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Trouble Learning
I've asked questions similar to this before, but I figured I'd be a bit more specific and ask a little different this time.
I'm in 10th grade, was in a very small private until 5th grade when I started being home schooled(same curriculum).
Half my family, including my mom, have been diagnosed with dyslexia. When I was in kindergarten, My mom noticed that I was showing signs of dyslexia but never took me in to be tested because I live in the middle of nowhere and the only one who could test me is 5 hours away and retired.
So I've always known I was, at least mildly, dyslexic.
I struggled a bit in 1st through 4th-ish grade with it but I dealt with it and it wasn't much of a problem. I like to read and can without much struggle, though I will mix up words, re-read sentences, and have poor reading comprehension/memory on occasion(I have problems with this one in school a lot), especially if it's something I'm not that interested in. And I will on occasion also have problems writing.
But my real problem is, ever since about 7th or 8th grade, I have been having a harder time with school.
And it's been getting worse recently.
My schoolwork is self taught, and mostly 'read section then answer questions then take a test' type deal.
But I'm having a very hard time getting myself to actually learn anything. I'll barely remember half the stuff I should, and I don't understand anything else. I'll read the stuff I'm supposed to then either forget it almost immediately, or not understand it at all.
This mostly happens in science and math. Even if my Mom explains it in the most simple way possible, I still wont know what she said. I'll understand the individual words she's saying and it will kind of make sense, but once it all comes together and she's finished, it's gone and I don't understand at all.
I can't even help my niece in 5th grade math because I can't figure it out. And I'm supposed to be in geometry!
This somewhat happens in everyday life too, I'm almost scared to get a job or go to college because I have trouble following directions and figuring out how things work. Even if someone shows me I still don't know how to do it.
I get nervous when I'm around people too, I am naturally shy, but if and when people ask me to do something, even if it's simple, I either misunderstand or make a complete fool of myself because I can't figure out how to do it or I do it wrong.
I don't know... basically what I'm asking is, what could be causing this? Is there anything causing this at all, or am I just kind of stupid?
Or is it possible the dyslexia is causing it?
I don't know...I just hope someone on here can give some me good advice on how to deal with it and help me figure out what 'it' even is....
Any responses are GREATLY appreciated...
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I'm not a doctor so I can not say for certain if what you have written is caused by dyslexia or could be some other problem. Since dyslexia is an inherited problem I am going to suggest the following.
I understand you live 5 hours from anywhere. Hopefully you have a good family doctor where you live for the first thing need is a good physical complete with a Neurological exam and a head CT. If all of this is negative then start searching the web for doctors who specialize in the treatment of dyslexia.
I have to believe in this day and age with the multiple forms of communication we have that there is not a doctor or hospital than can not help you by at the very least assessing you over the internet via Skype or some other form of video conference. There are more and more specialist making themselves available in this manor to rural doctors and their patients. Your local doctor may even know of some hospital that has this program.
One thing I do know is whatever is the problem, until it is properly diagnosed and treated it will not get any better and could get worse. While it is possible that just because mom has dyslexia you have it as well. The problem then becomes is your a different form requiring different treatment. You really need to be properly diagnosed. The reason for the complete physical with the head CT is to rule out any organic reason for your problem.
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I have noticed that lots of people are getting more forgetful, have trouble concentrating and forget things or make tons of silly mistakes in writing, even me, even people who do not have dyslexia or any other type of disorder.
I can't say what it is. It was not like this say 10 years ago but I began to take notice of this phenomenon about 5 years ago and it has been escalating since then.
If I am catching mistakes in print everywhere I look, on pc ads, wikipedia, blogs, tv ads, magazines and newpapers, on a daily basis where I never saw any mistakes or it was rare in the past, something has changed.
I cannot believe that every person struggling has changed something in their lives so drastically that it is affecting their memory and all cognitive abilities so severely. That leaves me with wondering if a build up of toxins and poisons in our environment or in our foods and water is finally showing its effect on great numbers of people. Nope, you won't see articles or tv reports on the subject. Cant afford to scare all population. All we can do is just try harder, do our very best and leave it at that. Not everyone is going to be affected at the same rate so some are doing better than others, but give it another 5-10 years and your mom will probably be struggling more too.
Depressing, huh? So just focus on enjoying your life on a daily basis, don't worry about the future or college. Just focusing on doing the best you can right now. It takes investing more time and triple or quadruple checking your work.
Regarding shyness, I can see how that can affect you some. So if you think your shyness is causing you to not pay attention close enough to understand what someone is asking, thats easily remedied by working on overcoming your shyness. Let me know if you want to work on that, as I have a formula for overcoming shyness, it worked on me. In school, I had it so bad I couldn't get out of my seat to go sharpen my pencil because I feared peoples eyes being on me. You c an write me separately to ask for that if you wish.
Good luck.
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