NOTE: October is Learning Disabilities / Dyslexia / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness Month.
By Kayla Queen, a member of the Young Adult Leadership Council of the National Center for Learning Disabilities
When attempting to draw conclusions as to why I have been spared from many of the unfavorable statistics encountered by large percentages of people with learning disabilities, I have been able to explain it in part by the self-worth I was taught to have for myself and the times I have felt valued in school.
Navigating formal schooling hasn’t been an easy task for me. I’ve had several hits to my self-esteem when I’ve underperformed, and I have had a disproportionate amount of stress and anxiety regarding passing classes and scoring well enough on important tests. It often felt like I never was really standing on solid ground or like I was living in a world not made for me.
Early on in my first semester of college, I had a professor hold me back after class to instruct me that I should start using the reading and writing center as he found my writing skills not on par with what they needed to be to succeed in college. I had barely passed the writing proficiency [...]