BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Learning Difficulties?

This Is The Phantom Lady · February 7, 2014 12:24 pm

Does anyone have a learning difficulty or deal with someone who have? How does it affect you and what do you do to overcome?

Personally I am dyscalculic (I am not diagnosed as the diagnose costs more than my rent; but there is no doubt.)

For me my challenges are:

Little understanding of even simple math questions
Sometimes I will write the number 4 as 'h' on the laptop and really not notice...
Clocks confuse me
Keeping time
I can't tell right from left
I can't control my own economy
Remembering a name to go with a face...

My luck is my visual memory; I only recently learned that I had a real learning disability so I was tryin to hide what I thought was stupidity; I try to memorize patterns in things like math.
Most dyscalculics are 'chronically late'. I can't stand being late so I am always way too early because I can't calculate how long it takes me to walk to the station or where else I have to be.

When I was a secretary student at the hospital they gave me the task to manually write up blood work. That is a million numbers that has to be typed correctly and for me 78 might as well be 87. I trippled checked my work to avoid too many mistakes.

I have a friend who is dyslexic, she always spell check her stuff and make people proof read her things; I found out she is a lot better in English!

Last edited by This Is The Phantom Lady (February 9, 2014 9:19 am)

saturnR · February 7, 2014 1:31 pm

I'm not sure if it counts as a learning disability / more of a learning disadvantage but I know that students whose first language is not English takes them a while to adjust to learning in English instead of their home language. I was very young entering school so speaking wise it didn't affect me that much but readng wise it affected me a lot. I couldn't read at all until I was in grade 4. You don't really notice the affects of this in my adult reading except in terms of speed. My working speed skimming for information and such is very fast but my leisure novel reading speed is still much slower than most adults.

Davina · February 8, 2014 6:16 pm

Mild discalculia too. I can do sums but I have terrible trouble remembering phone numbers, house numbers (I always seem to reverse them or muddle similar numbers up. Hopeless at most times tables. Really quite hopeless at Maths when I was at school.

belis · February 9, 2014 7:45 am

In the UK learning disability means low IQ. What you mean is described as specific learning difficulties.

I'm dyspraxic and dyslexic. It took me forever to learn how to drive an automatic car (OT at work put me in touch with a fantastic instructor who specialises in teaching people with disabilities and even he was pulling his hair at times). I struugle to ride a bike and can often trip over my own feet when walking. Can't tell left from right and have horrible sence of direction. My fine motor skills are really good though.

I can read quickly and my understanding is good. Spelling however is very hard for me. It's not a major problem day to day as we keep patient records electronically and the system has an inbuilt spellchecker. I dictate a lot of my letters and reports and anything I type by myself is scrutinised by our secretary. The one thing I need to be extra carefull about is prescription charts so I make sure that I tripple check. According to the pharmacy audits I actually make much less mistakes than other doctors. Probably becouse I'm overcompensating for my difficulties.

This Is The Phantom Lady · February 9, 2014 9:19 am

belis wrote:
In the UK learning disability means low IQ. What you mean is described as specific learning difficulties.

Thanks, I have changed the thread's title now! I didn't realize the difference but I certainly didn't mean that!

Davina · February 9, 2014 2:23 pm

Left and right! Yeah...most of the time if I think carefully it is not too bad but directions when driving...honestly...I'm hopeless!

This Is The Phantom Lady · February 9, 2014 3:08 pm

I am so glad I got my tattoos. They weren't intended to help me with right and left; but on my right wrist I have a Rose and on the left a 'Loveheart'... You get a little tired of people giggling at you if they ask you to go left and you ask them if that's by the door or the shelves

belis · February 23, 2014 9:27 am

This Is The Phantom Lady wrote:
I am so glad I got my tattoos. They weren't intended to help me with right and left; but on my right wrist I have a Rose and on the left a 'Loveheart'... You get a little tired of people giggling at you if they ask you to go left and you ask them if that's by the door or the shelves

That's an idea. I usually wear a bracelet on my left hand but since they introduced the new uniform policy with a total embargo on any jewellery I need to come up with something else.

Davina · February 23, 2014 11:28 pm

Can you not just write 'left' on the inside of your (left, obviously) wrist in indelible pen?

Fillyjonk · February 24, 2014 12:24 am

Very interesting! I teach and have had lots of students with dyslexia, but dyscalculia is new to me. The "4" vs "h" thing is intriguing! Obviously... the the "h" is a hand-written "4" inverted, but I have never noticed the connection before!

