Is it wise to share your disability with a professor?

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Sawke
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29 Aug 2016, 4:37 pm

I was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disorder, aspergers less popular sister (haha!)I have tried asking other LD people for advice they think that if i tell my professors i leave myself open for discrimination. I only found out one month ago at 24 i have this disorder! i'm pretty devastated because someone mentioned i may not have the social skills to be a teacher. Which I want to be. I don't believe this is true for me! kids like me, but i do struggle at times to know how to socialize with co teachers, i don't know how this will affect me in the long run, but so far my subbing experiences have been ok.

I'm getting off topic. I repeat: Should i share my disability with my professors?

I shared that i have short term memory problems with professors and friends and it has garnered patience and understanding. Am i wrong to think i won't receive that with a nonverbal disorder?

(please excuse the poor writing. My computer is very laggy, i can't edit.)



QuantumChemist
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29 Aug 2016, 8:02 pm

At the university that I teach at, we are required to accommodate students who have legitimate disability papers from the school's student success center after they have disclosed that information to us. It is a leveling of the playing field, so that everyone gets the same chance to learn. I know what it is like to go though school with a hidden disability that can hinder the learning process. (In my case, it was partial color blindness, which affects my ability to see color changes sometimes. Unfortunately, I never got accommodations for it while I was in school.) I always highly encourage disabled students in my classes to disclose to their professors, as instructors cannot automatically know what they may need to do to help foster their learning environment. Occasionally I will have a student who struggles in one way or another with the material that gives clues to me that they may have a disability that they may not be aware of. I try to guide them to the student success center for further help in that area, as I can only do disability accommodations based upon the legal paperwork from that department.



AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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29 Aug 2016, 8:10 pm

If you can kind of wind to the zen place where it's both okay to reveal and okay not to reveal, that's a pretty good place to reveal.

short term memory problems is immediately understandable by name alone, and not so scary.

nonverbal learning disorder, well, it takes some unpacking to explain what it's all about.


So, perhaps, something like: There's also this interesting thing called nonverbal learning disorder, which a number of famous people have had, as well as people who aren't famous.*

in other words, bite-size pieces.

* This is true for the Aspergers-Autism Spectrum, and am assuming this is also the case for nonverbal LD. Is this correct?



Aspertastic424
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31 Aug 2016, 6:10 am

Big yes!



Sawke
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31 Aug 2016, 5:36 pm

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:
If you can kind of wind to the zen place where it's both okay to reveal and okay not to reveal, that's a pretty good place to reveal.

short term memory problems is immediately understandable by name alone, and not so scary.

nonverbal learning disorder, well, it takes some unpacking to explain what it's all about.


So, perhaps, something like: There's also this interesting thing called nonverbal learning disorder, which a number of famous people have had, as well as people who aren't famous.*

in other words, bite-size pieces.

* This is true for the Aspergers-Autism Spectrum, and am assuming this is also the case for nonverbal LD. Is this correct?



Thanks yes it might require a bit of explanation. Sometimes professors like to popquiz me, as in ask me random questions to test my knowledge. That really isn't appropriate for a nonverbal learning disorder person. I process slow and i have difficulty communicating details. So I think a full explanation is definitely necessary.



Froact1982
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03 Sep 2016, 2:28 am

Yes