I Have Learning Disabilities

Last week Tyler and I were sitting in the waiting room at Minds in Motion (an intense vestibular  program) with other parents waiting to see Katie demonstrate some of what she has been doing the last 4 weeks.  Tyler asked me, "Dad did you go to a special school when you were a kid?"  I could feel the eyes of the other parents on me.  I said "No I didn't.  Why?"  Tyler's response was, "Mommy said you had trouble learning, like Katie has trouble learning."  The other parents were watching and listening, not hiding the fact they were listening.  I said, "Yes I did.  I had trouble learning, but not as much trouble as Katie."

I'm always surprised how in tune Tyler is to Katie.  He understands, probably better than the rest of us, how difficult things are for Katie.  That being said, I can relate to the kids at Summit Academy.  I'm more like them than most people know.  I did have trouble learning when I was in school.  I can remember being told I was lazy and that I wasn't trying.  I was told I didn't put forth effort and that I didn't care.  I can remember how the teachers treated me and how they made me feel, and how the other kids looked at me.  I was 21 when I was diagnosed with learning disabilities.

I have always been embarrassed by my education.  It's not that I'm dumb.  I am smart, very smart.  I graduated college with a degree in finance and use it in my career as a financial advisor.  However, I missed out on a lot of basic education, because I was struggling just to get by.  For me, blogging has been incredibly difficult.  I know I don't write very well and my sentences aren't structured properly.  Truth be told, I didn't want everyone to know.  I didn't want to publish this post.  I didn't want to take a chance that this information could hurt my career and others opinion of me.  I wanted to keep that barrier in place to protect the real me. 

But Tyler's question got me to thinking.  I went into this run wanting to make a difference and that means sharing the whole story, not just part of it. I am an adult with learning disabilities with a college degree and a career. After I was diagnosed halfway through my college career, I made changes in the way I studied and scheduled classes and it made all the difference in my academic success. It is possible to suceed with learning difficulties with the right interventions. That is the whole mission of Summit Academy. If a child can't learn the way we teach, we should teach the way they learn.