LD as invisible disability

[dogmom]

Section about "invisible disability" - I decided to share separately about my LD as invisible, seemed like I should not put it there, so I have new thread here.I believe I have written this before but thought I'd put it for any newbies - many times I have explained about the LD, and people will say, oh, but you seem/seemed so smart....

people may get impatient in line with me too, as I count change slowly, sometimes I miscount, sometimes I just give it to cashier and say, you do it you will be faster than me.

Or sometimes I may ask time, what? and someone will point to their watch w/hands and I say, tell me what it says and then I'll get a look, or I'll ask, what does it say, and they'll wave their arm, or move it closer to me or something, as if that will automatically be useful.

or directions, people have got impatient with me, I was asking some questions once and someone was upset with me on phone and she said, why do you keep asking me these things? I wanted to be sure I understood the information and I said, there's no need to be rude, I just want to be sure I understand because there's "red tape" involved here and I don't there to be some problem, and I have difficulty with oral instructions.

I could explain - and have - explained to someone I work with or someone am interacting with, about LD all day and still they don't get it.

 

[melissa]

I have similar problems with directions, which I've posted about, but I'm ok with reading watches and counting change (though a bit slow, and it'd take me forever to actually calculate change from a total).

Sadly there are always going to be people that 'just don't get it'- mental health is my oft-quoted example, because it's personal to me. You can say 'I do xyz differently because of my condition, this means that you might do xyz this way and it will be easy for you, but I will find it difficult/need more time/need to do something another way entirely/can't do something at all' and they say ok, ask some stupid questions but say ok, then still expect you to do things like they do, and say 'But can't you just.....like I do?'

 

[dogmom]

yes, I 've had that too - why don't you just do it THIS way,

or, oh, but that's so easy, why have any trouble?

or I say - have LD - response - no, you don't, you're making that up....you're making that harder than it needs to be-

mental health is a very good example, because there is a lot of stigma and that issue is so invisible too. And like LD, mental health challenges can fluctuate, like for me with LD, some days maybe I might get something and then next day or next week, the directions are all confusing.

 

[society's_child]

I have ADD but I'm pretty sure that doesn't count. :P

 

[dogmom]

why would that not count?

 

[society's_child]

why would that not count?

Unless you count being chronically unorganized and a bit scatterbrained (who isn't, these days?)a disability, I just don't think ADD merits the label. But that's just my opinion. I had it really bad as a kid but now as an adult, I've managed to deal with it. Heck, at times I forget that I have it. It doesn't affect my interactions with others at all.

 

[CJB]

Reading comprehension always caused me a lot of trouble in school. I never went to a psychologist about it but I remember hours of grueling over novels for English only to fail the quiz yet again, over and over. My teachers always saw me as an overall intelligent student, so they would get very easily frustrated with my low reading comprehension scores, attributing it to laziness. Little did they know I would spend 3 hours a night trying to remember what happens in the novel for English!

Anyway, does this sound like an LD to anyone, or do I just sound like yet another person trying to diagnose myself with something when it's actually just normal? I know you can't diagnose me over the Internet, but is it something I should look into?

 

[dogmom]

SC,
okay it is good that you have learned ways around it.

I have worked around my LD, too but everyday it does affect me.

CJB,
depends on how often/to what degree it affects you. Having trouble retaining what one reads can be a sign of an LD- but not always - in and of itself it is not as significant, diagnosis-wise, as the bigger picture, which takes into account achievement and any discrepancy, among other things. I have no trouble w/reading comprehension and things involving purely text, but once you get into anything mathematical, including sequences like in story problems <although those are text, too> I have great difficulty. In story problems, not only do i have trouble with the mathematical procedures, but I have problems w/understanding what I'm supposed to be doing/sequence. I also have problems picking out numbers in sequence, recognizing symbols - that "greater than, less than" thing was just soooo beyond me - had hideous time w/subtraction, count on my fingers.....
but anyway, if it's not bothering you, and you don't foresee yourself as requiring a formal "diagnosis" of anything for any kind of institutional purpose, I don't know if you wanna spend time and money on it.

 

[CJB]

Well if I did seek a diagnosis, it would be for validating purposes, since my entire life reading has caused me tremendous trouble and everyone from my parents to my wife think it's just because I'm not interested. Of course I'm interested--but when I get down to reading, I just don't "get" it! It doesn't "click." I got straight A's in all subjects except English where I was usually just barely passing, and even then, only cause my teacher was nice enough to let me write an open-book paragraph summary of the reading instead of taking the quizzes.

I don't know if it's worth the time or money, but I guess sometimes it just feels better if someone with a Ph.D. can tell you you're not nuts or lazy, you just have an LD.

 

[rockin'robin]

What is LD ?

 

[Jiro]

What is LD ?

learning disability

 

[rockin'robin]

learning disability

Thks!

 

[deafdyke]

You know.....I wouldn't nessarly call an LD an "invisable" disabilty....... Sometimes there are "cues" that someone is "different" nereologically.
I have an LD too...........a disreprency between my verbal and nonverbal IQ, which causes dyscalulia.

 

[dogmom]

yes, it's true,dd, that there can be nuero. cues - but I think people have to notice them and/or know what they're looking for or seeing - don't think it is very obvious in most people w/LD, for the average onlooker - the way that a person working w/a guide dog is obvious, for example. I have dyscalculia also, affects me significantly mathematically, among other things.

 

[Loghead]

My cousin has a learning disability. He couldn't read properly until maybe 2 years ago. He's 14. It's not something that should be taken lightly.

 

[dogmom]

For me, LD can be very challenging, have known that sometimes one might say to me, "only LD", "not big deal" - but you're right, Loghead, it has many ramifications, and not just something that happens in childhood, and one "gets over".

 

[somedeafdudefromPNW]

Unless you count being chronically unorganized and a bit scatterbrained (who isn't, these days?)a disability, I just don't think ADD merits the label. But that's just my opinion. I had it really bad as a kid but now as an adult, I've managed to deal with it. Heck, at times I forget that I have it. It doesn't affect my interactions with others at all.

I second this. I manage to reduce my clutter and disorganizatiion issue by being a minimalist. Still no fix on being scatterbrained.

Either way, it doesn't affect my job performance.

 

[daystarnite]

I know two of my friends who have LD. Though I think they're not quite as bad. I think we're awesome people because we're always learning to adapt with whatever issues we have.