Dear Parents,
As I complete this series of articles about Non-verbal Learning Disorder (NLD), it occurred to me that I forgot to mention that I was actually pretty GOOD at homework as a student! In fact I’ve brought this homework skill into my adulthood. As a newspaper reporter in the past, and now as a freelance copywriter, my professional life is basically one homework assignment after another and I love it! I am a very self motivated person, in fact I’d rather push myself than let someone else push me to get my work done. I prefer to manage my own time than to be told when I have to do what because I enjoy working when my mind wants to work in my own time. I thrive when I can create something that wasn’t there before me, something that would not be what it is without my unique style. I’m using my NLD symptoms in my favor!
Homework can become a very uncomfortable term in any household, especially a household where one of the children in the family has a learning disability or is in the autism spectrum. As a person with NLD, I did have different homework needs than most of my classmates. I described these needs in previous articles. I touched upon math and literacy and the importance of having an adult available to ask, and answer, frequent questions about my assignments. I talked about how important is was to have parents who talked with my teachers about modifying and shortening homework assignments so that I would be able to learn from homework assignments rather than become overwhelmed by them. I feel these things are the keys to a less stressful homework experience that results in more learning. These ideas can be modified and applied to the needs of many other bright children with academic difficulties. I focused on NLD and Dyscalculia because those have been the learning disabilities that have directly affected my life, but they can be reworked and applied to the needs of children with other diagnoses.
Now that I am writing my last article in this series, I want to share something with you, the parent of a child struggling with homework. Your child can have success! You and your child just have to get there in a different way than other children. We also have to look at our goals a little differently. For example, I can not take on any available job no matter how hard I work. I have tried to be an administrative assistant, a classroom teacher (I am talented at instructing and public speaking with children and adults, but the structure of formal teaching never clicked with me), and even a cashier, but I failed at all those jobs. However, there are many things at which I excel.
When I was a newspaper reporter I received letters, phone calls, and was even stopped on the street to be complimented by readers and sources who enjoyed my stories. I’m only less than six months into starting a freelance copywriting business and already I have clients telling me they are very happy with my work, saying they will write testimonials about my work for them on Google or Linkedin. I modified my career goals to fit my abilities, and luckily for me, those goals were what I secretly wanted all along, to be a freelance, self employed, writer!
Yes, a student who struggled to learn is now finding success by being self-employed! I look back in amazement at the days when I couldn’t yet tie my shoes at seven, and couldn’t yet read at 10. Your child can have the same sort of success. His or her learning disability will not leave them, but focusing on strengths, compensating for weaknesses and, in some cases, working hard in childhood to learn through some of those weaknesses will result in an adult that can live up to your child’s full potential.
I read a lot of articles on education. I’ve noticed much of what I read focuses on educating children from low income situations, and how reaching these children will positively affect our country. I agree with these articles strongly, but one thing I rarely see is a story about better educating our country’s Dyslexic, ADD/ADHD, NLD, Aspergers, Dyscalculic, and high functioning autism populations. There is a positive difference in the minds of each of us with these labels, and tapping into our amazing talents will benefit many. In myself and my friends with NLD, I call it the NLD Genius: the way my mind works differently than that of the typical person benefits me, those around me, and the work I do. It is hard to tap into a learning disability genius when your personal energy is being sucked up by inappropriate homework assignments that are not teaching what they should be anyway.
There are good examples of different-mind success. You can’t argue with the success of someone like entrepreneur Richard Branson, whose Dyslexic way of thinking can be thanked for creating The Virgin group of over 400 companies. And where would the world be if John Lennon, diagnosed near the end of his life with Dyslexia, whose differently-wired mind complimented Paul McCartney’s abilities in the creation in so many of our favorite Beatles songs?
Richard and John were lucky enough to have driven personalities and maybe a lucky turn of events along the way in life. I, personally, do not think I will achieve an income as a writer that matches either Richard’s nor John’s, but I think that we can all benefit greatly from educating the learning disabled population in a way that works best for each child, similarly to the ways I have written about in this series. Think about what all of us different-minded people could accomplish if we could put our amazing energy into our talents. So many of us spent our school years feeling dumb, or struggling instead of learning. We, meaning those of us with learning disabilities, and our parents, will all be able to look towards a stronger future when modified doable homework is commonplace in ever school for the learning disabled student population.
I feel that, with more awareness and early intervention in the classroom, and at home, children who are now struggling with their assignments will find themselves in careers where they are using their talents to best give back to society. That’s a country and world I am excited to be a part of! I encourage each of you; parents, teachers, and students, to join me and create a less stressful, more beneficial educational environment for these children!
In the words of a different-minded individual I spoke of early in this article, “If you want to be a hero well just follow me.”
John Lennon, Working Class Hero
Anna is a freelance writer, taking on projects as varied as stories about her ups and downs with NLD and Dyscalculia to copywriting projects that help businesses and organizations connect their products and services to their customers. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in journalism from Keene State College and was a staff reporter at the former newspapers The Connecticut Valley Spectator and the Argus Champion. Through her writing, Anna hopes to bring more awareness to learning disabilities, especially the little known ones she has, and help others with learning disabilities succeed in their lives. Anna can be reached at Anna.Super01@gmail.com.