In my parent's school days, which would be back in the 1930's; Learning disabilities were practically unheard of! I have heard the horror stories, first hand; If you were left handed, for example, the teacher would tie your left hand behind your back!
In my parent's school days, if you didn't follow instruction and pay attention, then you were either caned or you had your knuckles rapped with a ruler; Learning curves were completely unheard of, not to mention dyslexia and the Attention Deficit Syndromes.
When I was a child, back in the 1960's, the educational system had advanced somewhat; Children were separated into four learning groups and each group learned at a different speed. However, those groups often consisted of forty or more children and there was no special consideration, for the pupils with learning disorders. If you grasped what was going on in the classroom, then it was great! But, poor little Jane and John, who had focusing issues, were left behind in a cloud of books and confusion.
In the span of thirty or so years, from my parents generation to mine; The learning problems prevailed! Children were unleashed from the umbrella of the educational system and cast into society, to fend for themselves.
When I was in school, I had certain learning blockages. I could remember and point out things that would astound my peers, but little attention was paid to fact that I had problems concentrating on my hand writing and my reading.
Nowadays, if your child has even a slight lisp, a speech therapist is called to the school right away and your child will undergo several therapy sessions before the problem is considered to be corrected! Nowadays, it seems that there are disorders that were unheard of in the school system, thirty years ago; Or at least, those disorders are addressed more frequently in our modern day society.
When you buy a computer for your parents, don't be surprised if they are unable to grasp the basic email functions. Don't be surprised if, what is simple to you, is a nightmare to them.
For myself; I cannot change a spark plug until I see someone else do it first. If you gave me a book on Basic toilet problems and how to fix them', I'd probably throw it away and find out the hard way!
When an adult has existed for most of their life with a learning disability, it is often worth while investing in the extra time in finding out a way how to help them find their learning curve.
Our kids often find that we are stupid because we cannot grasp the basics
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