Do I even have a LD?

No I'm not in denial or anything I'm just wondering if the disabled center at my school is even diagnosing us right. I was taking Algebra 2 last Fall semester and about five other people in class along with me were going to the disabled center to do their test. A few of them were just people who English was a second language and one young man told me he had been off of drugs for two years. Do you think that they are diagnosing people as LD to get more money from the government, or is it because many limitations ( such as not understanding much English or being on drugs) are considered disabilties now by the government?

And for some reason this class was quite easy for me. Of course the teacher allowed notes and calculators on all of our test and I went to the disabled center to do my test, but I got an A- for a class grade. In Algebra 1 I struggled and almost got a D or low C and had to work hard to bring it up to a B minus. The Algebra 1 teacher also allowed notes and calculators but I still had a hard time grasping the problems. Even my family cannot accept the LD diagnosis (Granny says I'm too smart to have an LD , having an 140 IQ as a child) though I had such a hard time learning math in elementary school. Then my Pre-Algebra teacher told me that she thinks my only problem with math is that I have a "Low self esteem". She 's into that self esteem bit with education so I don't take that crap literally. :x I have low self esteem because of my LD which makes me suck in math.

Now the new academic standards here in California says that you must take basic college algebra to earn an A/A degree do that means I won't be graduating until Fall of this year. Now I'm totally confused on my diagnosis because when I earn my B/A I'll need help for math. I hope the disabled center at the university doesn't retest me then say I'm not LD by thier standards because that means I'll be struggling in math class.

I was not diagnosed as having discalcula ( which I thought I had because I'm a bit slow in math) but a processing speed disorder as well as CAPD. The lady who tested me said with discalcula I would have been hardly able to do third grade math and I had been at a Pre-Algebra level then. She said I was only slow in math from the processing speed disorder and with intensive tutoring and untimed tests I could do well.

And I understand that people who have or are recovering from drug addiction have protection from the American With Disabilties Act. Since drugs can cause brain damage my recovering addict classmate is protected by those laws. Now I don't know about my classmates who don't understand English very well. I'm thinking maybe they have disabilties but are not open with them as the guy who was recovering from drug addiction was.

nope, doesn't sound like discalculia is the problem -- and IMHO it usually isn't. THere are a whole lot of reasons to have trouble in math -- it's a complicated subject.

Now, about the "getting the diagnosis right." As far as the school folks go, they're not really concerned with a precise diagnosis. For most of them/us, it's "okay, how can we get people educated?" If certain kinds of help will let you learn the stuff, then the label doesn't matter much.
Then there's that funky grey area -- are you learning less because of the help and taking the tests in the disability center? It's a valid question. I know some of our folks just want to make requirements, and learning is beside the point -- and that makes it wicked hard for the folks further down the line who have to deal with a student in their class without the skills to succeed (and precisely which skills is another interesting question -- sometimes it's a basic reading, writing or math skill, sometimes it really is a skill that goes along with a prerequisite course, and sometimes it's thsoe lovely skills of reliability and punctuality).
Math courses have been a "rite of passage" in many programs -- you don't necessarily need the math skills, but you do need to be smart enough to learn those skills to tackle the stuff later on. Same with some of the reading and English courses. It's tough working with students who are really putting in a lot of time and effort -- but also, really, have no earthly idea what they've just read. .. and don't even know what it *is* to have an earthly idea, so they just don't understand why what they're writing down is being considered "wrong."
Do you feel like you could do algebra you couldn't do before?

What the college did was give me an I.Q. test along with an academic test. The woman who tested me could see something was wrong as she did the auditory part of the test. That showed I had CAPD then they did some tests in other areas. I was a bit slow in doing some things ( such as math) but I got near genius scores in vocabulary and reading skills.

Anyway I've known there was something wrong with me since I was eleven. When the special ed kids ( most were younger than me) in the classroom right next to yours can remember their times tables and repeat them quickly as you struggle with your tables from six through twelve then there is something wrong. Then people were asking my mother if I were deaf, audistic, "slow" or mentally handicapped as I got older I knew I needed to get help. A neighbor's mother asked me three years ago if I were "retarded" and I just wanted to cry as I knew there was something different that people saw in me that my family thought was just "quirky". For a long time I didn't seek help because I was too ashamed and scared to find out what was the matter with me.

To our readers,

We were alerted to this thread by one of our members. After reviewing this thread, we decided to limit the posts to those that discuss the topic originally introduced.

Learning disabilities and ADHD can be very emotional subjects, and it is understandable that our users will respond passionately to each other -- particularly when the welfare of children is at stake. We appreciate that spirited discussions will take place. However, if an issue arises where we hear that any user does not feel they are being treated with respect and care, we will take the time to investigate and make a judgment on posts.

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LD OnLine Staff

Amber -- good luck to you.

Remember there will be up days and down days. On the down days, remember they don't last forever and better times do come, especially if you keep working for them.

One thing I see often in college is students who think that just going and having a good attitude is enough. No. Learning means change. Change is never easy. When an instructor asks you to do something that you don't know how to do, well, that is what you are there for, isn't it? If the demands are within the curriculum of the course (and take note, yes there are a *few* instructors who are off-the-wall and demand things that are not appropriate) well, it's your business as a student to figure out how to get that curriculum -- that's what you are paying for, to have your mind stretched. Read, study, ask questions in and out of class, and make use of tutoring centers and all that.