So, a lot of people with LD or autism or Asperger’s or whatnot are anxious. Some are so anxious it’s a disorder.
Maybe we’re born with it. Maybe it’s given to us.
Because, for many people with LD or autism or Asperger’s or whatnot, the world keeps tossing us the unexpected. Praise for what’s easy. No praise for what’s hard. Blame for God knows what (yeah, it’s obvious to you, if you’re neurotypical, but it’s not obvious to us! What did we do wrong? What did you want? What did you want us to do? What did you do? How should we know that???
And then, blango! Out of the blue – YOU GOT IT WRONG!
Well, after a while of being randomly punished and rewarded for no apparent reason we get anxious. If you do that to rats, they get anxious. If you do it to dogs, they get anxious. If we didn’t, we’d have to be catatonic.
Very helpful insight. I got to your blog through uderstood.org. I am actually trying to learn how to deal with, as well as have compassion for, my landlord, who obviously has ADHD and anxiety. I now realize that I would have problems also if I had these challenges, and insight such as you offer make me a much more patient and compassionate person, when dealing with such daily difficulties. It is all to easy to just put the person down as a dolt or selfishly unattentive. When you realize the difficulties they face in every verbal transaction with another you open up to that person with more milk of human kindness. Thank you so much.