Why am I an educational therapist?
I struggled in school and it changed the direction of my life, the issue was, I flew under the radar.
I was an early reader, by 3 years old, I was reading every stray book, carton, instructions, or newspaper I could find. My primary years were a breeze until I hit a wall in 3rd grade with math. Memorizing multiplication tables was not an issue but I stumbled on the concept of division and telling time.
Third through fifth grades were humiliating and confusing. The shame and embarrassment impacted my self-esteem, being told I was ‘not trying hard enough’, ‘lazy’, or that I had a “fear of math” which kept me in the lowest math groups despite my being in the highest reading groups and in the MGM (GATE) classes.
I remember the day in seventh grade I gave up trying. Diagramming sentences, a fairly simple concept that my entire class was able to comprehend, except me. From that point on, I decided to make excuses for my poor grades and inability to do simple tasks. I created a fantasy world where I told others I came from an uncaring and chaotic home which would ‘explain’ why I was not able to manage fairly simple concepts.
This will be continued, however, if this is relatable or if you have a child or know of an adult who can benefit from this deep dive into the impact education and learning had on their self-esteem, please reach out to discuss.
