#Learning disability

[cryingscreamingpuking]

It really makes me so damn angry how many autistic/ADHD people treat the neurodivergent label as the autism+adhd label. Neurodivergent includes ANYONE who's brain doesn't work the way it's supposed to. This includes people that have learning disabilities. People with down's syndrome. People with cluster A, B and C disorders. That includes systems/people with DID, that includes schizophrenics, that includes people with PTSD. If you have a group that is labeled for neurodivergent people, you cannot act surprised or offended if people that don't have autism or ADHD but DO have other disorders join that group. Because neurodivergent is an umbrella term. And everyone under that umbrella term deserves to be able to find community in groups named with that umbrella term.

[thatsveryvortex]

Dear disabled people in school, please know your rights! If you have an IEP or a 504 plan with your school, your accommodations are not suggestions; a teacher cannot refuse them. If a teacher, coach, or other school staff chooses to ignore or disregard your accommodations, you can and should report them to the school.

The school, under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, will not/cannot tell the teacher that it was you who reported them, nor can the teacher question you or your class about being reported.

Remember it's against the law for the school or anyone representing/working for them to deny you your accommodations, no matter your age or grade, no matter the disability, and no matter how the school is funded.

[mxmorbidmidnight]

You know those teachers who would have posters in their classrooms like “weird is a superpower” and “in a world where you can be anything, be kind” then would proceed to scream at a neurodivergent child until they cried.

[zebulontheplanet]

Hearing constantly about gifted autistic kids and people seeing it as THEE autistic trait has completely disregarded those who aren’t gifted and made a HUGE divide in the community. Seeing constantly “yeah autistic people are usually gifted” is so annoying because a VERY large chunk of autistic people, aren’t actually gifted and media has just put the gifted people at the front because they’re more palatable. The “autistic gifted kid burnout” has become more so a trend than anything and I’ve seen a lot of people assume they’re autistic because they are the “gifted kid burnout person” when that isn’t even a requirement for an autism diagnosis. You don’t have to be gifted to be autistic. You don’t have to be!!

Start putting the people who struggle more in the spotlight. Those with intellectual disabilities, those with learning disabilities, those with cognitive disabilities, those who are just generally stereotypically “dumb” and embrace it!

We need to have a very big discussion about this as a community and it needs to start today.

[zurko48]

[femboywizard]

A reminder that Glinda having either dyslexia/dysgraphia or a learning disability is canon in the Movieverse.

This is the same paper that we see her get back in this scene, in which we can see this was a large essay too.

There's nothing rushed to her handwriting, this was not an essay done at the last minute, and still, it shows several signs of a learning disability and/or dysgraphia.

Misspells her name in the second line

Wrong and inconsistent pronoun usage

Her margin spacing is consistent with someone who can't do proper syllable division

Immature transcription (see: writes her "um"s)

Limited vocabulary

Shows signs of: difficulty expressing ideas in writing, having a limited vocabulary, mispronouncing words or using a wrong word that sounds similar, and having trouble organizing what she wants to say. Those are all symptoms of a learning disability.

Less of a checklist sign, but her handwriting is very round and careful, while still not being consistently sized (see unfashionable). This and the margin sizes are very common in kids with bad dysgraphia who are made to take rigorous calligraphy courses to "fix the problem". Courses that work on the visual without remedying its underlying issues and causes. Form over content if you will.

Looking at this very blatant sign that she has a learning disability and immediately defaulting to calling her names (yes calling her stupid and saying Elphaba is a moronsexual for this counts), asking how she got into Shiz, or defending Dillamond in doing the very first thing teachers are told NOT to do with disabled students (re: calling attention to it in front of the entire class) is ableist!

[i-may-be-an-emu]

Shout out to people who can not tell the time

Shout out to people who need a little longer to figure out the time

Shout out to people who can't do "quick" maths in their head

Shout out to people who need to use a calculator for even "simple" maths

Shout out to people who need others to read number a for them

Shout out to people who cry over maths and numbers

Shout out to people who say the wrong numbers when reading or talking about prices and the time of day

Shout out to people who can't read charts and graphs

Shout out to people who get confused with mathematical concepts

Shout out to people who can't read music because it seems mathematical to them

Shout out to people who's maths struggles limit them

Shout out to people with dyscalculia or math struggles, basically. I am with you. I am here for you. I see you. It sucks, and most of the world doesn't even know about dyscalculia. But it'll be ok. It won't go away but people will help you, you can adapt. I love you. Screw math ❤

[whatareyoureallyafraidof]

These people never seem to tire of showing us what complete pieces of shit they are!

