Raising children can be difficult. After all, it’s a process that shapes a new human being. However, no two children are the same, and some can be more difficult than others.
In this Reddit post, a person tells a story of how their son, who always rebelled when being taught things, overcharged his credit card and blamed his parent for not telling him how to balance a checkbook. Scroll down to find the full story!
More info: Reddit
Some children are extremely difficult to teach things to, but sometimes, the reason for it can be more complicated than what it appears to be at first glance
Image credits: Mikhail Nilov (not the actual photo)
A person tells how their son always used to rebel when being taught things and would later always mess everything up when he did it himself
Image credits: CardMapr.nl (not the actual photo)
The guy called his parent, asking them to pay for his overcharged credit card and blaming them for not teaching him how to manage his finances
Image credits: Naive-Razzmatazz4179
Irritated, the parent refused, saying it was his mess to clean up, to which the son responded by calling them a jerk and turning to his grandparents for support
The OP begins by telling us that their son has been a nightmare to teach things to. He would leave halfway through when being taught and mess up even the most straightforward things when doing them, regardless of how many times he was shown how to. According to the author, they believe the guy was lazy, and this was his way of getting out of chores.
Skip forward to a few days ago, and the now 19-year-old is already in college. After overspending his credit card, he called the OP to tell them about the situation, blaming them for not teaching him how to balance a checkbook.
The parent disagreed, and so, angered by what they saw as their son’s incompetence, they refused to help. This started an argument, resulting in their son calling them a jerk and turning to his grandparents for help, who took their grandchild’s side.
The people in the comment section agreed that, in this instance, the OP was not a jerk. But while some were simply laughing and saying that it’s not some complicated thing that a 19-year-old couldn’t handle, others were finding his frustration and struggle to learn things concerning. They pointed out that this may very well be a sign of some underlying conditions, like ADHD and autism, which should definitely be looked at.
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual photo)
Seeing these concerns, we decided to look further into how these underlying conditions can impact a person’s learning.
According to LD Resources Foundation, Inc., up to 10% of the population suffers from learning disabilities caused by ADHD, autism, and dyslexia, which usually boils down to around 2 or 3 students in a classroom.
The article emphasizes that a learning disability shouldn’t be confused with an intellectual disability. While things like ADHD and autism are technically not either one of those things, they might make learning just as tricky. It also says that every child is different, and the problems affecting them might differ just as well, regardless of what other children with a similar condition might deal with.
Expanding further into the subject, the article tells us about the obstacles people with these conditions encounter when trying to learn. For example, for autism, a good indication can be developmental delays. They can inhibit things like speech, memory, reasoning, coordination, and capacity to perform tasks, which, to most, might appear very simple.
Diagnosing someone with a moderate learning deficit and autism can be difficult. Still, everything is possible, and help for such individuals can be crucial to make them feel like full members of society like everyone else.
When talking about ADHD, the learning itself might not be as much of a problem as the inability to concentrate or simply sit down and focus on a single task at hand because of the hyperactivity and impulsivity that comes with it.
While it’s not considered a learning disability, these things can coexist, and having both makes it difficult to identify the second one as the symptoms tend to overlap. It’s also critical to treat both conditions simultaneously, as the problems can persist if treating only one, and it may seem like the treatment brings no benefit.
According to the article, many learning disabilities can occur together with ADHD and/or autism. The list includes dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, non-verbal learning disabilities, dyspraxia, and executive functioning impairments.
The article concludes that, at the moment, all these conditions are impossible to cure. However, that absolutely doesn’t mean that a person who has them cannot have a happy and successful life, as we have plenty of well-known examples of people who went on to do great things despite what their diagnosis said.
Ultimately, instead of assuming what the person thinks and why they do what they do, it’s always a good call to talk to them and the experts first to find out what’s really going on. It’s all the more true when the person in question is your child whom you find hard to deal with.
No single thing can truly define who we are if we choose to. We all encounter different obstacles in life, but to overcome them, it’s crucial to know what we’re dealing with and how we should go about it.
What do you think of this story? Have you encountered similar situations in your life? Share your thoughts down below!
Commenters pointed out that while the poster is not a jerk here, their son might have underlying conditions that impact his learning ability, and they're wrong for not looking into them
Image credits: Mikhail Nilov (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Mark OFlynn (not the actual photo)
