think part of how this can be done is by educating the public (and even students) about what it actually means to have a learning disability and that it does not mean a person cannot learn. Now days many professionals call learning disabilities learning differences, which I think is a far better word. I will be talking more about learning disabilities and my book in future blog posts. I am glad you are looking forward to reading my book.
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