Many adults return to school only to encounter the same learning challenges they dealt with in earlier years. As a teacher I have worked with adults with undiagnosed learning disabilities who simply didn’t do well in school when they were young. These individuals often develop coping skills that allow them to get by in life, but not thrive. Fast forward to today, when the student has returned to school and the learning disability is still there.
My ADHD was diagnosed when I was an adult. When I was growing up I was not one of those “bouncing off the wall” kids who get a lot of attention at school because they are so hyper and out of control. I was extremely quiet. I never rocked the boat. I never once got into trouble at school. My marks were extremely high in subjects that I was interested in or if I liked the teacher, and mediocre in subjects I found boring. I just tuned out most of the time. When I found out I had ADHD, it explained so much. It put a lot of things into context for me.
I don’t dwell on ADHD but I do disclose it to my students. If there is a student in my class who has ADHD or any other learning disability I want them to know I understand what they are going through and I want them to know you can achieve anything you set your mind to, with persistence and hard work.
This is an easy online “self test” you can take to give you an idea whether or not you might have an “attention deficit”.
November 28, 2007 at 11:02 am
I too have found that letting students know about my learning disabilities can help them. DH