Can you help me figure out this learning disabilaty?

Question

ok when i was in 2nd grade i was taken out of Spanish class because they said i had a learning disabilaty. when i reached highschool i asked them about it and all the teachers i asked denied i had a problem. so basicaly i graduated with out having to take a 2nd language course. which is good, but bad because i need to know if there really is a problem. i need a language course for my transfer degree to OSU and would like to fix any possiable problems ahead of time.

i know i am slightly dyslic.

are there any disabilaties that would keep you from learning a language?

Answer 1

There are some disorders that cause problems with learning a language. They include:

Auditory or visual processing deficits. This means your mind has trouble taking in information from one or both of these senses. You can read up more about these by entering them into your search engine.

Auditory long term memory deficits: This means that you have difficulty retrieving things you have learned from long term memory.

Auditory short term memory deficits: This means having difficulty holding something in memory for a few seconds in order to think about it.

Receptive language deficit. This is a language disorder that makes it difficult to understand things that are taught verbally.

Expressive language deficit: This means you can take in verbally presented information, but have trouble retrieving and expressing ideas.

You can read up on any of these by putting the specific deficit in your search engine. That way you can see if any of it applies to you.

These things can't be fixed, but there are ways to accommodate them. As you are reading about them, most websites will give you some ideas about this. Generally speaking, If you have any of these learning deficits, the best way to accommodate them is to have your teacher give you everything that is said, in writing. This will get around and auditory or language deficits.

Your college should have a disabilities office. Go there and see if they do any testing. This will give you some pretty precise info.

Answer 2

You can go to the school district and ask to see your cumulative school file if you are over 18.  Start there if your parents don't remember.  I'm not sure why they would take you out of the program.  For you to have a diagnosed learning disability, your parents would have had to sign a form agreeing to that "label."  That's federal law and has been for decades.  

My sister also was diagnosed with a reading disability (similiar to dyslexia) in high school.  While she studied Spanish, learning how to read "again" was extremely difficult for her. The university agreed to allow her to study sign language at a neighboring college for two years instead of struggling through Spanish or another language.

Answer 3

There are numerous learning disabilities that can affect the way you learn a language. The school maybe thought at the time that since you were having such a problem it would be better to concentrate on your primary language skills. Nobody here is qualified to give you the answer you are seeking. You need to see a psychologist and have an evaluation done. If he does diagnose you with a learning disability it will open doors for you to get help through OVR and other organizations. As far as the second language credit, you can go to a community college and just take the one course you need. But get the eval first. Colleges also have LS programs to help students overcome their learning challenges. You have to access them and maintain use of them on your own. They don't force you to go to them like high school.

Answer 4

To my knowledge, there are no learning disabilities that would make it particularly harder to learn a second language.  However, any learning disability that affects your ability to learn English are likely to also show up as you aquire a second language.  

It may be that in 2nd grade your teachers felt you had enough on your plate learning the basics without adding a second language to your schedule.  This is the case at the K-8 school where I teach, where Spanish is required for all students except those with a documented learning disability.  Those students get an extra study hall or use the hour for private tutoring.  

If you know you are slightly dyslexic, that means you've been tested and your disability documented.  I don't understand why your teachers would now say you don't have the disability--legally, schools are required to make all reasonable accomodations to help you learn on an equal playing field with your peers.  

Have you spoken with the counselor at your school?  OSU and wherever you are now probably also have something like an Office of Disability Services (may be called something different--call your school phone operator and ask) that can help you understand the transfer requirements.  And if it turns out that accomodations would help you in your language requirement class, they can arrange these for you.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I do not think there is such thing that would stop you from learning a second language. It can make thing a lot more complicated. Dyslexia is one.

Best thing is to go see your school Ortophonist or your school specialist in that and just ask them.