Should i contact the special ed teacher at school?

Page 1 of 2 [ 17 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

teksla
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Gender: Female
Posts: 783

15 Aug 2015, 4:36 pm

Hello.
I think differently than others.
I think abstractly, and is some sense movements. I cannot think in pictures, smells or tastes. I cannot imagine anything visually, it is as if my brain simply does not have that "function".
Okay, so in day to day life it does not really disturb me, since i have always been this way. BUT in school, more specifically geography, i am having a very hard time because i cannot memorize maps, because i cannot think in pictures.
My question is
Should i contact the special ed teacher within the school to try to get help with the maps or should i just memorize the 200+ locations on different maps like a robot?
For those who do not live where i live, the special ed teacher is someone who helps people, one on one or in groups that are having a hard time in school (not something you need a diagnosis for, just something you can speak to the principal/teacher about). So should i contact her and try to explain the problem and see what can be done?


_________________
Diagnosed with
F84.8 (PDD-NOS) 2014
F33.1 Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent, moderate.


kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

15 Aug 2015, 5:21 pm

Maybe you could send the teacher an email stating your concerns.



ToughDiamond
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2008
Age: 71
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,832

15 Aug 2015, 11:07 pm

Sounds like you can't lose anything by asking for help. I wouldn't expect much, but you never know. They can't all be useless muppets.



StarTrekker
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Apr 2012
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,088
Location: Starship Voyager, somewhere in the Delta quadrant

16 Aug 2015, 3:46 am

I agree with ToughDiamond; it doesn't sound like you have anything to lose by asking for help. It may help you with other subjects you wind up taking as well, like geometry or art. Do you have documented accommodations for the PDDNOS? If not, do you think they're something you might need? I got through high school mainstreamed without accommodations because I didn't yet have my diagnosis, but I wish I'd had them now that I see how much easier they make my college life.


_________________
"Survival is insufficient" - Seven of Nine
Diagnosed with ASD level 1 on the 10th of April, 2014
Rediagnosed with ASD level 2 on the 4th of May, 2019
Thanks to Olympiadis for my fantastic avatar!


teksla
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Gender: Female
Posts: 783

16 Aug 2015, 5:25 am

StarTrekker wrote:
I agree with ToughDiamond; it doesn't sound like you have anything to lose by asking for help. It may help you with other subjects you wind up taking as well, like geometry or art. Do you have documented accommodations for the PDDNOS? If not, do you think they're something you might need? I got through high school mainstreamed without accommodations because I didn't yet have my diagnosis, but I wish I'd had them now that I see how much easier they make my college life.

No, i do not have special accommodations (now) but i am temporarily in a special school.
I did have some accommodations because i had very frequent and severe panic attacks/meltdowns (kind of a mix of the two) but none for my pddnos (but i believe the panic attacks were just me going into overload with auditory info and my poor social/face reading abilities).
The thing is that i am good at 3D thinking, but i cannot imagine it, it is as if my brain would be doing the work without me actually having to think.


_________________
Diagnosed with
F84.8 (PDD-NOS) 2014
F33.1 Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent, moderate.


Callista
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Feb 2006
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 10,775
Location: Ohio, USA

16 Aug 2015, 7:31 am

ToughDiamond wrote:
Sounds like you can't lose anything by asking for help. I wouldn't expect much, but you never know. They can't all be useless muppets.
This, yup. I'm not sure what a learning disability that gives you trouble with pictures would be called, but if your visual-spatial skills are really bad compared to your peers', that should be considered a learning disability.

I'm not sure what they would do to make sure you learned the information in the maps; can you think of a workaround that might let you do the geography without needing to be able to recognize the shapes in the map? I'm not really sure, myself; but maybe if you learned, say, a country, its capital, its major cities, the continent where it's located, etc., instead of learning to recognize those things on a map, that might be the equivalent and easier for you than trying to use maps.

The point of accommodation for learning disabilities is to let you learn the same information as the rest of the class while working around a particular weakness. At the same time, you would get tutoring on things that you're not so good at, so as to get extra practice. Like someone with dyslexia: They might get textbooks in an audio version, plus extra reading lessons. I don't know what they'd do with someone who had problems with visual-spatial skills, but that's why they're special ed teachers and I'm not. Yeah, go talk to them--it can't hurt.


_________________
Reports from a Resident Alien:
http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com

Autism Memorial:
http://autism-memorial.livejournal.com


KimD
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 May 2013
Gender: Female
Posts: 579

16 Aug 2015, 7:59 am

I agree that you should speak up; no one can help you if they don't know you need assistance in the first place. Even if there isn't much they can do in a practical sense, at least you may gain some support and understanding--and perhaps foster some.

As a teacher, I appreciate the opportunity to learn more about unusual/unfamiliar needs and situations even if I can't help someone in that moment; what I learn about and from one student may help me meet another's needs in the future.

Of course, I hope the specialist can give you some assistance sooner rather than later. I wish you well!