I would have guessed that there is a link between remembering spelling and remembering number strings, like phone numbers. If I see a word misspelled, or a phone number written incorrectly, in both cases I get the same near-emotional 'twinge' that they are WRONG. It's more a feeling - visceral - than an intellectual recognition. Patterns? I don't know. But the feeling is the same with spelling and numbers. It's fascinating to me that two different sections of the brain control those two separate functions.

Fillyjonk

belis · February 24, 2014 7:04 am

Davina wrote:
Can you not just write 'left' on the inside of your (left, obviously) wrist in indelible pen?

I did have a 'L' written on my hand for a driving test. It did help a bit. I guess day to day I don't want it to be to obvious. I don't particularly want to advertise to the world what my difficulties are and my hands are constantly on show.

belis · February 24, 2014 7:09 am

Fillyjonk wrote:
I would have guessed that there is a link between remembering spelling and remembering number strings, like phone numbers. If I see a word misspelled, or a phone number written incorrectly, in both cases I get the same near-emotional 'twinge' that they are WRONG. It's more a feeling - visceral - than an intellectual recognition. Patterns? I don't know. But the feeling is the same with spelling and numbers. It's fascinating to me that two different sections of the brain control those two separate functions.

I don't get that feeling. Often even if the mistake is pointed out to me I still can't see what is wrong. If you ask me how to spell that word I will probably be able to tell you the correct answer but I struggle to see that what is in front of me on the piece of paper is different. I need to decode it letter by letter.

February 24, 2014 7:54 am

belis wrote:
Davina wrote:
Can you not just write 'left' on the inside of your (left, obviously) wrist in indelible pen?

I did have a 'L' written on my hand for a driving test. It did help a bit. I guess day to day I don't want it to be to obvious. I don't particularly want to advertise to the world what my difficulties are and my hands are constantly on show.

I suppose you have already tried mnemonic symbols?
Being a visual person I go with something symbolic when I need to remember something. What about just looking at your left hand with the back of your hand towards you. The forefinger and the thumb build an L for left.
You can invent a mnemotic for yourself that fits to your personality or your hobby. Just choose something that appeals to you emotionally if it is really difficult to learn.
You can also wear a ring on your left hand in "lilac" for left. I am just inventing something. You can choose whatever you can remember easily because of some sentimental reason.

Last edited by Be (February 24, 2014 7:55 am)

This Is The Phantom Lady · February 24, 2014 7:57 am

Fillyjonk wrote:
Very interesting! I teach and have had lots of students with dyslexia, but dyscalculia is new to me. The "4" vs "h" thing is intriguing! Obviously... the the "h" is a hand-written "4" inverted, but I have never noticed the connection before!

I would have guessed that there is a link between remembering spelling and remembering number strings, like phone numbers. If I see a word misspelled, or a phone number written incorrectly, in both cases I get the same near-emotional 'twinge' that they are WRONG. It's more a feeling - visceral - than an intellectual recognition. Patterns? I don't know. But the feeling is the same with spelling and numbers. It's fascinating to me that two different sections of the brain control those two separate functions.

Fillyjonk

I have that 'Wrong' feeling very strongly when I'm writing; but with math and numbers it's a constant thing for me... So naturally I don't know how to act on it the way I do with writing.

I just realized that thing about h and 4, you are right if you write them out they do look alike! But it still annoys me a bit... but it's just because I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I'm not a fan of having a 'defect'.

The other day I watched a documentary about the brain (Always loved learning about the brain). And they actually had a segment about dyscalculia. It always makes me happy when I hear it mentioned because eventhough WHO has accepted it; it's not that well known and I've often been told there was no such thing and I should just try harder.
According to the documentary they have found out it's actually a part of the brain that isn't working or may even be missing! They managed to make a man into a dyscalculic by sending electric impulses into a part of his brain.

Punch me in the face · April 28, 2014 9:56 pm

I knew about dyslexia (one of my workmates has dyslexia and she often makes me spell check her texts) but I had never heard about dyscalculia... That's interesting.. It must not be easy to live with it, though...

I don't have any learning difficulty. Still, I've been learning to drive for a year and it seems like an impossible thing to me... In France, you usually take the test after 20 lessons (it's not an automatic car). I've had 55 so far and I'm unfortunately far from being ready to take the test. I really need the driving licence, I'd give anything to pass it, it would really change my life, so it makes me feel very stupid.

