What is life like for someone with a learning disability? When you hear learning disability what comes to mind…slow, stupid, and other horrible names. Yet do you know what it's really like to live as a person who is learning disabled….it can be lonely because you deal with people who treat you like you're on the low end of the totem pole. You're told by
people who are ignorant and misinformed that you are going to only go so far and that you're not going to make it in life because you're going to struggle with every day things like managing finances and other responsibilities. As a person who lives with a learning disability, every day is a challenge because you have to take the time to learn things and you will deal with people who treat you differently. I don't allow that to bring me down because for someone with a learning disability, I've graduated 2 times from college, I have been nominated and accepted to 3 honor societies, I have been in countless student clubs and organizations and written for 3 student papers. You will have those misinformed individuals that believe
the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992)should have never been created since it's a hassle to provide accommodations for those who are disabled. For many who live with this everyday it's a struggle, but
when you got good people in your life who support you it makes living with a learning disability easier.Some people who are learning disabled are later diagnosed with depression because it's hard for some people to live with something like that.
If society took the time to educate themselves about the difference between having a learning disability and being mentally retarded they'll know the difference. The mentally retarded are usually diagnosed with some kind of learning disability, but they vary in severity so not all learning disabilities are the same. You have some who can have one or more than one, and some that require medicinal maintenance depending on the severity of that person's disability.
If people could step into the shoes of someone who's learning disabled they will begin to understand what that person deals with on a daily basis from the world that can be extremely cruel. If Helen Keller had the courage to attend and graduate college especially for someone who couldn't see or hear at a time where people with learning disabilities were institutionalized, she's an inspiration for the fact that she was fortunate she had the financial resources to be able to hire someone to work with her especially at the turn of the century when there were few special needs teachers at the time. If anything Anne Sullivan Macy had made special needs teaching possible since she was the one who pioneered this method of teaching. People with learning difficulties were able to overcome their handicaps to know that they can achieve success in life with support and good people behind them.
Having a learning handicap is not the easiest thing,but it's not hard and you have many famous people who are learning disabled who went on to be well knownfrom the political arena to television. It's nice to
see that many children and even adults who suffer this aren't feeling like they're the only ones out hereliving with a learning handicap. Some people don't get a full diagnosis until well into their adult years if they didn't get the diagnosis as a child. Children are
able to adapt quickly to being told that they have a learning disability. Almost half the time you really can't tell that someone has one unless they disclose it and it's almost never known except to that person and those around them.
I attended one of the best schools for children with learning disabilities called Cove School from 1981 to 1993. The school was founded in 1947 in Racine, Wisconsin by Dr. Alfred Strauss and his research assistant Dr.Laura Lehtinen Rogan. According to the history on Cove's website (Coveschool.org) the name came from it's location along a lone stretch by Racine near Lake Michigan. Dr. Strauss maintained the facility in Wisconsin, but Dr. Rogan had later in 1950 established the first day school in Evanston which is located on 1100 Forest Ave. in a fairly upscale part of Evanston it was an old Victorian style 1870s mansion that had a stable that served as the gym and storage facility for Cove's maintenance staff, servants quarters that served as the faculty lounge just adjacent to the stable where the house staff and stable hands lived. The classrooms were all inside master bedrooms the elementary section was on the lower and west end of
