Are you more open about it, about your other...

I can speak about my disability.

I'm open about that.

I have a learning disability in math, dyscalculia.

And I also have visual perception, but that's in my brain, not in my eyes.

And I also have limited hand dexterity in both of my hands, and that wasn't discovered until I was an adult.

They knew when I was very young that I definitely had a learning disability.

So what were the determining factors and what made you succeed in the academic life? Because academics could be really hard for learning disability people.

Of course.

And a psychiatrist, yep, the psychiatrist who evaluated me noticed I had really low scores on everything, and he recommended, he, he said, "I don't think you're going to go beyond community college." And that was hard because I thought, well, maybe someday I would like to get my bachelor's degree.

And at college, there was even more stigma, I came from staff and also from other students.

People thought the disability accommodations were cheating.

My peers thought if you went to have extra time on a test, that someone was giving you the answers, which didn't happen.

And then I was told by another professor when I asked for a calculator that the professor said, "Oh, no, we use our brains in this class, not calculators." And then when I asked for, uh, I, I just was talking about the future with jobs with my advisor, she told me that I would most likely have limited job choices because I would not know how much art paper to give out for an art project.

Mm.

And God answered that prayer.

Wanna see? Yes, I can."

Right.

I did have a lot of people telling me that, that I couldn't do it, but I also had people that were supportive in my life.

I had a wonderful student teacher that I encountered my junior year, and she told me, "You can go to college 'cause you know how to study and you're a hard worker." I don't remember that woman's name, but I can remember those words whenever I was at school and it was really hard, that I, that I could do it.

I also have great parents that advocated for me all throughout my years in school.

And I have, uh, a m- I also have some great friends that were won- a wonderful support system for me.

I can remember we couldn't fix that I had a disability, but we could go and laugh and hang out together, and I had that support.

... and everybody to accept, how was it? How did you get there?

But

I knew and I also had an understanding it was going to be difficult for me.

And I wasn't naive to the fact, especially with math, I think that was my biggest worry.

Mine too.

Yeah.

And especially with the disability, I really understood a lot of that.

And I can remember I wasn't alone in that, those fears.

What is dysgraphia for those who don't know?