When I was younger I got diagnosed with a learning disability. What does that mean? It means that my brain process things a little differently. For me, it was always math and some comprehension issues. That doesn't mean that my everyday life is any different than yours. I am completely able to find and keep a job all on my own, and when I have difficulty I will ask and explain why I may be having a difficult time understanding.

People have the assumption that because I am “learning disabled” that I can't do things on my own. That I need people to hold my hand with everything do. That isn't true. I'm not that organized, but I have never been. I am capable of living on my own. I can shower by myself. I can cook, despite what people may say. I can do just about everything independently and it aggravates me when people assume that because of my learning disability that I can't do anything.

The easiest way to explain a learning disability is that certain parts of your brain just don't communicate properly. I was always in remedial classes and ended up testing out of them for my senior year, yes I got to be a normal senior. I mean not that I wasn't normal before, but you get what I mean. Now, something that aggravates me as well is the fact that I feel as if people just know that I am learning disabled by looking at me. People don't talk to me, or are nice to me and then never speak to me again. Listen, I am a lot smarter than people think I might be. The point I am trying to make here is that I am not “different” or “special.” I am just a late 20-something-year-old that wants to have all of the pieces fall into place to be successful.

Most people that think of learning disabled look at it thinking that we can't be successful. That is not true. There are many successful people that have a learning disability and a lot of them are in a creative field, like musicians, artists, and even some in other fields. We should not judge everyone about what is wrong with them. We should be looking at their successes. That can be a difficult thing to do, though, but we all need this.

I know... Easier said than done. But really, when I am doing math and you see me struggling, ask if I need help. The longer I sit there with the gears turning, the more tired I get. It takes a lot of energy to do the things that I have difficulty with, especially math. That is all that I ask is to respect the people that have any type of disability and where we may seem standoffish or rude, sometimes we need help, space to be able to process, or we need a stress reliever. For me, it's video games, music, or watching videos online.

So, please show us some respect and please support us in what we do in our lives. We are not messed up or different, we are just unique and at least I know that I am okay with being unique