Am I being unrealistic?

Question

I have a learning disability and never learned much
in special education.I was always terrible in English.
College SAT how can you expect me to score good when most the material on the test is maeterial that was never presented to me?
All I ask is the day to come that I can go to
school and not have any trouble.Am I wrong
for wanting that? I was told I could not be helped.
In my time it was easier not to help me and let
me fall through the cracks.How the Heck did I
pass the GED? My parents don't see how I did
it.

Answer 1

Teachers are no longer ALLOWED to teach their students...

Their days are spent filling out forms, making reports, copying pre-designed lessons to pass out in class, and making evaluations of all of their special students...

What you needed was a tutor but the school system would rather spend less money and stuff you into a classroom where you won't learn, and where the lessons are modified so that you can pass without learning everything that is required of other students...

But, at the same time, the class is modified so that the other students don't really learn all that they need to learn either because the discussion of such learning would confound and confuse those with LD's...

If you go to school and don't have any trouble then you won't be learning very much.. you will want a tutor to help you and you should expect to spend a LOT of time on homework...

For the SAT .. get some study guides and go through them each several times.. if you don't understand the material.. then get a tutor to help you.. or several tutors.. you may need different ones for different subjects.. and.. expect to spend the same kind of energy and time in college to learn as much as possible for you.

Answer 2

Sorry for your difficulties. Not knowing your age, which State you live in, the type and scope of your learning disability makes an informed answer very difficult.

BUT, in general, NO you are not being unrealistic to want to advance your education, skill set and opportunities in life.

We do not know if you have family support in attacking this problem, or do you have money to through cash at the problem? Family members to help bolster your spirits while you slog through the steps will help. Money can always help solve problems, private paid tutors for example.

You state you have a GED. One thing you can do, is go to the Army, Navy and Air Force recruiters offices, take a test called the ASVAB (Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery) which tests not only what you know, but which areas of knowledge you learn best in. ABOUT.COM has some very useful information about the ASVAB. If you do well enough, and already have a GED, you may be able to pick the career area you desire, enlist, get paid a bonus, and get paid while the military trains you. You can also take college courses, self-paced via mail, while in the military.

Hope this helps, hang-in there and spend your energy getting what you want, not blaming others. Even if they are guilty, it is your life to live, so you live it!

"When you let others define you, you let them confine you. Define yourself! Determine your own life!" (Al Sharpton)

Answer 3

I am a former Ld resource teacher. And, while I don't know your specific situation, I don't know that you can totally blame it on special education. A lot of the students that I had were not interested in learning. They acted as if it were an imposition for me to ask them to do anything. I think that it is strange when, all of a sudden one of these students gets to be a senior and then they want to be able to go to college. The time to really be concerned about the future is before a student goes to HS. In your particular case, look into going to a junior college first and see how you do. Then, if you need to take the SAT, you will be better prepared.

Answer 4

You didn't state your learning disability, so its hard to answer this question. I don't have a high opinion of Public School though, and feel I was let down by it. I studied on my own after high school and learned more than I ever did in school. Check out some homeschooling companies and re-study English on your own, most homeschool materials are very thorough and assume that you will not have a trained teacher standing by to explain things so the book explains everything. I recommend ABeka books grammar and composition series, start with the 7th grade book, even if you never go on to the next one you will learn more than most people do in 4 years of high school. Don't forget to get the answer keys too though, so you can check yourself AFTER you've done the assignments to the best of your ability.

Answer 5

Sorry to hear that you feel helpless in this matter. My daughter also has a learning disability and she is going to take the GED. She doesn't have faith that she will pass it. I too can't understand how they can have kids with LD to take the regents SAT. It doesn't make any sense. I don't think you need SAT's to get into a two year college. At least you can get your foot in the door and then that's all you need to continue in a four year. Good Luck!!!!!

Answer 6

Is there some type of colleg you coudl choose that does not need SAT ?

What do you wnat to do for a career?

