If you have read my other posts today, I have been telling you all about my daughters learning disability. Today after school my niece was here, and I thought hey I would get her to help dd with this math, she is pretty good at math. So she starts helping her, and bil comes in, and gets into what the girls are doing, so I start telling him about dd learning disability( which he should already know about she is 12) and how she needs help with math especially, ok here it is, He said what is a learning disability? I was puzzled at that question, i hestitated and he said oh you MEAN BRAIN DEAD! I almost died, I said oh thanks alot dd really feels good now! I am so pissed at him right now, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . Ever since my daughter has been going around oh, I must be brain dead! she just did not need that comment at all. He really thinks he is all that! as the kids would say. The rest of the girls my other 2 and niece, knew that was not a nice thing to say, so my niece piped up about him failing grade 5, and that he must be brain dead, I know it was to make light of the situation. It is funny how some would preseve a learning disability, some think it is a cop out , a lazy kid but it just is not that way, even my own sister rolls her eyes when I talk about dd learning disability or if dd does not get what she is talking about, and my sister had a learning disability when she was in school too, I am going to talk to my sister and tell her he owes dd an apology, it just was not called for. I just do not understand what the heck he was thinking.

By Emily7 on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 12:26 am:

I would of slapped him.
I am so sorry that he has no tact & said that, let alone in front of your dd. I guess he must be brain dead since he had no idea what a learning disability is. Some people. Give your dd a hug for me & let her know that she needs to look at the source. Can he really be a good judge of what her abilities are.
My dh is awesome when it comes to math, e-mail us if you would like, he would be more than happy to help. We have Yahoo IM, but my e-mail address (without the spaces) is: e.even @ bresnan .net

By Feonad on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 06:57 am:

Oh he is so crazy. A friend of mind had trouble through out school. He orginally started with a speech delay.

So now he has a great job with a major TV station. He is very talented electrical technician.

Another girl I know had visible cerebal palsy. She was getting her masters degree in teaching.

Some else I know had a writing disablity he is working a terrific job that doesn't involve writing.

That is just people I remember off the top of my head that I knew. Just a silly thing to say!

By Unschoolmom on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 07:32 am:

Mrse - how I've descibed learning disabilities to brain dead men in the past is by comparing them to cars. Imagine a big block corvette - let's say there's a 454 under the hood. It's an amazing car with tons of potential. But it's not performing to potential- it bogs down for instance. The problem isn't with the car (the kid) or even the engine (the brain) it's maybe the fact that the air filter is filthy. There's just one small glitch that makes it a bit tougher for that car, or your daughter to compete.
Frankly though I now think the problem is more the environment the kids are expected to learn in. Sit still and fill out worksheets just may not be how some 'learning disabled' kids are supposed to be learning. So in that case I would guess the problem would be more like a Corvette being expected to putter around town like the family sedans and never allowed out on an open track.

By Mrse on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 02:53 pm:

Thankyou for all the support, I am still upset with the way he acted, all I know is we won't be bringing that subject up again, and if I ever hear him, saying anything about not getting something, or you should know that, I will be like my dad says the mother cow that goes bawling after her calf. ( he was a dairy farmer lol)

By Melanie on Saturday, October 2, 2004 - 03:01 pm:

When my kids hear or see something that is rude/mean to another person, I always remind them that the comment/action is a reflection of the character of the person who said it, and not a reflection of the recipient of the comment or action. Perhaps that will help your daughter keep that comment in perspective.