any advice from anyone would be helpful...

I am a 21 year old female and have reading comprehension difficulties and I work full time.

At work there is a lady with a physical disability- she is paralysed on her left side and walks with a limp/shuffle. It is extremely annoying as we have a very good working relationship with each other, however because of her clearly visable disability she gets treated... well differently. For example we both went for promotion in November 2005 and we both got promoted in December 2005, however everyone said to me "I knew you could do it, I'm not suprised you got promoted" and to her they were saying things like, "well done, congratulations, you must be so pleased, what an achievement etc, etc"

My point is I work twice as hard because of my reading comprehension, but because it isn't as visible as other disabilities are, no-one knows about it.

Last week I had my annual report and my manager highlighted a few areas where she was confused as to why, "even though I am clearly able to do my job, I keep making small errors/mistakes, she knows its not down to laziness, so is it that I'm not very confident in my work?" and I just sat there and said in future i'd pay more care and attention. This was my opportunity to speak up about my learning disability, but instead i chose not to, as I have mentioned above with my promotion - people expect me to do well, so if I mentioned that I have an LD, even though I might get treated differently in terms of my annual report etc, how might it affect what people's expectations are of me?

my dilemma is: Do I disclose my LD to my manager? (based on all the above info?)
(also bearing in mind my workplace has an equal opportunities policy)

ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPREICIATED,THANKS

[Modified by: TeddyBear on May 16, 2006 11:30 AM]

Thanks for your advice Sue.
Like you said, I'll try and make my explanation short and simple, and see what happens...
Thanks again

Since your posting was in May, you may have already disclosed your LD, but I will share my thoughts anyways. It sounds like you had the dilemma of whether or not to disclose your LD to your manager, but you use "choose" not to disclose your LD. You made a choice and you don't have to feel pressured to disclose anything that you don't want too. Do you feel disclosing your LD will help your current situation at work? Maybe or maybe not. It's a risk that you take. Keep in mind that your manager may not understand your LD and it's an opportunity for you to educate him/her. He/she may or may not know how to help you. If you know what will help you, then I would start there.