Who Is Interested in Learning Disabilities and AD/HD?

This question is difficult to answer, probably because so many people really don't know what these two disorders are, and they don't realize that they are very different disorders diagnosed in very different ways. The confusion lies in the fact that most people think that anyone who has trouble being successful in school must have a learning disability. To them LD covers everything. If we could teach the world the facts about LD and AD/HD, then I'm sure there would be a dramatic increase in the number of people interested.
The simple answer to the question is (a) parents who have a child who is struggling to learn and perform, (b) teachers who are seriously concerned about the strugglers, (c) the children, teenagers and university students who have diagnoses, (d) adults who have diagnoses, and (e) employers who have workers with difficulties. Then, (f) there are the people like me who through education, experience, and motivation continually seek ways to support, counsel, and teach all of the above individuals how to cope with their problems.
One becomes far more interested when LD and AD/HD are understood, even with a basic understanding of the following information.

Learning Disabilities:

1. There is a problem processing information. We receive information through our senses, organize it, store it, recall it, and use it. When you have a learning disability, one or more of these areas functions well below average.
2. To diagnose a learning disability, two things must be proven. (a) The person has at least average intellectual ability, and (b) The person's performance in one or more areas, such as reading, writing, mathematics, fine motor skills, and others, is at least one and a half years behind expectations for his/her age and grade level.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

There is a problem with behaviour in one or more of these areas:

1. Attention. The person is highly distracted by sights, or sounds, or thoughts.
2. Impulsivity. The person often speaks or acts immediately on impulse.
3. Hyperactivity. The person is often fidgety and in motion as if driven by a motor.

Diagnosis proves that the problem occurs 24 hours a day in all situations.

Interestingly, all of us exhibit some of these symptoms and behaviours to a minor extent.

The LD Specialist

I like to call myself the ld specialist because I think I have the qualifications, experience, abilities, and perception to be able to make a difference in the life of anyone who struggles to learn and perform because of a learning disability and/or an attention deficit disorder. Let me tell you how this happened.
At age 21 I became a certified teacher, ready to facilitate learning for children. In a few years, after many courses taken at night or in the summers, I graduated with a university degree and a solid understanding of psychology. As someone who grew up in a poor area in a family that people now call dysfunctional, I had a natural connection to those who struggle in life. My school superiors noted this, and I was encouraged to get involved in special education.
This to me was a great idea, so early in the 80's I returned to the university to pursue being a specialist in special education. Before I finished this specialist certification, I was given the opportunity to begin working directly with the special needs kids. Soon I realized that my main interest was learning disabilities. My creative side surfaced, and I created an innovative, new model for increasing the success of these young people. My boss supported the model, and once we began to see the results, it was adopted across the city.
In 1989 I was seconded to work in a provincial, residential school for students with severe LD. This led to hiring me as a provincial ministry of education resource consultant in learning disabilities. I was called to a school whenever there was a student for whom the school staff felt they needed help to design a suitable program. During all this time I became a popular workshop leader and speaker, and my materials gained recognition.
After retirement, I have been unable to sit still when I have so much to share, and maybe partly because I am diagnosed with AD/HD. It's not an ego trip, as some might think. It's just a sincere desire to help the strugglers. I worked another year as a provincial ministry consultant; then, seven and a half years counselling children and their parents, and being regional coordinator of a federal program for adults with LD; then, working in an international school in Sweden with grades 6 to 9 students having difficulties with English and Maths for 2 years; finally starting an internet business called "The LD Specialist".
The wheels keep turning. I continue to learn and get better at what I do. I am so lucky because I meet many people who are not happy with what they do. I love what I do!