AZ is Amazing: February 2012

A Filmmaker with Nld recently asked me some questions about living with NLD because she is making a documentary about this disability and since have not blog specifically about my NLD before I thought I would share the anwsers with you guys
This is a long post so make sure you have a lot of time to read

Me in Kindergarten

* When did you discover you have NLD and how did it affect you in school when you were a child? Were you ever bullied because of NLD?

I was born prematurely and was diagnosed with mild Cerebral Palsy as a toddler I received early intervention for the CP which include OT PT ST hippo therapy My parents could tell that I was bright so after I Graduated from the county program for disabled preschoolers I entered a Private school for pre-k til first grade

Me in first grade shortly after I was diagnosed with NLD

     When I was in first grade    symptoms of   Nld started. I sat on my teachers lap   a lot and needed a lot of intervention. I was still learning but having a hard problems with behavior    anxiety and of course making friends. I got diagnosed the winter of    first grade so     around 1998.    The school did not want me anymore so I left and was in public school ever since. I knew I had NLD    as a youngster but   it took until I was a freshman in high school to understand what it really meant   to have it.

For the next ten years of my schooling I had problems with social skills behavior problems and anxiety: however I was still in the general education classrooms and I am now in college. I was   bullied   all the way though elementary school mostly because of my speech issues which were from CP.    In middle and high school I was bullied most   in special education classes which    teachers thought I was the bad student.

*How does NLD affect you know in the following areas:

Executive Functioning/Organization Skills/Time Management

            Binders are a mess
Visual/Spatial Issues (Getting lost, math, etc)

College Stat test I passed it with a B. With NLD that is huge

I am good with directions    but learning math was extremely difficult for me as a elementary student.   in high school I really struggled with Geometry   but I   got though it and passed it the first time.    I sometimes bump into people.

   Social Skills—friendships
This has been   a hard struggle  for me.     I get my social time with others with disabilities   and the whole high school drama thing actually happened   outside of school.   It was hard because of clicks and stuff that con sits of people of all types of disabilities. My behavior problems are a part pf this   and   for high school this was part of OCD and anxiety

*What's the most frustrating part of having NLD? How do you compensate for these issues?
Lack of friendships are the hardest part for me. I compensate by   going on facebook and blogging and talking to myself

*Do you feel that NLD has in some way helped you in your life? How? What do you like best about having NLD?

I know what it feels like to be picked on so I think the   challenges I have faced   have motivated me to help others.   I like how   NLD allows me to focus on things I enjoy   such as Toy Story Harry Potter and disability advocacy.
*I'm really impressed with you activism promoting disability rights in general and within NLD and CP communities? Why have you chosen to be this active? What do you get out of it and what do you think other get out of it?

Me and my cousin in 2007 the year i started blogging

   Thanks .    I chose this because I started reading blogs of parents   mostly   who had children with DS and   it looked like   a lot of fun.   That was back in 2007 and some of those bloggers who I originally read are no longer around. I get a way to express myself and others get a chance to   meantime. I really love being a disabled advocate and hope to   keep doing it for Meany years to come
*Why did you blog about your life and why did you choose to include NLD/CP?    Those were my disablites at the time I started blogging

*What would you like to do when you graduate from college?

I want to be a special education teacher that helps kids with developmental disabilities    be include in   there high schools for the Marjory of their day including academics. I am also   a writer so I might write a book.

* Are there any specific issues about NLD that you would want to see included in a documentary film about NLD?
  dating and Nld as i have never dated before but would like to find a husband some day
*What would you want an audience who's never heard of NLD to know about the disorder and about the people who have it?

I like parents and teachers to know that students with NLD are not bad people are not trubble makers I would also say to teachers to treat all students with respect. I am currently blogging about   my middle school years and will go though all this   in depth later
*Are there any misperceptions of people with NLD that you would like to see addressed?

see above