LEARNING DISABILITIES, ADD, ETC AND QUILTING

[Annette R.]

Recently there were a couple of entries that seemed to get lost in the discussion of more physical disabilities and that was dyslexia and the related learning disabilities that affect many of us so I am starting this thread to give us a place to talk about those issues and not take away from the issues of pain and physical problems that affect quilting. Both are important -- I deal with both in my life so need a way to think about each one in its own light and how I deal with it.

so to Lucy van pelt and Happy and others who like me struggle with this here is our chance

and if any of you can remember where we discussed this a few months ago please post it here so I can quit reading the forum to find it and actually do some quilting

Ann

[Jean H.]

Hi Ann
I love to read what you write, but anyway I have trouble not with words but with numbers I write them all mixed up but how I control it is if there is a # 237698 I don't say or think 2, 3, 7,
I do it 23, 76, 98, twenty three, seventy six, ninety eight, if I think of them individually I get confused and that was not good for a Quality Control inspector so I had to figure something out that would work and work well and this worked for me. I hope this will help other people with this problem.....Jean

[Hannelore N.]

Jean, dyscalculus is just as common as dyslexia. I work with special needs children in a mainstream school, and it always amazes me how talented children with either of the above are in other areas.

I'm quite severely dyslexic, but the term didn't exist when I went to school, so I just got the label 'can't be bothered', 'is a lazy writer', etc., and had to find my own strategies to cope with it. Because there was no awareness of dyslexia, nobody stopped me, and I became a linguist with a double degree in languages and literature.

[Hannelore N.]

I remember this conversation as well because I was talking about my own problems with disgraphsia, which is a form of dyslexia where handwriting and spelling is affected. Since then I have been noticing my oldest daughter (2nd grader) is now also showing some signs of it - her spelling on tests is fine but not matter how carefully she writes her handwriting is almost illegible and her general spelling on assignments is interesting to say the least. I'll have to look back and see if I can find those posts.

[Hannelore N.]

Oh, Lorchen...you make me stand up from my chair, pump fist in the air, and yell "YESSSSSS....Way to go, girl". I LOVE someone with your determination! You showed them, didn't you. Think of how many young ones with the same challenges just climbed within themselves, feeling "less than". :cry: Sigh. Thank you for caring and sharing.
Jan in brown snow Spokane

[Hannelore N.]

Ok, that discussion was in Chat room shorthand or sorthand on page 2 and it was last September - thank goodness for search tools!!!

[Hannelore N.]

I should be more specific - It was under Topic - Chat and the subject title was Chat room shorthand or sorthand and it was the second page of that subject.

[Hannelore N.]

Thanks, Jan! My background has determined my choice of 'perfect job'. There is nothing more rewarding than working with children (11 to 16 in my case) who have any number and range of special educational needs - if you have the patience and an overall positive attitude.

Lorchen

[Annette R.]

thanks Mandy, I looked and looked but haven't mastered the search tools I guess so we can now continue the discussion if anybody else is interested but I feel silly repeating things I have said here (Was I embarrassed reading some of my earlier entries, bad spelling bad grammar bad memory boy am I glad my high school English teacher is not a quilter so she won't be rrreading any of this soon but can you retroactively be flunked out of school? if so, I am in huge trouble. oh well whatever I will go on as always

Ann

[Annette R.]

Some one wrote me about Aspergers Syndrome a few months ago. Her children had it as well. I can't remember who it was and I emptied all my mail at the begining of the month. could you write me back I have a question. My sons teachers are driving me nuts and I need advice if you have any to give. Rachel

[Annette R.]

hey Rachel that's me... I'm frustrated as H*** w/ teachers right now too. #2 twin is National Merit Scholar & failing history & english, due to assinine assignments, that even I can't figure out! Plus we're dealing w/ depression on top of it all... part of why I've been AWOL from TQS for about a week... glad I caught your post! email me & I'll see what I can offer... Florence

[Annette R.]

Florence and Rachel, good luck with your quest for solutions for the problems related to Asperger's Syndrome. It is one of the most mysterious and frustrating syndrome I came into contact with during my career working with people with disabilities. And stupid - no other word for them- school assignments only add to yours and your childs frustration. My thoughts are with you and with your friend Rachel. Ann

[Annette R.]

Ann, thank you. What I said was going to happen happened. My son has now stopped doing anything in school and out. His statement was what's the sense. First you should know that he worked very hard on a report that he did with the student who was at the top in the class. She was impressed with it. She double checked it his resourse teacher double checked it and then he turned it in. He recieved a very low score on it be the bibliography was not the way the teacher wanted it. An automatic 25 point deduction. It was there just not the way he wanted. There are several kids suspended right now in our school district. They are out skateboarding, golfing (with their parents), playing playstation, andthen they get tutored after school for 2-3 hours by teachers who are getting paid over time to do it. Then to add insult to injury these same kids stand on the corners and brag about what they did all day while everyone else was in school. If my kid had a tutor for 3 hours after school you bet his grades would be a whole lot higher. Instead he can't participate in any after school activities because he is struggling so much. He goes to after school study halls and before school study halls, he goes to resourse room during his and the resourse room teachers lunch. Yet none of this matters. The final straw for him was Monday night. He is a football player. He went to the football meeting (it was mandatory). He was told he couldn't be there because of his grades! So now he doesn't know if he can play football next year. I tried to talk to his principal but I got the RULES ARE RULES speech. SO if anyone has any suggestion I am open to them. Fortunately he is going to be 15 at the end of the month so he can't quit yet. But he is also stubborn. Once something gets into his head it's stuck.
Rachel :twisted: :evil: :x

[Frances L.]

Oh man Rachel, I feel for you. Everything is schools now is like that, there is no place for common sense any where. Does your son have an IEP? If he does, is there any way to tweak it to deal with these problems. I know that an IEP can't cover everything. My oldest had one and I still had trouble with his teachers "I have a whole lot of students and I coach the vollyball team, I can't be expected to know which kids have an IEP" I actually had a teacher tell me that. When he was a junior, I went to the Assistant Princp. to complain about his English teacher. I was asked why he wasn't in Honors English and I said he had problems turning in his homework and he had an IEP. He told me the teachers should be helping and I let him know about our problems.
Frances in hot, hot, Austin

[Frances L.]

Hi Rachel,
I don't know if this applies or not, but if your son is already qualified (504) under IDEA then this might be of interest to you. It is from the Federal Register. There are also advocates that specialize in dealing with schools when it comes to "mediating an IEP." I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that at the age of 15 your son can possibly also be part of the IEP meeting and process, if you thought it were appropriate.

• Section 300.117 (Nonacademic
settings) has been changed to clarify that
each public agency must ensure that
each child with a disability has the
supplementary aids and services
determined by the child’s
individualized education program (IEP)
Team to be appropriate and necessary
for the child to participate with
nondisabled children in the
extracurricular services and activities to
the maximum extent appropriate to the
needs of that child.

I hope that this helps,