How do I know If I still have a learning disability?

Question

When I was younger I was diagnosed with a learning disability Im unsure of the scientific name or w\e it may be called. I just have a hard time learning or understanding the material being presented espeically if it is not hands - on.

For example you try and teach me something two secs later it flies out the other year, no matter how hard I try and remember it. But on certain things I can remember.

Um anyways I graduated with a standard high school diploma and 2 AP college credits of computer programming. Visual Basic and advanced visual basic.

Im trying to get into college and I keep failing the placement test. Does this mean Im still an idiot?

Answer 1

You should probably get re-assessed for the learning disability by a licensed psychologist. If you do, in fact, have a learning disability, most universities and colleges have special services for students with disabilities.

Answer 2

I teach at a Community College.  Trust me, it just means you're not a good test taker.

Answer 3

I do NOT like at the end where it says, "does this mean im still an idiot?"

seriously? so what.. all people with disabilities are idiots?

think before you type.

and to answer your ?- get a neurologist to diagnose you again.

Answer 4

Use your health insurance to have a test performed by a educational psychologist.  If not, contact your local community college's disability services office or Vocational Rehabilitation office for potential referrals and methods of testing.

The school may still have your records on file.  Call your school district and ask for the special education department.  Then ask for your special education file. It stays on file much longer than your other information.

Answer 5

The theory goes that learning disabilities don't just go away. Some folks adapt and learn to work with and around their disaabilities to the point that it doesn't affect them anymore. That's easier when you're an adult, and people expect you to play up your strengths instead of trying to do a little bit of everything, whether or not you have an aptitude for it.

But you bring up two entirely different learning issues which are not really related to learning disabilities. One of them is learning style. You seem to be identifying yourself as a kinesthetic learner,and many students in special education are kinesthetic learners. They learn by moving their bodies.

Some folks believe very strongly that many people in special education do not really have a disability and do not belong there. They fall behind in school because their learning style does not meet the teaching style.

The other issue has a fancy word in education classes. The word is "constructivism". This idea is that each learner cannot just passively receive the knowledge the teacher hands out every day. They have to build their own knowledge by attatching new facts and ideas to their own experience--what they already know. When the experience of the teacher is very different from the experience of the student, much of what the teacher tosses out there just whizzes right on by. If you can't figure out where in your brain to put it, you might as well have never seen it or heard it.

So your question contains two clues that suggest to me that you never had a learning disability to begin with. The school you attended just did not work for you as a unique learner. For you, school was not effective. The placement test isn't working for you either. Could be something's wrong with the test, at least in terms of measuring your ability.

I'm preparing a training for later in the week for teachers who guide the evaluation and special education eligibility process in their schools. In my presentation, I'm planning to suggest that if the only approach their school has for students who need help is to make them eligible for special education, something's wrong with their school.

Answer 6

There are a number of different learning disabilities that can cause this issue. You should check to see if your problem occurs more with verbals, stuff taught on the overhead projector or when reading.

If you have trouble with info presented verbally, it could be a receptive language issue or an auditory memory deficit.

If you have trouble with info presented on an overhead, it could be a visual motor integration deficit, receptive language disability or visual or auditory memory deficit.

If it occurs when you read, it could be a long term memory deficit, visual memory deficit or a visual processing deficit.

Most community colleges have a student services office that deals with students who have learning disabilities. They may do the testing for you. Also, if you can look around and find your old paperwork or an IEP, then they can help you by giving you some test taking accommodations.

You aren't an idiot. Please go to the student disability office and ask the questions you have asked here. Sometimes they can offer you more time on tests or allow you to put the answers right in the test booklet etc.

This problem can be solved. People with learning disabilities have fine brains, it is the wiring leading to the brain that sometimes is deficit. It is just a matter of finding the right pathway in!

Answer 7

From what I have learned in my course, learning disability does not disappear. Special intervention does not cure it; it only helps the person concerned to overcome the difficulties of having a learning disability, especially in the academics. You should NOT call yourself an idiot because you keep failing in these tests. You are not an idiot; you just have to discover your own style of learning.