Here are some activities you can do to understand something about how it feels to have a learning disability. It should be remembered that these exercises can't capture the frustration, humiliation, and sense of failure that students may feel in the presence of family, peers and teachers. So when you try the examples, be sure to factor in large doses of anxiety and tension. If you do so, you are sure to see what a short jump it is from there into denial, a fear of trying, and a tendency to externalize blame. Despite how bright you are and how well you know what it is you want to say, note how slow, halting and disorganized you sound.
Many students have particular difficulty learning to read.
They just can't seem to translate the letters they see on the page into sounds or words, and even if they can do that, they may not be able to figure out what the words mean. If you hold up a pair of scissors, you can tell they are scissors, regardless of whether they are pointed up, down, or sideways. Ladle Rat Rotten Hut. Read it through a few times, then aloud, and see if you can find the beginning of well-known children's tale. Hold the paper against your forehead and, looking into the mirror, try to write your name.