I mean, there are many jobs in the world... what would you want to do? What are you good at? What do you like? What CAN YOU DO? I mean sometimes you do not find your DREAM JOB right away, you may find a job and then do OK at it and then TRANSFER over to another job position or TYPE later in life....

It is a tricky issue try to brainstorm..

www.pennstate.20fr.com

Answer 7

Nope you are fine and sorry the school system failed you.
Today teachers are there for a paycheck. They do not teach and rather that exercise a skill of teaching, they brand a student with a disability.
The system is full of lazy people.
You achieved something and one day you will understand what I am saying.
Today, you should celebrate in your success
Good luck to you

Answer 8

I'm sorry about your frustrations......they're understandable. Maybe you can get a tutor to help you with the subjects you have particular struggles in.

Good luck!!

Answer 9

Well you will probably do just fine. after all you must be pretty smart if ur using Yahoo!. hahahaha...

Answer 10

First of all, congratulations to you for being a true success? This question mark scrolls across every endeavor you undertake I bet. Feel free to replace it with a period because you know what? It sounds to me like you have overcome tremendous obstacles and worked hard to achieve your goals. Success is much more than simply scoring a perfect 1600(think this has recently changed) on your SAT's. Allow me to clarify.

You can score a 1600 on your SAT's and be a success or be a work in progress. You can hide under the bed from trouble, cowering in some dark corner laden with fear and be a success or a work in progress. You can yell and rant when things don't go your way or accept them as they are and be a success or a work in progress. Now, you're probably asking yourself, what in the world is she talking about?

As I began to compose this, I thought about including the foil of success which we have been taught to believe is failure. Yet, as I paused for a moment to really consider, it struck me: progress indicates going forth and unless you're dead, you're still going foward whether you running toward destiny or destiny rises up to meet you.

I know all too well that mere words provide no remedy for life's frustrations and disappointements. What I do hope is to offer you some encouragement and relate an empathy toward your pain.

One of my three Kindergarten teachers (my father was in construction at the time,so I went to Kindergarten in three differnt states) related to my mother: "She will never learn to write, she will have to complete everything orally." You see, I was born with Cerebral Palsy, albeit a mild form; I'm not wheelchair bound. In fact, the only evidence I suffer from this today is a slight limp and fine motor tasks with the exception of writing are a little more difficult for me to perform than gross motor ones. In fact, and I will readily admit this, to this day I don't tie my own shoe laces. Of course, I prefer loafers and sandals. The point is if I opted to wear these it is a nearly impossible task. Why do some people overcome their obstacles no matter how difficult the circumstance and others don't even though the degree of their limitations is not as great? Is one than a success, while the other a failure. Not at all.

Consider this: if everyone overcame every obstacle no matter what their circumstance, where would humility, compassion, and resiliency live? There would be no where to go or grow.

The Lord has set before each of us a path. As it states in the twenty-ninth chapter of Jeremiah: "For I know the plans I have for you saith the Lord; plans for you to prosper and grow..." Jesus met with more than His share of opposition, which is actually an understatement.Yet, He overcame the world.

He knows who, what, when, and where to place people on our path to teach us, to encourage us, to motivate us, to discipline us, to instruct us, and to reveal to us His will. And, he knows how to weave those elements together to bring us to the place He wants us to be. That's the key: His will not ours.

He may accomplish this by yelling, whispering, or stepping back. In fact, many times it is not until a situation is far removed from our immediacy such as a number of months or years that we can reflect back and see how that step lead us toward the next one. He sees the big picture, we don't.

In my life, He has accomplished it through lots of whispers. Whispers because I'm a very sensitive person. I think the Lord most often uses the form of discipline that works best for His children's unique temperaments. How do I tie this all together?

Well, when my father relocated to his home state of Texas with construction work it was only supposed to be for a number of months, yet twenty something years later here we still are. And here are just a few of the miracles God orchestrated for my family:

1. My first and fifth grade teachers both had children with cerebral palsy, so they knew how to relate to me on a personal level. By the end of my first grade year, I was writing after completing vigorous occupational therapy started years before and through my parents encouragement and my first grade teacher's guidance! What are the chances two of my teachers would have children with the same exact affliction? It was not chance; in fact, it was thoughtfully, carefully, and beautifully orchestrated by the Lord. He knows EXACTLY what He's doing.

