I've posted this three times. It got some good comments. But the last time was four years ago, and there are lots of new people since, and so, I thought, why not repost? Well, we're not supposed to post duplicate diaries....so, I'm giving it a new title, and some new text, and I hope it gets some good comments, or informs some people.
I'm weird.
Not just in the ways many of us here are weird - liberal, progressive, etc. No. Not even just because I am an atheist. No. I am weird because I am learning disabled. And not even one of your common garden-variety learning disabilities. I have nonverbal learning disability (NLD).
If you'd like to read more, join me below.
KosAbility is a community diary series posted at 5 pm ET/2 pm PT every Sunday by volunteer diarists. This is a gathering place for people who are living with disabilities, who love someone with a disability, or who want to know more about the issues surrounding this topic. Our use of "disability" includes temporary as well as permanent conditions, and small, gnawing problems as well as big, life-threatening ones. Our use of "love someone" extends to beloved members of other species.
Our discussion threads are open threads in the context of this community. Please feel free to comment on the diary topic and ask questions of the diarist, and also to ask general questions about disabilities, share something you've learned, tell bad jokes, post photos, or rage about the unfairness of your situation. Our only rule is to be kind; trolls will be spayed or neutered. If you are interested in contributing a diary, contact series coordinator postmodernista.
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Here are some questions:
1. So, what is this NLD stuff?
2. How can someone (me) be LD and really good at both reading and math?
3. What's it like being weird?
4. Is all this just a crock, an excuse for being lazy, crazy, or stupid?
Last question first: No, it's not.
First question next. NLD is a neurological impairment that affects people's abilities with many areas, typically ones that are not related to speech. Common areas of difficulty are reading body language, spatial perception, visual skills, physical coordination, and so on. There's a good web site about it.
Second question: Anything an adult knows that an infant doesn't know has to be learned. If you are much worse at one set of these skills than at most others, that's LD. It can be about reading (dyslexia), math (dyscalculia) or other things....(NLD, Asperger's etc). You can be LD and gifted. Why not? You can be tall and fat, can't you?
and finally the biggie:
Well, being weird generally sucks.
By the time I was 4, it was clear I was, in my father's words "Screwed up somehow, but not stupid". There were no schools for such children back then (almost 50 years ago), so my mom started one - Gateway school of New York. She handled everything that wasn't education, and Elizabeth Freidus (pronounced 'freed us' - amazingly apropos) handled education. That school helped me a lot. Many years later, I served on the Board.
I'm also writing a book called "Screwed up somehow, but not stupid" (yes, I am still writing it; I hope to finish it sometime).
After that, I went to mainstream schools and was miserable. Really miserable. Suicidal for much of adolescence. Absolutely no friends (I mean NONE). I had one date (disastrous) before college, and only a couple in college.
Things got better. College was MUCH better than HS. And post-college was even better. I'm married. I have 2 great kids. I have 2 MAs and a PhD, and a job (as a freelance statistician and I hope eventually giving talks on LD).
But I am still LD, and still weird. And it still sucks.
Thanks for reading.
If you have questions, I will try to answer.
If you have comments, I will read them and be generous with mojo.
If you think others should read this, I would appreciate recommends.