I had this disability when i was younger a drastically lesser form but still reading her thoughts really touched me. I am going back to school to be teacher and i want to teach all children that their differences make the special and unique and not just that have issues learning. ( )

I had this disability when i was younger a drastically lesser form but still reading her thoughts really touched me. I am going back to school to be teacher and i want to teach all children that their differences make the special and unique and not just that have issues learning. ( )

This is a bibliography about Samantha Abeel who struggles with a learning disability, dyscalculia. She is a straight A student who struggled with the simplest things, such as remembering her locker combination and counting change to give at the store. Many people around her believed that there was nothing wrong with her because of how she excelled in her other classes. This led to her having anxiety attacks and depression. It was than that her mother figured out what may be wrong with Samantha, from reading an article, that she eventually took it upon herself to find help for her daughter. By this time she already suffered so many physiological problems and had to get seen for her anxiety and depression as well. This was a very great book to read. I actually enjoyed it because it really relates to young adolescent students. I would have this book in my class library so students are able to read and relate to it. As a teacher I would also read portions of it to my students to uplift them and no matter what, there is always a way to succeed. ( )

Samantha Abeel's cathartic memoir, My Thirteenth Winter, is difficult to put down as she recounts her experience with dyscalculia before and after her official diagnosis. I greatly enjoyed the author's balance between reflective narrative and story telling. Each recounting reveals the difficult emotions and challenges she faces in school and in life, building into a cohesive and moving story of how she adapted to her learning disability. While reading the book, I was particularly struck by Abeel's experience before and during the diagnostic process. I realized the importance of teachers learning about disabilities and being receptive to parents' and students' concerns, especially because not all students with disabilities have strong support systems like Abeel's and parents who can be strong advocates. This conviction was strengthened as she described the high school special education math class as a place where students did not feel that they could ever be successful. This book would be an excellent choice for students who can find common ground with Samantha, as she speaks directly about accepting her limitations, finding her strengths, and continually reflecting on how to reach her full potential. ( )