2. My father lost his very, very high paying job with the construction company he'd worked for. If not for the support of family and friends, my sister and I would have had no Christmas that year. My dad went to work for the state and took a huge pay cut, but guess what? A little over three months ago he retired with full benefits: His insurance is locked in for life and the income he earns with his retirement and social security combined is actually more than what he used to bring home. Rare but it does happen. A mistake, I don't think so. Had he stayed in construction, he would have no benefits. And several years ago he had a heart attack. Many of the men he'd worked with had passed away (for a variety of reasons I'm sure). Yet, many of these men were hard living and that environment added to their early demises. Would his heart have withstood that? I don't know but probably not.

3. I met my best friend here and we've been friends for almost twenty years. My dad actually met her dad and knew him from both the area where we now live(worked as a teenager for the railroad here one summer) and down in Houston. One day conversing, by "accident"(there are none) we discovered our father's knew each other. What point does this illustrate? The world is indeed small and in the grand scheme of things we are but as vapor as the Scripture states.

4. Lost my first teaching period through a series of readily uncontrollable, unfortunate circumstances. Was very bitter and had to pray very hard for the Lord to remove this poison. Indirectly, this lead me to seek secondary certification in my area and now I am all level with the exception of Pre-K and Kindergarten. Thus, I increased my marketability.

5. I was able to help a young man with dyslexia while working at a charter shcool through encouragement, guidance, etc... He threatenend to quit if he could not pass state mandated test. Well, guess what he passed and graduated, I got to share in part of that victory by relating to him some of the things I relate to you now. if I'd retained that first position, I would have never met that young man or shared in his journey.

And that is only a sampling. Oh, I've had my share of troubles, too. Loss of job, loss of loved ones, etc... Yet, when I think of how things really do work together for good as the Scripture states I' m in awe. "Count your blessings, name them one by one..."

No one is in up mode 24/7. And God doesn't expect you to be either. Life is difficult and holds many challenges.

As far as being a poor test taker or one who lacks confidence. I, too, relate to this. In fact, there was one particular examination, I took three times before finally passing it. All, I have to say to that end, it is not the number of times you fall down but the number you get up.

You are not unrealistic. Dream big. Why not!. Just because you become frustrated, tired,or even sometimes experience doubt, it does not mean that you will not succeed. The question is not will I eventually fulfill my destiny; God has His plan in motion, the question is in which way will he communicate His purpose, what route wil he lead me down, and will I arrive there or be the inspiration for someone else to carve out this path while He leads me down a different one. Not every disappointment is a misfortune. Remember that.

What will happen on your journey? I don't know. Where is your journey leading? If it's linked to the Lord's resurrection, everything will come together. He has gone to prepare another place for us as it states in the fourteenth chapter of John... if you serve others with a heart of compassion and keep pressing toward the goal, than you are fulfilling your destiny.

You aren't never go to have problems on this earth; Jesus had them from the time He arrived until he rose to be seated at the right hand of the Father. What will you do with the lessons these troubles teach you?

I know this is long-winded and may seem preachy. It was worth it to me however to exhibit my concern and dedicate careful thought to my answer. In my heart, I truly felt lead to remind you of one basic truth at the end of all of this: sometimes to get to the answer you have to travel through long, winding, roundabout, out of the way, places and experience weariness, confusion, annoyance, discomfort, etc.. to appreciate the good.

Answer: You are one of the most realistic souls because you know what it is to suffer, you know about humility, you know how to find solutions in order to compensate for a lack or shortage of something else. A dreamer living very much in reality. Try. Don't be afraid to try. How many times will you get back up? I'm going to pray for the Lord to reveal that one to you.

And when people tell you no, just tell them I'm a work in progress. Don't worry about their reaction; most will be to stumped to speak or be so curious they want you to share your insight.