Growing up with an NVLD in a rural area brought many positives, such as being blessed with incredible support. Yet it had its difficulties too. So in this piece, I will discuss both the positives and negatives of living in a small and lower-income community.
The first positive I experienced was that it wasn’t difficult to get teachers who could best accommodate my NVLD. This was because the majority of students with disabilities and their parents weren’t as committed to education as my family was, so they didn’t totally realize you could put in a request for teachers who were a good fit for their student. In addition, because I was a very dedicated student, I was one of the students they helped first. If I had been in a more affluent or larger town, this would have been more difficult, as the number of teacher requests would have been greater, since there were more families like ours, making it harder to request teachers. In addition, my work ethic wouldn’t have meant as much for scheduling, as there would have been other students like me.
My next example is both positive and negative. I was one of the few learning disabled students who wanted to continue to take academic courses. The positive part was that I received remarkable support by being one of the few LD students who took academic courses beyond the graduation requirements. If there were more students who did this as well I wouldn’t have received as much individual attention .Now the negative was it was difficult for my resource room teacher to understand this decision . However, within two months she was proud of my decision .
Another example was that I was always able to be a full inclusion athlete despite having gross motor skills deficits. Having this opportunity I made wonderful friends. In addition through my dedication I developed remarkable athlete-coach relationships with all of my coaches over the years.The relationships with my cross-country coach and track coaches were particularly special as at the time my self-esteem was hurting so having their support helped me get back to believing in myself. If I had lived in a bigger or more affluent town this experience wouldn’t have been as successful as there would have been more students who would have wanted to be on teams thus minimizing my experience. For example I wouldn’t be able to run 2-3 events for track as others would have to be accommodated too thus reducing my participation.
Next example is that I was able to take the regular level English and History classes rather than the comprehensive level for just Learning Disabled students. My parents, unlike others , were fully aware the courses were downgraded and it wasn’t full inclusion like the Special Education team claimed.By being one of the few families who knew how to advocate for a placement change it was very easy to get me the support I needed. For example a speech therapist offered support within the comprehensive level classroom so the teacher assistant or resource room teacher could be available to me and the other students. In larger districts with general education courses for just learning disabled students this would have been more difficult as more families would have been asking for a true full inclusion experience. This would have resulted in me receiving less support. Whereas in my graduating class there were only 10 total Learning disabled students who took regular English and History. This small number allowed me to always receive tremendous support.
To wrap up part A each type of area brings its positives and negatives. Most importantly you need to think about what you want most in your educational journey. For example, in the middle of my 8th grade year we looked at moving back to the New York City metro area as my parents were disappointed with how the high school was handling academic inclusion then .My Dad, being a board member and a school counselor in an area school, knew the district’s Regents exams passing scores for Learning disabled students for Science , English and History were at the very bottom for our area schools. This was partially due to our school keeping 9-11 grade comprehensive English and History along with general Science for 9th graders. Consequently unlike the vast majority of the other districts around us many of our LD students weren’t as prepared for the regents. However, we realized moving would be a mistake as we had incredible support and due to my level of determination I would be fully included in several parts of high school life. So it’s important to understand that each area has its positives and negatives. Looking back we certainly did make the right choice.
Eileen
Eileen is a Project Social Ambassador and blogger for The NVLD Project. She loves helping others understand they can achieve their goals and dreams through hard work and dedication.