When I was three years old I was diagnosed with a learning disability. The people who did the dignoses said that I may never learn how to read or write or do basic math. Both of my maternal grandparents spent their lives working in special education at a vocational high school. After the diagnoses my grandparents talked to my mom. They told her what she needed to hear not what she wanted to hear. They discussed how to make sure that by the time I'm an adult I can get a job and be independent.
According to my mom, I was sensitive to light, sound, touch, and I was non- verbal. I do not recall displaying any of these traits. I am thankfull that my mom began the process soon enough for me to only remember a non dissociative version of myself that did not display the symptoms of the learning disability I was diagnosed with. My mother took me to garage sales, the bank, the grocery store, and resterants to try and teach me the neccessary social skills to be successful as an adult. She never let me settle down on a routine. For example, she would change the blinds and she would make me change my routine. She wanted me to go to the same school as kids that do not have learning disabilities and I did. I went to a regular school for preschool all the way up through high school. She insisted on pushing me to improve my communication skills and to learn to read and write. My mother did not lower her expectations for me. Too often people set the expectations lower for kids with learning disabilities.
Before my second grade year we moved from a suburb to a small farm town. The elementary school that I went had a total of 150 students and one class for each grade. The school was wonderful and I progressed greatly. In second grade I could not count to twenty and my reading and writing skills were behind most of my peers. I memorized the multiplication table and could read and write proficiently in third grade. My teacher that year agreed with my mom that I needed to pushed harder than I have ever been pushed. Also, I took all of my spelling test using cursive handwriting and I did very well on most of them. The entire class was expected to use cursive handwriting and even though I was originally not expected to learn cursive handwriting I insisted on doing it. I read ancient history books meant for college students that year and my social skills improved dramatically. I made new friends and began to understand more abstract concepts such as money. In elementary school I received speech therapy and occupational therapy. My parents could not afford expensive therapy and they did not pay a tutor to help me. My mother would not even consider medicating me. I starting taking fish oil when I was little and that helped me calm down. Shortly after I started taking fish oil we visisted my maternal grandparents and my grandmother asked what she had me on. My mother explained that taking fish oil helped me calm down. In third grade I did all of the same homework and tests as the other students and I was held to the same set of expectations. In fourth grade I learned long division and I did very well academically.
By middle school I was on the regular curriculum and I was off the modified grading scale. In middle school I went from being an introvert to being an extrovert. I performed wonderfully academically in seventh and eighth grade. In middle school I did marching and concert band. I played the clarinet, the base clarinet, and the cymbols. In eighth grade I wrestled and ran track. My mother pointed out that its impressive that I did wrestling because I used to be sensitive to touch. I won five wrestling matches that year.
In high school I took the college prep track. I wrestled, played football, and ran track. My social life was vibrant and I did very well in sports. My junior and senior year of high school I took college classes online through a university. These classes were mostly business classes along with a couple of math courses and a writing class. I did well in all of these classes. My senior year I qualified for DECA Nationals for an event that involved a case study and interview situation. I had to place fourth at State DECA competition in Columbus, Ohio to qualify for Nationals. Nationals was in Nashville, Tennessee that year. I did not place at Nationals, but I enjoyed various activities while I was there. These activities included attending a Naishville Sounds game, going on cruise, and walking around the campus at Vanderbilt. I graduated in the top fifth of my class and with a years worth of college credit. I graduated high school about three years ago. Currently, I am attending a mid sized university to study economics. I plan on working as an economist for a local government after I graduate.
My mother wrote a book using what she learn from her experiences with raising me about how to raise a child with a disability to be as independent as possible. The book is available for free on kindle and the title of the book is "Striving for Independence: Ways to Help Children with Disabilities Learn to Function More Indepedently". I put a link to the book on kindle below.
"Striving for Independence: Ways to Help Children with Disabilities Learn to Function More Indepedently"
https://www.amazon.com/Striving-Independence-Children-Disabilities-Indepedently-ebook/dp/B016V7I124
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