Learning Disabilities

I work with students who have a learning disability at the high school level. Often I’ve told them that when I was in school I dealt with a learning disability, too. That doesn’t have to stop them from achieving what they want. I have an auditory processing problem (still do–I will never learn a foreign language successfully because I don’t hear the sounds like others do) and struggled to learn to read in elementary school. Thankfully I am a strong visual learner because I had to memorize everything–especially how to spell (no phonetics for me). By the time I reached high school I was in the National Honor Society, but it took a lot of hard work to get there. I went on to college and have my Masters in Education. The point is everyone has weaknesses and strengths. We have to build on our strengths and not use our weaknesses as a crutch–an excuse not to do our best. This is the same in writing. We have to build on our strengths as a writer and strive to improve in our weak areas.