Parents Speak about the Springer Experience: Advice from Parents
July 2, 2014
What Is It Like to Have a Learning Disability?
July 14, 2014
This blog is entitled “Insight into LD,” and who better to give us that insight than students with learning disabilities.
This week at Springer, we are concluding our four-week summer program, Adventures in Summer Learning. We are pleased to have three Springer alumni working with the program this year. Because of their experiences with learning disabilities, all three alums are interested in pursuing careers in special education.
A member of Springer’s Class of 2011, Leila Jaafari is also planning a career in teaching, possibly in Special Education. She will be a senior at Holy Cross High School in the fall. Leila sees her participation in Adventures as a great way to test the waters and see if this is the career for her. “I’m hoping to learn if I work better with little kids or with the older ones,” she says. “My experience here has been fantastic. I’m having a blast. Springer has done so much for me that I wanted to be here to help.”
L. J. Hogue left Springer in 2012 to attend Roger Bacon High School, where he will begin his junior year in the fall. For L. J., assisting with Springer’s summer program accomplishes several goals. “It is my dream to someday teach students with learning disabilities,” he says. “This program will give me experience, and it’s a way to give back to a school that helped me so much.” L. J. said he loves working with kids, and that he finds these students to be especially smart. “I’m learning so much from them,” he says. “I’m looking forward to teaching the next generation of leaders.”
A recent graduate of Loveland High School, Nora Bray left Springer after 6th grade, in 2008. She will attend Ohio University in the fall, where she will study Special Education. Nora worked in the Launch program, Adventures’ newest offering for students entering kindergarten and first grade. “I’ve loved working with these children,” Nora says. “Because I have a learning disability myself, I get what they are experiencing.” In high school, Nora was a student aid in a high school classroom and also helped out with a fourth grade class. Her work with Launch has helped her decide that she prefers working with younger children, and that Special Education is where she belongs.
It’s not uncommon for career choices to follow personal experience, but we are so pleased that these students have chosen to use the insights they have gained through the challenges they’ve overcome to help the next generation of students with learning disabilities. And we’re thrilled that they’ve chosen to be involved with Adventures in Summer Learning.
In my next post, we’ll hear from some younger students about what it’s like to have a learning disability.
Blogger Mary Ann Mulcahey, PhD, shares her expertise in assessment and diagnosis of learning disabilities and ADHD, and the social/emotional adjustment to those issues. If you have questions, please contact Mary Ann at .
