Topic > The Life of a Student with a Disability

Index IntroductionTopic AnalysisConclusionIntroductionThe person I interviewed for this student project document was a 22-year-old African American male. He has an invisible disability of partial dyslexia and working memory problems. Onset was at birth, but was not confirmed until age 19 in college. Dyslexia is a specific type of learning disability that interferes with the ability to interpret written language. Your dyslexia affects your brain's ability to accurately recognize words, your reading speed, and your ability to understand what is read. (Falvo, 2005, 125). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Working memory is defined as the brain's ability to store temporal information while our brain is busy with a different task. This is a theoretical model (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974) that explains how we can store short-term information without having to put it into long-term memory and decide which information to encode into long-term memory. This is something he struggles with in addition to his dyslexia. Both of his learning disabilities have cognitive limitations. Thematic Analysis How does the person's disability affect them? Overall, the discovery of his diagnoses helped him to understand/understand what was happening in the previous years in relation to adapting, remembering and understanding the materials. At this time, he still experiences numerous moments where he is trying to remember something he may have recently discussed or data that was recently given to him. Due to his lack of concentration he sometimes has difficulty completing large tasks. In his personal life, the biggest challenge he faces is having to explain his disability to other people. This difficulty can sometimes cause tension in his relationships when he has to explain why he has forgotten something important, in his learning environment he has difficulty reading and retaining knowledge. As for his working memory problems, he has difficulty accepting them because he understands that it is related to the brain's ability to process information. These are some of the daily struggles he encounters due to his disability. What benefits, if any, does the person derive from their disability? In truth, he feels he had multiple excuses that ultimately helped him through college through the use of accommodations. More specifically, in college this individual received extra time for tests, reading assignments, and papers. For example, when he was in college and a professor or advisor knew about his disability, they were more understanding and forgiving of his circumstances. When they didn't know, they seemed to be less helpful. He feels he is good at putting together big pictures, seeing a broader context, or imagining how processes will develop over time. Most of the time it recalls experiences, examples or stories, rather than abstractions. How do employer/company attitudes affect the person you are interviewing? He feels like he has to work harder just to prove himself, because he feels more people will think less of him. It pushes him to want to get on par or above them just so he can prove them wrong. In some cases, people who are aware of his disability are more understanding. When people aren't aware of the disability they just think they're not trying hard enough. He has not experienced any discrimination in any type of employment or other context because he has never had to disclose.