Jun 19 2009
Summer Session 1- SELD 688
I decided to wait and post all of my journals from SELD 688 until the very end. Throughout these journal entries, I think it became apparent how much I had to learn and how much I enjoyed learning from Dr. Gerber. This is a wonderful class that I think everyone should take, even if it’s not required. Hope you enjoy reading about my 5 week journey!
5/18/09 “One size doesn’t fit all.” Wow. Tonight was a great first night of class. Even though I was dreading taking summer classes, I only heard great things about Dr. Gerber and learning about adults with learning disabilities. Who knew I could learn so much within the first hour of a class. I’m guilty in that I didn’t know exactly what classified a learning disability. Of course I was aware of ADD/ADHD, and dyslexia because I’ve had friends and family members who have these learning disabilities, but as far as the broad range of these disabilities and the many subtypes and contexts, I was clueless. What I enjoyed about this first class was getting some basic and informative background information. I appreciated how Dr. Gerber said to put the person first, before the learning disability, because the learning disability doesn’t define who a person is. I had also never thought of the differences in learning disabilities between childhood and adulthood. When children have learning disabilities, they are clearly stated and announced, because parents want to make sure their children get equal opportunities and the chance to do their best. Parents are very involved and take advantage of the privileges provided by the laws set aside; however, when children grow into adulthood, it appears to be more-so something they hide. Why is this? It’s something to really ponder on and I’m sure I’ll get a better grasp on this as the class go on. The one phrase that sticks out in my mind after this first class is, “one size doesn’t fit all.” Learning disabilities aren’t the same for every person and what may affect one individual may not the other. I also think that every person takes their learning disability and applies it and uses it differently. Some people embrace what they are and grow and learn how to build on their other strengths, where some might not. One size doesn’t fit all means to me that a learning disability doesn’t define who an individual is, and if a person is diagnosed ADD/ADHD, dyslexic, not every one of those people will act the same. Learning disabilities and how people live with them are unique, just as we all are as individuals. 5/20/09 Tonight I had a learning disability, and it was challenging. As we went through the packet of exercises and had to basically figure each one out, I became quite frustrated. I think the best lesson learned through this class is not to judge someone, or think you understand what they see until you put yourself in their shoes. The video we watched tonight also contributed to my frustration. To be honest it made me a little mad and upset. Rick Levoie, the facilitator in this video, put a group of teachers, parents, and educators into situations to make them feel as if they had a learning disability. This was a great experience and exercise, especially for teachers and parents, who live and guide these children who are learning disabled on a daily basis. What really hit me and probably made me the most frustrated, was thinking about the children and what they must feel like and think about as they are being called out and embarrassed. It’s upsetting to think that they struggle so much, and then on top of that, possibly get ridiculed for reading slower or taking longer to complete a math problem. I also started comparing children and adults in my head. How does this affect a child down the road, if they are constantly being put down and told they can’t do something? If a child grows up in school and is never “found” or discovered as being learning disabled, what happens as they get older? Do they go to college or higher education? Do they push themselves past what they have been told all their lives and become successful? Or could they end up being criminals or unemployed because they chose the easy route, to give up, because that’s what they are told all their childhood…. that they won’t get it and they are different. This is why I appreciate Rick Levoie’s techniques and was glad to hear he travels the country facilitating these exercises. People need a good eye opening experience like this! 5/27/09 “Goodness of fit” Finding your niche. This is hard for everyone. I remember struggling with finding my niche and what I wanted to do for a career in undergrad. So, if it was hard for me, imagine if you have a learning disability and struggle to find your niche. Tonight we learned about “goodness of fit” and how people with learning disabilities need to be aware and know what strengths and weaknesses they have before they will ever be able to find their niche. I think another aspect of finding a niche, no matter if you are learning disabled or not, is being able to ask for help. It’s important to know no matter how smart you are, everyone needs to ask for help sometimes. Tonight we also talked about control, and how successful adults who are learning disabled deal with internal and external controls. One of the internal controls I found so fascinating was reframing a learning disability. A learning disability isn’t a death sentence or automatic disqualifier, instead it’s a gift that people need to celebrate. It may be a bit harder, but if people with learning disabilities can reframe it: recognize it, understand it, accept it and make an action plan, they will come out a successful, happier person. An external control, like goodness of fit, is learned creativity. Successful adults with learning disabilities need to be able to think outside of the box. A phrase that stuck out for me was, change it or change you. Again, I think this falls back on taking personal responsibility and choices. Having a learning disability means that a person needs to modify a situation, especially in the workplace, to work for them. Be creative in how you approach a problem or how you tackle a task, and adapt to what the situation may be. 6/1/09 “What do they know?” Tonight our first assignment was due and it was a very eye opening class. We learned from each other what people outside in the everyday world and workplace know about learning disabilities. Wow, was I surprised. When I interviewed my everyday person and employer they both knew more than I expected (I was a little embarrassed as I was interviewing them because they initially knew more about learning disabilities than I did!) I figured when I walked into class tonight that I was an exception, and that other interviews that had taken place might not have known as much about learning disabilities. Again, I was wrong. Most of the interviews my classmates conducted, their interviewees knew a decent amount about learning disabilities. This is a good thing! I think as a class, including Dr. Gerber, we were pleasantly surprised that people out in the everyday world and in the workplace aren’t in the dark when it comes to learning disabilities. When I interviewed my employer, I was glad to hear that many companies and organizations are open to helping those employees who have learning disabilities. Some even have programs specifically set aside. What I also thought was great is that people are open and willing to talk about learning disabilities. I think throughout all of our interviews, most people were open to talk and there isn’t a negative stigma related to learning disabilities. This is comforting because it’s showing a changing of times, and