Posted by mathmustdie on September 15 2009 03:03 AM
#17
Dear Fruitbat and RottieWoman - I am glad you had success in being able to pass driving.
I don't doubt that it makes a difference on what instructor you have. Also, I thought the women might be more patient than men but it's not always the case.
When I first started driving in drivers ed in high school an older very calm man was the instructor and he didn't really say anything unless someone was doing something majorly wrong/dangerous and when he corrected people it was in a calm manner. Even though I was a horrible driver I was less panicked when this man taught because he made me feel safe and assured he wouldn't let anyone crash.
Then my REAL teacher got out of maternity leave and she was HORRIBLE. I had to think about so many things at once while driving that I felt very overwhelmed to begin with and to make matters worse she bombard me with questions while I was driving like "what do you see here?" "Do you notice anything different?" etc and it was just too much to handle. In the end my instructor would insult the way I drove and say how much better everyone else was doing while I was driving etc and would yell. She also would gossip or tell stories in the car while I was driving to the others and somehow this was a distraction.
It also didn't help that my sister would scream at me and make me feel bad when we practiced driving >< She has NO patience.
I ended up quitting driver's ed because I couldn't handle this woman and she had the audacity to be like "I hope you didn't stop driving because of me" at some point. I was too shy to be able to tell her what I really thought. If the other man had continued teaching me to drive maybe I would be able to drive...even if it was a short distance but I will never know ><
JuniorFireFighter16- It would help to get tested for a math disorder because if you just tell the math teacher that you are having trouble in math without having a documented LD then the teacher will probably just think you're simply bad at it or say that if you try hard enough you will understand. Maybe the teacher will try to help you after class, thinking all you need is a little review and that you'll magically understand or they will tell you to get a tutor. Sadly when dealing with an LD things aren't always so simple. At least if you have a document you have some more power and if the teacher is cruel you can say "I have a disorder, I can't help that I don't understand" and they shouldn't argue against that. You will be able to get more time on tests and stuff too if you get diagnosed which might be helpful. Unfortunately a lot of people don't believe this disorder exists or don't know a lot about it and that's very hard and they may have doubts but it exists whether they like it or not. Don't let the fear of their doubts hold you back.