Athletic, smart, musical, depressed, good listener, people person…

Are we born with it or is it because of our environment?

Scientists and philosophers have argued back and forth about this.

In 400 BC, Hippocrates said (and I paraphrase):

“Human behaviour is biological, and is a combination of 4 different body fluids. C’MON BELIEVE ME!”

Then centuries later, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke strutted in and remarked:

“HOLD UP what if humans are BLANK slates when we’re born? What if our behaviours are shaped by the environment?”

Now in the 21st century, we’ve settled for both.

Our intelligence, fitness, mental health are a combination of our genetics and the environment.

Learning disabilities

With this in mind, are learning disabilities ONLY biological? To what extent are the labels of dyslexia and ADHD affecting the severity of our disability? To what extent does our environment provoke diagnoses?

If i’m repeatedly given easier work because of my ‘dyslexia’ and treated differently from others, will that amplify my diagnosis?

If I’m stuck in a classroom for hours upon end, is it legitimate to be diagnosed with ADHD because I can’t sit still? **

The reason I ask is because I tutored a student who, if half a maths sheet was completed, it’d be a huge achievement. Sure, she took some time calculating, but we ended up studying ratios, even algebra. When I brought it up with teachers, they remarked

“Wow that’s incredible. You know she has dyscalculia?”

“Dyscal-hmm?”

“It’s dyxlexia of maths”

This student, who calculated RATIOS and ALGEBRA has dyscalculia?

I was shocked. I presumed what she had was an aversion towards maths, a lack of confidence and fear of making mistakes - much like students I’ve taught in the past. Is it because I was 100% CERTAIN she’d understand maths, that she ended up fulfilling that prophecy? That if we viewed each student as CAPABLE, it’d change their performance regardless of learning disability?

**(Don’t get me wrong, of course many diagnoses are in fact legitimate and are essential for that individual, especially if they’re higher up the spectrum. However, many individuals are lower on the spectrum however are labelled and treated the same way. To what extent are we playing up the severity of someone’s learning disability? And regarding ADHD, how often are we misdiagnosing a student because of the environment they’re forced to be in?)

Food for thought - interested to hear your take on this topic.

Jo