<p>You are probably right about that. However, that may not be surprising due to my career choice. I have a BSN and our education was very practical in the sense that school did attempt very much to mirror life, i.e. many clinical rotations where you are engaged in the nursing process at hospitals, clinics, community setting, etc… So my experiences in college have probably colored my perceptions.</p>
<p>I’m assuming that MOST people with LD or other disabilities are taking those into consideration when actually choosing their careers (someone who can’t process information quickly cannot work in a critical care unit where someone’s life may well depend on thinking and working quickly during a "code’ or other emergency). Which is no different than what students without any disabilities do-they are focusing their energies on things they are good at vs. things they know they are not suited for. And as you stated, your daughter would not make a good editor, so she has not given consideration to that career.</p>
<p>I guess I could still see that employers not accustomed to working with/around a disability might really buck the concept if faced with a new employee who wants/is used to a knowledgeable, understanding support system and reasonable accommodations for their disabilities. I don’t know what legal remedies are available/appropriate for these kids entering the work force for the first time.</p>
<p>I’ve held a variety of jobs and have never had a problem. I’ll never be a mathematician or an interpreter, but so long as I choose a career that isn’t centered around my deficits entirely I can compensate well enough to get by fine when they do become relevant. In school I am required to sign up for 15 week courses that are specifically centered around gaining proficiency in my areas of deficit in a very particular way with no room for improvisation. At least so far, it’s never been that way for me in the real world.</p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that, short of needing to type rather than write by hand, I need no accommodations in my major. It’s just gen eds that are causing problems.</p>
<p>Nrds-- You know, I just think a lot of that stuff is unimportant in the real life work world.</p>
<p>For example, there are things my daughter MUST do to get a college degree which she would never be ALLOWED to do for a career, ever. She will be relieved by the fact that she will not be hired as a book editor and not diappointed in the least. </p>
<p>I’m sure you see what I’m saying. Out in the world I have never been asked to use calculus, which is a darn good thing since I’m not good at it…no LD, I’m just not good at it. Others, who are excellent at this math language are doing phenomenal things with it. No? D is a genius at math. I have no idea what most of it means. Nobody is worried about me. fwiw.</p>
<p>^^^I get your point. However, reading posts by the OP regarding her son’s need for extra time to complete tests (forgive me OP if that was another poster), needing accommodations for a quiet environment, single room,etc. is what got me thinking about how this could present problems in the “real world.” There are jobs where time pressure is involved, or needing a quiet environment in which to work would present real challenges. But again, maybe a completely moot point in that person would probably only seek a career where these weren’t issues.</p>
<p>Dumb questions, I am sure to someone who has spent their child’s lifetime understanding and dealing with their particular challenges, but the several recent threads by the OP actually got me wondering about life after college when you are much more likely to run across people who have no experience with LDs, autism spectrum conditions, etc., and what kinds of challenges are experienced in the professional realm.</p>
<p>NO, I get what you are saying. When I first realized D was not figuring out how to read I was really panic stricken. It took me a while to settle down and just let it kind of work itself out while looking for better sets of solutions. It helped that as she got older she was mostly able to figure it out for herself and didn’t really seem phased by it. I think, in our case, it really helps that print is going the way of the saber tooth tiger…It’s not really that important anymore, kind of like back when people used to be able to be successful because they could steer the oxen and the little math guys were starving to death cuz they didn’t have the ‘right’ skill sets.</p>
<p>World’s evolve.</p>
<p>I think a lot of the executive functioning stuff is probably pretty scary for parents, but I actually don’t think you can even know where you really ARE with that until the kids are 25. there was a kid in school with us who was (now, looking back) very asperger-like…he was in all of our APs and whatnot. He’s a college professor in some obscure area of languages, with tenure. He seemed a lot more together at our reunion. But, yeah, I"m sure that stuff requires longer parental supervision for longer time periods just to set up coping strategies. But, I can’t be sure, since I don’t know first hand.</p>