Talking to Others
Talking to other students about CI can be difficult and awkward.
Some students decide to be open about their learning disability and some do not. Either way is fine, but both present some challenges in dealing with other students.
If you are open about your disability:
Learning how to describe your disability in a way that both teachers and other kids your age can understand is essential.
Be prepared for other students to not know how to respond to your mention of an LD or for them to respond by ignoring or changing the subject. You can be casual about it and mention it in passing to avoid some awkwardness.
Try and let people know that you are willing to talk about it and answer questions if they are curious or think they may have it.
If you feel comfortable talking about CI, explain the condition to other students if they ask. This will help raise awareness of the condition and possibly lead to other students being diagnosed.
Being open about your LD can seem like you are making yourself vulnerable, but it actually makes you stronger. If you aren't ashamed, it's no longer something people can use against you.
It also takes away power from people who would potentially make fun of you. If you are open and unashamed about this part of you and don’t respond to their jabs, it is no longer something they can use against you.
If you don’t want other students to know about your disability:
Know that your disability is not your fault, don’t be embarrassed
Be careful about talking to teachers about your disability in a silent room, many teachers don’t know how loud they can be
Talk to teachers before or after class or before school to avoid other students overhearing
Alert your teachers beforehand about your disability and the accommodations you will need for that test or assessment so that you both understand what the procedure will be, whether you will go into the hall, whether the class will resume without you, etc, so that you don’t have to talk about it in class where other students can hear.
Remember- don’t associate speed with intelligence- it’s not true
Whatever reason you don’t want people to know, don’t let that reason be that you are ashamed about your disability. You are more than your learning disability.