[enbycrip]

One common experience of disability all across the board - relating to everything from learning/intellectual disability to neurodiversity to physical impairment to chronic illness - is the way that “one little thing” can make everything - work performance, school performance, ability to communicate etc - go right off the rails and collapse.

This is an issue I frequently see abled doctors, therapists, psychologists, teachers, social workers etc speaking about in terms of “poor flexibility”, “need to teach resilience” etc etc, focusing on this as an issue *with the disabled person.*

And that illustrates absolutely *perfectly* why a) disabled people are the experts in disability, not abled “specialists”, and b) why the social model of disability *needs* to be taught and centred.

The issue in such circumstances is not some sort of “innate preference for rigidity” (you may laugh, but that’s a phrase I sadly *still* see used about autistic folks far too often) or even “innate widespread lack of capacity” in the disabled person. It is a symptom of a system - in this case, a disabled person’s *life* - that is under immense strain and operating without spare capacity available to be used to respond to unforeseen circumstances.

Disabled people are, almost universally, *master* adapters. Incredibly adept at adaptive thought; incredibly resilient and incredibly dogged. We are that way because we *need to be* to survive in a world that is incredibly ill-adapted for our needs. The reason we are *perceived* as “inflexible”, “rigid”, “fragile”, “incapable” etc etc is because we are, very very frequently, *already* operating at the limits of our capacity just to survive in a world that is incredibly hostile to our needs and to our existence.

The medical model of disability judges all people to exist in the same world under the same circumstances, and thus judges the disabled person to be “lacking” when we struggle. Thus the onus is put on *us* to “correct” this “lack”. “You need to build resilience”.

It is the exact same mindset that blames people living in poverty for their lack of available resources, and suggests “budgeting classes” or “stopping spending money on avocado toast and Netflix” instead of recognising the need to raise wages to liveable levels in low-paid work and provide genuinely affordable housing. Focusing on, and *blaming*, the individual rather than recognising the systemic injustice and the desperate need for systemic change.

“Resilience” as long-term quality more or less means “having the resources to put into dealing with unexpected difficulty while still maintaining other functions.” Whether those resources are time, energy, money, family or community support - if a person does not have access to enough of them, the system - in this case, their life - *will* become overstretched, and they *will* fail on one, or, very often, on multiple points.

That does not represent a personal or moral failure. It represents having access to insufficient resources to meet needs. It is genuinely that simple. And that is what needs to be addressed for disabled people to live and thrive.

[autisticyoungadult]

Being autistic and having a learning disability isn't very much talked within the online autism community. There are also mythes that are allowed to be up.

The mythes i am talking about are the stereotypes that autistic people are good at math, that autistic people are very intelligent, that we are gifted people. And that's wrong, that's overgeneralization.

I get that some autistic people are good at math, are highly intelligent or more intelligent than the average autistic, are gifted, but there are also autistic people who aren't good at math. Some autistic people who aren't intelligent, some who aren't gifted. There are autistic people who aren't good at everything because of their autism, because of many reasons.

For me, my reason for not being good at math is because i have Dyscalculia. That means that i basically suck ass at everything that's above grade 2 level math. Even some basic math questions i can mess up on, can do completely wrong. Because mental math is a struggle for me because of my memory issues.

So, when i see people saying that we're all gifted and not academically challenged in any shape or form, i do not like it. I feel left out by what they say. And i of course don't like feeling isolated. No one does.

Please stop perpetrating harmful stereotypes. I thought we were all past this but i guess not.

[matchakuracat]

[spale-vosver]

"man I wish I JUST had dyslexia you're less likely to graduate college?? well I'm more likely to DIE bc im PHYSICALLY DISABLED!!!" folks with learning disabilities are also more likely to die young but you wouldn't know that bc you don't want to get off your soapbox and acknowledge that while yes, NDs often talk over physically disabled folks (which is wrong!) that doesn't mean their disabilities are any less...well...disabling. (before you get on my ass I am physically disabled, with conditions that reduce my life expectancy significantly).

