Don’t tell me I can’t! by Denise Goegan
I almost enjoy it when people tell me I can’t do something. If anything, it doesn’t make me quit or want to stop trying, it just pushes me to try harder and prove them wrong…
Back when I was diagnosed, the educational psychologist told my mother that they should “downgrade” our expectations, I would be lucky to finish high school and university was out of the question. Now having graduated high school on the honour roll and currently sitting with a GPA of 3.85 at university, it seems like the only person’s expectations that needed to be changed was the educational psychologist.
Never finishing high school in no way crossed my mind. If everyone else can do it so can I. It might take a lot extra effort but it would be well worth it in the end. Same with university, granted I don’t take as many classes as everyone else a semester and I always study far in advance for exams as I lack short term memory but I’m still doing it. And in the end no one ever asks how long it took you to graduate, they ask what the degree is in, so if it takes seven years, it takes seven years, I won’t stop trying, and anyone suggesting that I can’t, can just wait to be proven wrong.
Furthermore, when I was 16 and wanted to learn to drive, people told me I couldn’t because I had difficulty with left and right. Well if everyone else can drive, so can I! I got myself a ring and put it on my right hand (r from ring and r for right), and if anyone else tells me left or right, I just look to my hands on the steering wheel and know which direction to go. Additionally it seems as if no one every worries about left and right when they are driving to places, when they know where they are going, and if someone is giving directions while in the car with you, they more often than not seem to point as well as say the direction they wish you to go in. After having been driving for seven years, left and right is not an issue and I can drive just as well as everyone else.
People with LD aren’t quitters! We face our challenges and find ways to work around them. If we can’t read the book, we find a way to have it read to us, or use an audio format. If we have a hard time remembering, we break it down into chunks. The strategies go on and on.
It seems like people without LD have all the puzzle pieces and just need to put them together. While on the other hand, people with LD are missing a few pieces and have to compensate for them to complete the puzzle. This may take longer and the pieces may not be exactly the same as the ones everyone else has, but with enough determination, the puzzle gets completed. And in some ways not having all the pieces allows for a more creative solution. I have found that people with LD are often some of the most creative people out there.
Therefore, people with LD can do anything they put their minds to. We have pieces and the motivation and we will find a way to put them together to get the puzzle completed, just wait and see because so can we… so don’t tell me I can’t!
Hooray Denise!! As Learning Disabilities affect my family in a multitude of ways, I am always thrilled to read or hear of stories where the LD student decides to ignore what the “professionals” say and achieve their goals regardless. And you are exactly right in that nobody cares how long it takes to get a degree… only that you have it.
Thank you Denise, for forging new paths and showing the world that there is no such thing as YOU CAN’T, because with the right frame of mind, you CAN! Your determination and refusal to accept those negative opinions will make it far easier for future generations to attain their educational goals. As you focus on getting your education, you are fortuitously making a positive contribution to how the world will see Learning Disabilities.
Great article Denise. I cannot tell you how many students who are attending university have shared similar stories with me. I certainly know from my perspective that the “person” I read about in some of the psychoeducational assessments is not always the person that I meet during meetings to set up academic accommodations and supports.
While psychoeducational assessments can provide a rich background and highlight academic strengths and weaknesses, one soon learns to consider assessments as just one piece of information about the student – not the whole story. There are so many variables impacting success at post-secondary – for all students. Those students who understand their strengths and weaknessess can do very well indeed.
I recently heard from a student who received an assessment and diagnosis when enrolled in her first year of Nursing. She mentioned that her grade point average had increased by 30% since she received the assessment and the proper supports and accommodation! She seems to be doing a great job of finding the missing pieces and fitting them into her own unique puzzle.
Keep up the great work!