Learning a Learning Disorder

My daughter, now 7, was diagnosed last year with a learning disorder. Her main problems are with short term memory and information retrieval. I've since learned a lot about learning disorders. At one time, I related LD to slow, retarded, not smart, etc, etc. My daughter, however is intelligent, very socially capable, and by no means retarded in any way. Most people don't even know she has a learning disorder. The parents of her playmates are usually stunned if/when I tell them. I think because many people equate LD with being some form of retarded that they are taken by surprise to hear that a seemingly normal vibrant young girl is LD. Then, because she seems so "normal", they assume her learning problems must not be very severe.

Her learning problems are actually fairly substantial. For instance, in addition to the time spent in Kindergarten, she spent the first half of her 1st grade school year trying to "learn" the number 7. We finally just moved on. She has some kind of block to number 7, and 9. Let alone learning her teens! I would spend a 20 minute session just on the number 7 - writing it, saying it, counting it, doing it in glitter or sandpaper or bright colors - and at the end of that time, I could hold up a card with a 7 on it and it'd be 50/50 on whether or not she'd be able to tell me what it was. Yet the next day, she may identify 7's as if she'd never had trouble with it.

It's been very frustrating. The intricacies on the workings of her mind would actually be quite fascinating if it didn't hurt my heart so much. She is a super hard worker and very diligent. She doesn't give up. It's just that for all her hard work, she so seldom sees success or progress. I've often said that for as hard as she works, she should be a genius.

That's the facts in a nutshell. More to come on my feelings and experiences in the matter at a later date.