Disabilities are a lifetime of struggles, victories, defeats, among other things.
Ask any special education teacher who has seen hundreds of students with varying levels of disabilities pass through their classroom. Naturally, they will have up and down days, meltdowns, along with a struggle to prove that they belong. From young on, I was always picked on because I was "different". As I grew, though, I overcame so many obstacles, whether they were negative people or a challenge that I continually tried to overcome until I succeeded.
That is what pretty much all anyone with a learning disability or even a physical disability can do: Overcome, and honestly not a single person should feel like they should be shunned from the world just because they may act in a unique way. It is not fair to the student who may face a learning curve as every single student has faced a learning curve of some sort, and quite frankly, being shunned for being different is a terrible way to be living in our world.
Autism is a particular learning disability that I want to point out in this article, as I, the author, have it myself, and no, one cannot tell that I deal with it as it is something that even I don't share with a lot of people if I can help it. Autism, ADHD, ADD, or even Bi-polar all have the same unfortunate stigma of being a disability and not a different ability. Though one student may struggle with math and science subjects, another may excel straight through advanced courses.
Not encouraging a student with a learning disability to achieve their goals, they will feel worthless or even left out, and without proper support and understanding, some might not ever fully understand what it is like to deal with a learning disability on a daily basis. If that is not enough to see that uniqueness in an individual as a beautiful story in its' own right, then perhaps some more ramblings of a twenty-something-year old student with a learning disability may help make a clearer picture of what I am trying to get at.
Grade school is a struggle enough with those who are as relentless as some adults: Your peers, the very ones you go to school with. Some will be on your side, but unfortunately, some tend to be what our generation may call a "bully." After years of being picked on, that student can take one of two roads. The first is takes one down to a depressive state that leads to hours of therapy because kids are not kind to each other anymore. The victims can be the strong individual they know they can be and learn to ignore the bullying and hurtful comments to become strong, young adults, who learn to take no abuse, but also have kind hearts because they do not want to put others through what they were put through.
College is a new monster, not only because of much more difficult classes, but also a much larger school to attend, as well as a social setting that is entirely new to the student. From a personal experience, I struggled at first because I did not understand how to properly go to class, do the homework and study, and get adequate sleep all in twenty-four hours, but that is for another article.
The last thing, I think, is fitting here; no matter what others tell you, no matter the struggles and obstacles you may face in your lifetime, you can overcome them, you can succeed, and most importantly, you can become an awesome individual in our ever changing world, if you so choose.