ZombieBrideXD
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Jan 2013
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,507
Location: Canada

16 Aug 2015, 10:11 am

A lot of the time you need a psychologist or a psychiatrist to call or write a letter to the school explaining your situation and disability. I learned the hard way.


_________________
Obsessing over Sonic the Hedgehog since 2009
Diagnosed with Aspergers' syndrome in 2012.
Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1 severity without intellectual disability and without language impairment in 2015.

DA: http://mephilesdark123.deviantart.com


ToughDiamond
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2008
Age: 71
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,832

16 Aug 2015, 1:56 pm

ZombieBrideXD wrote:
A lot of the time you need a psychologist or a psychiatrist to call or write a letter to the school explaining your situation and disability. I learned the hard way.

So did I, through my experience at the hands of benefits adjudicators, and through the experience of others at the hands of education disability services. At one time I actually thought that simply because my diagnostic report said I had AS, they'd help me if I said that a specific trait was causing me trouble, on the grounds that you only have to look at the literature on AS to find that trait to be part of the disability. But what seems to happen time and time again is that they do nothing until you manage to get the problem spelled out to them by a health professional. Even so, there must be bigwigs out there with more sympathy than that. So don't be discouraged, just get a note if you can, and give it a try.



teksla
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Gender: Female
Posts: 783

16 Aug 2015, 2:59 pm

ToughDiamond wrote:
ZombieBrideXD wrote:
A lot of the time you need a psychologist or a psychiatrist to call or write a letter to the school explaining your situation and disability. I learned the hard way.

So did I, through my experience at the hands of benefits adjudicators, and through the experience of others at the hands of education disability services. At one time I actually thought that simply because my diagnostic report said I had AS, they'd help me if I said that a specific trait was causing me trouble, on the grounds that you only have to look at the literature on AS to find that trait to be part of the disability. But what seems to happen time and time again is that they do nothing until you manage to get the problem spelled out to them by a health professional. Even so, there must be bigwigs out there with more sympathy than that. So don't be discouraged, just get a note if you can, and give it a try.

Aa seems like you misunderstood. Where i live anyone can get extra lessons in something, or special ed (thats what we call it) without having to have a disability. Althogh having a disability in that particular area, makes the school being forced to help. But if you have sny significant problems in something you can ask for help, and they will often help you (if they think your problem is big enough)


_________________
Diagnosed with
F84.8 (PDD-NOS) 2014
F33.1 Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent, moderate.


ToughDiamond
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2008
Age: 71
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,832

16 Aug 2015, 3:38 pm

teksla wrote:
Aa seems like you misunderstood. Where i live anyone can get extra lessons in something, or special ed (thats what we call it) without having to have a disability. Althogh having a disability in that particular area, makes the school being forced to help. But if you have sny significant problems in something you can ask for help, and they will often help you (if they think your problem is big enough)

Amazing - helpful people in positions of power in the educational system. 8O



teksla
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Gender: Female
Posts: 783

16 Aug 2015, 3:43 pm

ToughDiamond wrote:
teksla wrote:
Aa seems like you misunderstood. Where i live anyone can get extra lessons in something, or special ed (thats what we call it) without having to have a disability. Althogh having a disability in that particular area, makes the school being forced to help. But if you have sny significant problems in something you can ask for help, and they will often help you (if they think your problem is big enough)

Amazing - helpful people in positions of power in the educational system. 8O


Sorry for the finnish guys horrible english, but this is a short video explaining the special ed where i live.
oops, the video did not paste. my bad.
Its there now


_________________
Diagnosed with
F84.8 (PDD-NOS) 2014
F33.1 Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent, moderate.


ToughDiamond
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2008
Age: 71
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,832

16 Aug 2015, 5:34 pm

The English is fine.

I'm impressed. Proactively looking for difficulties before the student is in trouble. All I've ever seen in the UK and USA has been underplaying the problems until the student and their parents are sick with stress. Where does the money come from in Finland to do it so much better?



teksla
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Gender: Female
Posts: 783

17 Aug 2015, 2:36 am

ToughDiamond wrote:
The English is fine.

I'm impressed. Proactively looking for difficulties before the student is in trouble. All I've ever seen in the UK and USA has been underplaying the problems until the student and their parents are sick with stress. Where does the money come from in Finland to do it so much better?

Taxes. Taxes are high here. But theres free health care, free education (but in highschool you have to pay for your own books, before that its payed by the school) school lunches are free too. But taxes are high. But i would live here because of all the benefits


_________________
Diagnosed with
F84.8 (PDD-NOS) 2014
F33.1 Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent, moderate.


Ettina
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Jan 2011
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,971

17 Aug 2015, 8:34 am

Finland sounds like a great place to live. A lot of European countries seem so much more progressive than North American countries - I'm Canadian, and we like to brag about how much better we are than US, but everything we're doing better than US, some European country is doing better than we are.



EzraS
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Sep 2013
Gender: Male
Posts: 27,828
Location: Twin Peaks

17 Aug 2015, 12:01 pm

I make sure my teachers know how I operate so that they can teach me better. One of the points of special ed is to provide more individualized teaching.