Last edited by Punch me in the face (April 28, 2014 9:57 pm)

belis · April 28, 2014 10:02 pm

Could you take the test in automatic car? It makes it so much easier.

Punch me in the face · April 28, 2014 11:05 pm

No, in France, you can't take the test in an automatic car

What is weird if that I'm usually able to do several things at the same time (i.e, I can type on the computer while looking at my son and talking to him --and what i type still makes sense and there is no typo) and yet, in a car, that's something i really can't do. I'm so concentrated on the pedals and all, that I'm not able to look around and notice the pedestrian about to cross the road, or if the instructor says "Follow X direction", I miss all the signs and don't know where to go, I'm unable to anticipate... Not to mention parallel parking and all, I really suck at that You can show me 20 times and I still won't understand how to do it. I can tell my right and left without any problem, but for example when I have to parallel park, I never know if I have to turn the wheel to the right or the left, which drives my instructors to despair because they say "But it's so logical!" but to me, it's not. At all.

Like I said, the "normal course" here is 20 lessons (21 to be more precise). It's about what it took me just to understand how the pedals worked! lol.

Then, I've never been good on a bike either (which is why I haven't ridden on a bike for more than 15 years), so maybe i've got a problem with all those things.

belis · April 29, 2014 5:54 am

I had very similar problems. Luckily in the UK you are allowed to take the test in an automatic. You get an automatic only license so I'm not allowed to drive a manual (obviously as I clearly can't lol).

This Is The Phantom Lady · May 28, 2014 7:35 am

I feel very annoyed with my dyscalculia and my brain right now...

I also know my learning difficulty was made a lot worse by math teachers who bullied me instead of trying to help... now I actually fear math... once in high school I started crying out of the blue when doing my math homework at home and that was when I decided to never touch my homework for that particular subject again. (Luckily I had a teacher who tried to understand me at that point and she allowed me to pass math because 'I was trying')

I have always been interested in astrophysics and I really, really want to study it and become an astrophysicist someday... I don't really tell people this because I'm scared they will laugh at me. I guess I don't come off as the smartest cookie but every time I see anything about the subject my brain just starts firing and I have some hypotesis' of my own as well as trying to figure out other people's research etc... You know, string theory and all of that...

The problem is, as far as I know there is a lot of calculation involved in this, and that is where it all breaks apart for me. I would never be able to trust my own research... and I doubt I could even get in with grades like mine

Meh.

Zatoichi · May 28, 2014 11:29 am

Punch me in the face wrote:
No, in France, you can't take the test in an automatic car

What is weird if that I'm usually able to do several things at the same time (i.e, I can type on the computer while looking at my son and talking to him --and what i type still makes sense and there is no typo) and yet, in a car, that's something i really can't do. I'm so concentrated on the pedals and all, that I'm not able to look around and notice the pedestrian about to cross the road, or if the instructor says "Follow X direction", I miss all the signs and don't know where to go, I'm unable to anticipate... Not to mention parallel parking and all, I really suck at that You can show me 20 times and I still won't understand how to do it. I can tell my right and left without any problem, but for example when I have to parallel park, I never know if I have to turn the wheel to the right or the left, which drives my instructors to despair because they say "But it's so logical!" but to me, it's not. At all.

Oooh, someone like me! I am usually very good at multitasking and processing lots of information simultaneously, but not in a car. I just can´t do it, and it doesn´t help that I know three people who suffer from severe after-effects of car accidents.
I guess the main reason is I´m not very good at three-dimensional thinking (read as: I totally suck at it), so calculating speed and distances is very hard for me. It´s okay when I go at the speed of a bicycle, but not at the speed of a car (especially highways freak me out). Then I never got used to handling the car, it doesn´t happen automatically, I have to conciously think about every move I make. Often it´s so much information - all the other cars, their speed, their (sometimes pretty unforseeable and dangerous) maneuvres, all those signs and roads and arrows and trams and sites, the pedals and levers and buttons, people talking in the car, music playing etc - that it gets too much for me to process in the short time I have to make safe decisions (I noticed on several other occasions that I have pretty low information filters in comparison to other people). I can do it if I must, but I drive horribly defensive and am exhausted to death when I arrive . (Well, I say I can do it when I must, but the last time I really drove a car is like.. 10 years?.. ago..)

And something I completely lack is my sense of direction, I must have been born without this brain area..