"Oh well ADHD-" ADHD doubles the risk of premature death

Here are more sources if you don't believe me

Intellectually disabled people die on average 20 years earlier than those of average intelligence

Autistic people are more vulnerable to premature death across a range of causes

Individuals with tic disorders are more than twice as likely to die young as individuals without

Individuals with Cluster B PDs lose anywhere from 9-13 years of life expectancy due to their disorder, and 1 in 5 kill themselves

So next time you try to pull the "WELL AT LEAST YOU AREN'T AT RISK OF DYING BECAUSE OF YOUR EASY PEASY DISABILITY UNLIKE MINE", actually research whether or not that's true before you show your own ass.

[zebulontheplanet]

I’m not smart. I never have been. I’ve never been the gifted kid type of person, I’ve never been the kid who was able to keep up with their peers.

I couldn’t read chapter books until 8th grade. I still can’t do pre-algebra. I struggle with remembering dates, and important historical events. I don’t know the presidents and important figures in history.

I’m not smart. This is the reality for me as someone with an intellectual disability and multiple learning disabilities. It isn’t bad that I’m not smart.

I’m not “smart in other ways” I’m not that. I’m just not smart, and I’m ok with that. I’m ok with being not smart. Or dumb. Or stupid. Or whatever you wanna call me. I’m ok with not knowing things. I’m ok with being behind my peers. I’m ok with it.

Stop trying to lump me into this group of people who are “smart in other ways” cause thats not ok for me. Some people just aren’t smart, and that’s ok.

[maths-screaming]

Things That Are and Are Not Changing as a Result of Re-Teaching Myself Basic Math

Things That Are Changing

I am less anxious about basic math.

I have more tools for doing basic arithmetic problems.

I'm better at identifying which will be the fastest or easiest tool for any given problem.

I can more quickly and easily ID when an exact answer is needed or when an estimate will suffice.

I'm marginally better at noticing when an answer can't be correct.

Things That Are Not Changing

I still transpose numbers frequently.

I still transpose operations frequently (adding when I should subtract, dividing when I should multiply, etc.)

I still have initial anxiety when looking at a math problem, before the "oh yeah, I have more tools for addressing this now" kicks in.

I still frequently mix up my right and my left.

My sense of direction is still bad.

I cracked Maths - No Problem! Textbook 4A today, putting me halfway through the series. I'm making this list for future reference, because I suspect the things that aren't changing will continue to not change.

Better math education won't change the fact that I have dyscalculia. I didn't expect it to, but I also didn't know what it would or wouldn't change. When I started this, I didn't know where my dyscalculia ended and my poor math education or math anxiety began.

Still, if we can fix "poor math education" and "math anxiety," I'll be much further ahead than when I started - and more willing to live with the dyscalculia.

[stupidthingsgoodoutcomes]

PSA to authors writing dyslexic characters (and just people in general) that most dyslexic people don’t experience letters “jumping” or moving around on the page.

I myself am NOT dyslexic, but my mom and brother are, and I work full-time with dyslexic children. The research on literacy and dyslexia is constantly changing, but nothing I have learned supports letters floating, moving, or jumping, nor have any of my students reported experiencing something like that. It is a part of some other disorders and may occur for some dyslexic people, but it is not the most common presentation.

What I do see very often in my students: b/d/p/q reversals (eg reading “pig” as “big”,) guessing words based on the initial letters (eg reading “spot” as “spin,”) and changing vowel sounds (eg, reading “bet” as “beet.”)

In terms of writing, I often see letter reversals outside of b/d - for example, students writing g or s backwards. I also see spelling errors that come from difficulty distinguishing similar sounds in words. An example of this would be a child spelling “train” as “chrain” or “clod” as “cod.”

I work with K-5th grade, where we spend most of our time working with one-syllable, short vowel words, but of course multisyllabic words with complex vowels (like “treatise” or “diorama”) will be even more difficult for dyslexic people and may be a struggle for dyslexic adults - and don’t even get me started on loanwords and other words that aren’t phonetic (chauffeur, government.)