Self Image
People diagnosed as having
Self Image Problems.
They
Quit Easily, are
Easily Defeated, have a
Poor Risk Factor,
Damaged Self Worth, and/or
Poor Self Concept.
What is Self Image?
Self image problems do not really belong with processing deficits of the Information Processing Dysfunction Syndrome or with subject area failures. They are such a constant issue for the Learning Disabled that no book would be complete without addressing the issue of self concept.
When a student is regularly confused about the data he/she sees, hears, or touches, the student finds it difficult to count on himself or herself. The student looks to others or external events for confirmation. This begins when the child is very young and can continue throughout life. This has a profound impact even on the very young student. It is especially relevant for people with auditory receptive problems.
Thus, a poor self concept can result from even a mild Information Processing Dysfunction. It is a compounding issue even if one does master basic skills through extra effort. It is a compounding issue even if one eventually meets one's intellectual potential. Having a poor self image seems the lot of individuals with Learning Disabilities.
If academic failure is a part of one's regular experience along with the constant confusion of data improperly perceived, the impact on self image is especially severe. One would be very foolish to count on oneself when one's pattern is like this. One learns to trust others rather than oneself. This is the cornerstone of poor self image. If school failure occurs too, it exacerbates this damaged self esteem. If family problems exist, they, too, exacerbate self image difficulty.
Children and adults with Learning Disabilities are frequently involved in psychotherapy. Persistent problems with self image often remain despite good, effective and helpful therapy. This often leaves the therapists dissatisfied. When parents, therapists and teachers realize the individual with Learning Disabilities continues to find it difficult to trust his/her own information gathering all through life (because their cognitive organization causes ongoing confusion to a greater or lesser degree), failure to achieve a good self image seems easier to understand.
It would be important for the therapist to realize the Learning Disabled individual experiences a constant barrage of data that is inaccurate, thus contributing to poor self image (perhaps with school failure, social problems, stress at home, stress at work, frustration, etc.). It would be important for the Learning Disabled person to understand this, too. Otherwise the failure to be a person with a good self image after therapy might be viewed as yet another failure in the long series of failures.
Students with Learning Disabilities often have a parent with a similar Learning Disability pattern. The student learns the most efficient approach to life is to trust the perceptions of others. The Learning Disabled student does this because his/her perceptions are not dependable. If one of the parents also has a Learning Disability and has learned to trust others rather than oneself, the student then has the model provided by the parent and confirming personal experience. This validates that one doesn't count on oneself and having a poor self concept is an appropriate viewpoint.
Children and adults with low self esteem employ strategies to save face with themselves and others. Learning Disabilities leave you feeling powerless, unable to control your life and direct yourself toward goals. It is important to consider aggressive, cheating, quitting and withdrawing behavior or the becoming a maverick ("I meant to do it that weird way; I like to be different!") of a Learning Disabled person in relation to power. Much of the limited (but expanding) power a student ordinarily experiences is unavailable to the Learning Disabled student. The world is frightening when you don't feel as competent, powerful or in control as other kids. This, too, often seems to get worse as you grow older.
It is for this reason a parent and teachers must find strengths and not only appreciate them, but help the student or adult enhance them. This often takes some imagination. Consider the student with a natural inclination toward computers. He'd be so good at the computer, but he can't take group instruction. Can we get him a one-to-one tutor who understands Learning Disabled students? Consider the adult with enormous feeling and valuable awareness about Learning Disabilities, who would like to write about his experiences. This person needs a writing coach because of extraordinary sensitivity and feelings that might be lost to the community because of poor expressive language, but he won't expose this to a tutor. Tutoring that doesn't work may fail because of self image. This is a possibility at every age level.
Unless self image is adequate, much of the academic intervention effort employed will be less effective than it should be. Making self image the highest goal as you plan intervention is always the wisest plan.
Recommended Products
|
Awards and Recognition
|
|
