You real life experiences are encouraging because in spit of obstecules you made it. This is not what you should have had to go through to get where you are today.
My son is 10 and is I believe dyslexic, but what do I know they say speech related ld. Anyway, I watch as the ld program continues to teach below grade level with no challenges. Any parent who believes the sped will give their kid what they need is in for a huge surprise.
The education my son gets is what I teach, my husband teaches or we pay tutors to teach. I worry about my son 24/7 for his future and IEP is for 9 mos. and they arent’ held accountable. We as parents are for life and are held accountable.
Thank goodness connections to these boards where I can become informed. I will advocate for my son with every ounce of strength I have, but this system has to change.
It is true ld are the only disability that is not being given benefits. I am a grant administrator and I know all the stuff other disabilities receive. Do bare in mind if you are below moderate income limits you will qualify for certain programs under Community Development Block Grant Programs.
I will keep checking in here sometimes to try and get ideas of how I can make my son’s future better.
Re: changes are long overdue
Hi!
I’m also an adult LD….what Jacqueline says is true- but,however in Wichita,Kansas, where I live, it IS possible for a single LD female to get work- but is harder than hades to keep. I should know. I was diagnosed with this durring my second go around in Kindergarten.(I was six) I was in the LD program in Wichita Public Schools from the 1st grade to the 5th grade…My father had me removed due to the fact that the “Cheap babysitter” I had didn’t drive, so I would have no way of getting to school in the winter…then he married the B***h. From then on, I think I basically fell through the cracks of the system. Still am- and will be 35 in May….with basically little or no employability, and no future…Don’t like to say it- but it’s starting to feel like “No Hope”, too..
Marion, Please! For the love of God, take advantage of what ever programs and services you can for your son! Give him any advantage! I may be a stranger- no one you know- but I’d hate to see any child with LD end up like I have….He deserves any shot at a good future he can get! I’ll be rooting for him- Big Time! No kid deserves the injustice, discrimination, and hardships being LD brings into a child’s life!
And as for Jacqueline’s talking about not being able to get any welfare benefits- Food Stamps are easy to get, if you meet guidelines….maybe Voc Rehab for LD’ers…But for cash or medical assistant, you either have to be pregnant, a minor child, or pay a massive spend down just to get a medical card- and even IF you have a job, even minimum wage- you won’t get it- they’ll tell you you make too much to meet guidelines….yet they’ll provide services to drunks and druggies dying - but not to someone with LD….go figure….
Nita
Marion:
First I would like to say thank you for understanding the seriousness of LD and joining the fight to make a difference. I do not know what state you are in but I am in northwestern PA near Erie and even though much is lacking in more progressive parts like Philly/Allentown and Harrisburg, it is even worse in northwestern PA. While I am here, I am making a difference for the LD’s here before I return to my native Philadelphia.
As an independent investment broker, I am currently working closely as a volunteer with a local non-profit group who employs mostly the folks with “mental” disabilities. I became friends with the director, who is not LD, but very open minded and sensitive to social justice.
He asked me how I was such a wiz-bang at derivatives, tax shelters, and investment plans for non-profits, I jokingly told him that I bought my mathematical/financial genius and the price I paid was to be dyslexic. He did not know the ramifications of LD in adult life outside of a classroom, so I told him exactly how my LD affects me, and what I had been through, and that is why more meaningful help for the local LD population needs to be obtained.
Here in Crawford County, someone with LD, especially a woman, can count on not getting a chance for employment even as a minimum wage supermarket clerk. Yet, a single LD person unable to get adequate gainful employment is denied welfare and/or SSDI benefits. We deserve a better life than that.
The optimal way for us all to achieve that I believe, is to write our congressmen especially those sitting on the Appropriations Committees that directly fund state Voc Rehab, and let them know that if the VR’s are going to short-change us, their funds should be diverted elsewhere to attain real help for the LD’s. Maybe get Economic Development grants sent our way that will target LD’s, empowering us to get funding to start our own businesses, since we can all accommodate ourselves if we get to design the work environment in which we operate.
Lastly, one thing you may want to check into is setting up a 529 account for your son since there is still time before your son goes to some sort of post-secondary education, eg, college or technical school. Financial planning for your son’s future is extremely important and since he is LD, there are genuine financial concerns you and he will face that other people do not face.
Having dealt with student loans and Pell grants I can tell you the implications a 529 account vs a Coverdell Ed IRA on Title IV funding eligibility when your son seeks further education in the quest of being qualified for adequate gainful employment.
Feel free to email me at: [email protected] or call (814)337-7611.