Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

Thank you for your insight and that is which I originally toyed. The only catch is that I want people to know that I instruct in more than reading,,,it could be the others mentioned in my original questions. The term learning disabilities could include math, or other content areas outside of Literacy itself so that might be confusing.

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The Answer To Learning Problems

When I was a kid, and when it came to reading, writing, and basic mathematics, I was labeled as what was then known as "slow" [no comments that little's changed, thanks all the same:)]. At the age of six, an in the middle of maths lesson I heard high pitched whistle, saw a very bright light, and when I looked back down at the long division problem I'd been working on, the numbers might well been printed in Klingon, such was my sudden lack of comprehension. To this day I have trouble with basic mathematics, but anyway.

The reason I'm sharing this is because if my child had a learning disorder (and here I'll note that I'm not a parent), it's want to know that they were being empowered. Not given special treatment, not put in a special class so that other, bigger kids could beat the crap out of them, I'd want them to feel, to be, and to believe themselves to be empowered—to do STELLAR things. It's only when we are encouraged in this way that our true natures shine through. At least, that's my take.

Now, I'm coming to a cross roads in my life—I'm soon to step away from this forum, possibly for quite a while, and I want to go out fighting—go out swinging for the God damn fences—with the hope that I might, just one more time, connect solidly with the ball and watch that puppy fly out, way over the outer fences and into the parking lot. Or the river.

I agree with Randall's point of view above: that "long ... clearly states exactly what it is you do, and for what you want to be known."

Dead right!

The thing that troubles me about the niche here is the thinking around someone being "disabled", or the person having a "disability", or of someone having a clutch of "disabilities".

The "dis" mentality has got to go. Its day is done. Here's why:

My niece, Evie, has cerebral palsy. She's almost 17 and she's just taken a slew of life changing exams at her school in the UK.

When Evie was born my sister was told her daughter would never walk, never talk, would probably never have any quality of life, and that the best options were to give her up for adoption, or to institutionalize her.

My sister told her doctor to go forth and multiply.

She and her husband Andrew then took Evie home
and as a family, they began the long, long process of rebuilding Evie's life. The exams she's just taken? She passed every one: these are the standard tests that ALL 16 year olds take at this time of year. At the end of September Evie moves on to college, where she'll study drama (she's already performed in five plays as well as performing live on stage with Jonathan Wilkes, a star of London's West End.

How did she pull all this off?

Because she was empowered.

I'm sharing this to offer a counter view: the view all parents ought to want for their child IF their child has barriers that need to be overcome.

I agree that "specialized" is a key: a big-assed, mother of a key: all powerful, all functional.

The other key is that of reinforced ability—of having the mindset of being able—through specialized instruction and focus.

We become able when we are empowered to BE
able, either on our own, or through the support and encouragement of those around us.

When soft, springy steel is heated, folded, cooled, reheated, and enveloped in harder but slightly more brittle steel—as is the case in the manufacturing of the finest swords—the soft and hard metals combine their various qualities to support their mutual weaknesses while simultaneously reinforcing their mutual strengths. This happens through chemical changes in the structure of the combined elements on an atomic scale.

The result is specialized empowerment. A blade that is unstoppable; a blade that can cut through concrete.

I wonder ... might this train of thought benefit you and those you serve? I think the clues_the jigsaw pieces—are all there. How might they fit together?

Wow Gary, That was quite a passioned response and appropriately so. The term disability is getting passe and is now the term Learning Differences. The key is when I tell parent's that their child doesn't have a disease that needs to be fixed. It's educators that need to teach to their style of learning. That's where I come in. Still thinking.