awareness that should be within our society. With more and more children being diagnosed learning disabled, it’s important to know that one day they will be able to work and find jobs in organizations that are willing to work with them. 6/3/09 We started off the night talking about each of our highly successful people. The person I studied, Susan Quinby, was a remarkable example of a highly successful individual. While I was listening to the interview I was envious of her career and accomplishments. I know I don’t have the motivation and drive to achieve all the things she has, but learning about her life and how she got to where she is today was an inspirational experience for me. Rick Levoie made another appearance during class tonight. This video discussed how children, which can also translate to adults, have difficulty when they have a learning disability related to social skills. Until he said it in the video, I hadn’t thought about how every situation we are involved in, on a day to day basis, is social. Therefore, if you have a social learning disability, it’s ultimately impossible to avoid it everyday. I started thinking, how would I feel if I had a learning disability related to social skills? How would this affect me in the things I’m involved in with work, friends, family, co-workers, classes, etc? Another thing Rick Levoie mentioned in the video that I found interesting was hidden curriculums. I immediately could relate to what he was talking about, as far as knowing about certain hidden things within schools. It brought me back to hidden curriculums in my high school especially, such as what table/area everyone knew not to sit at during lunch, or what hallway to not go down because a teacher would always be in it in-between classes asking for hall passes. It then made me start thinking about having a social learning disability, and not being aware of these hidden situations. It’s something I never thought about learning because it’s like I always knew it from the beginning; however it made sense when Rick Levoie was discussing how kids with learning disabilities don’t clue in on these things as others do. The same can be said for hidden curriculums in the workplace. As adults we know certain things we should and shouldn’t do while we are at work. We know what’s acceptable and what isn’t. However, what if you have a social learning disability and don’t catch on to these hidden things. Who tells you? How do you learn? As he said, all environments are social and an unforgiving situation can be judged or misjudged. The concept of a social autopsy also caught my interest. It’s simply pulling the child, or even as an adult- a co-worker aside, and performing a social autopsy. This is getting to the root of why the person did the act in which they did. He used the situation of the little boy losing his friends toothpaste, and how he un-winded the social autopsy was interesting. Sometimes I think I need to take a step back and do a social autopsy on people I know, or on specific situations I’m involved in. It’s easy to miss the true motive as to why an action took place. 6/10/09 I was tired tonight. I hope it didn’t show too much. It’s amazing how crazy a five week class is and how assignments come back to back…there isn’t much time to breathe. Luckily Dr. Gerber makes the class very interesting, entertaining, and really allows for a lot of discussion and asking questions. This entry may be a little shorter, my energy level is down after finishing the midterm. I wasn’t too happy with my Community Resource project’s outcome. I was hoping to get more about accommodations for adults with learning disabilities, and instead I turned out to get more for children with learning disabilities. For the assignment I called the Gayton Library in Henrico and told them I was an adult who had dyslexia. I had problems reading and wanted to know what accommodations the library had for adults like me. They were stumped… and I froze. I should have had a backup question, but I clearly didn’t prep well. So, trying to keep up the conversation, I told them I had a child with a learning disability as well. Well this got their attention and they immediately gave me numerous resources and programs for children, specifically one that helps them practice reading. I was glad to get some information, but it wasn’t what I wanted. Maybe I should try again. We also watched another video tonight that was informative. It related learning disabilities between children and adults, and I pulled out the underlying theme of, if children aren’t helped with their learning disability at a young age, as adults they will continue to struggle. However, it also showed adults in this video put themselves out there and finally said, “I want to learn.” I learned that it’s never too late to help adults with their learning disabilities. This video was inspirational because I think it’s easy to give up, and it’s easy to just say I can’t do it and never try, but clearly this theory has been proven wrong. Learning takes place everyday, and if someone, including adults, puts their minds to learning they can. 6/15/09 Tonight was essentiall the last night of class, lecturing, and discussion. As we were talking about the concept of self-determination, self knowledge, and self discloser, I started to really key in ont he disclosing of one’s learning disability. How scary this might be. All sememster I’ve been keeping in mind completely open to learning all that I can, and this includes trying to put myself in someone else’s shoes that has a learning disability. I tried to do thsi some as I was talking to my uncle, who I interviewed for my case study. As he and I were talking, I pictured myself as a child going through the situations he did. Having a parent that was distant from me because of my learning disability, or having teachers to tell me to go read with a younger class because I couldnt keep up with my own grade level. How does this feel when you are actually the person who goes through this? I guess if it makes me upset and frustrated, that’s normal, but then I also see the wonderful stories that come from people who have learning disabilities. Most of the people we’ve read about are, and probably will be, much more successful than me. As my uncle said in our interview, his learnign disability does not define him. As far as disclosure, we went through the reasons why someone with a learning disability may not disclose it to the outside world. I felt like most of these reasons fell back on not wanting to be judged or looked at differently because of their learning disability. There was also the reason that some may not know their rights and choices as an adult who is learning disabled. However, I think the weight of it falls back on the unknown. What will people think? How will people treat me? Will I get the job I want? Will my employer work with me? Self disclosure can be very intimidating, and hopefully with the increase of knowledge that’s coming out about learning disabilities, and with the rise of people disclosing it, the better the outcomes and responses will be. As a final note about the class and these past five weeks, I’m very glad this course was a requirement for the program. I think I’ve had an awakening, and it’s inspiring that I’ve not only learned so much more about learning disabilities in general, but I also had the opportunity to discover more about my uncle. When I see how a learning disability has affected someone I’m so close with, it makes me want to learn that much more. I intend to share what I’ve learned with those around me and hopefully enlighted others with the things that have touched me because of this course!
