What Could I do that requires NO MATH? (skills, degree, veterinary)
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I have a learning disability that makes it so math is impossible for me. It took me 3 YEARS just to learn multi digit addition/subtraction. I also have something called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, my body doesn't produce enough colagen (sp) in my joints, so they are unstable and randomly dislocate. I've thought of:
Vet/Vet tech: Can't get into the school, too much math.
Paramedic/EMT: Constant lifting will destroy my joints, math.
Air Force/Army/Navy, etc.: My joints.
I fail math tests even with extra time, calculator, scratch paper, formulas, etc. I am a 20 year old with the math skills of a 5th grader. I can barely do figures in my head, I can barely do multiplication tables. Is there any hope?
I know someone with Ehlers-Danlos. Sounds like you are being hard on yourself. Try having a positive attitude. Stop telling yourself what you can't do, and try to think about what you can do. I'm guessing you like animals because vet/vet tech was first on your list. Maybe you could start of volunteering at a local shelter making connections with the people who work there, and apply when there is an opening. Just be positive because if you go into any work environment with a negative attitude you'll have trouble.
I have a learning disability that makes it so math is impossible for me. It took me 3 YEARS just to learn multi digit addition/subtraction. I also have something called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, my body doesn't produce enough colagen (sp) in my joints, so they are unstable and randomly dislocate. I've thought of:
Vet/Vet tech: Can't get into the school, too much math.
Paramedic/EMT: Constant lifting will destroy my joints, math.
Air Force/Army/Navy, etc.: My joints.
I fail math tests even with extra time, calculator, scratch paper, formulas, etc. I am a 20 year old with the math skills of a 5th grader. I can barely do figures in my head, I can barely do multiplication tables. Is there any hope?
Of course! There's always hope. Easy? Maybe not, but attitude and hard work is everything. Keep trying.
Have you tried contacting your local Adult Education office? They may have resources available in your area to help you figure out A. what you're most interested in and B. how you can get there from here.
I think the volunteering suggestion is a great one as well. There are usually many volunteer agencies that can help you link with places in need. Not only will it provide you with an idea of what you may be good at and enjoy, it will also give you practical experience and references when you apply for a position down the road. It may also give you leads to jobs in the very places you are volunteering.
Hospitals are a good place to start. Internal job postings are usually posted for at least 2 weeks prior to being posted outside the organization.
I wouldn't give up on the vet tech angle either. Volunteer at an animal shelter or Veterinary clinic, and you may find a vet who is willing to train you on the job.
I have a learning disability that makes it so math is impossible for me. It took me 3 YEARS just to learn multi digit addition/subtraction. I also have something called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, my body doesn't produce enough colagen (sp) in my joints, so they are unstable and randomly dislocate. I've thought of:
Vet/Vet tech: Can't get into the school, too much math.
Paramedic/EMT: Constant lifting will destroy my joints, math.
Air Force/Army/Navy, etc.: My joints.
I fail math tests even with extra time, calculator, scratch paper, formulas, etc. I am a 20 year old with the math skills of a 5th grader. I can barely do figures in my head, I can barely do multiplication tables. Is there any hope?
Help me understand here... why would a medical situation impacting your joints affect your mental quantitative reasoning abilities?
Have you tried contacting your local Adult Education office? They may have resources available in your area to help you figure out A. what you're most interested in and B. how you can get there from here.
I think the volunteering suggestion is a great one as well. There are usually many volunteer agencies that can help you link with places in need. Not only will it provide you with an idea of what you may be good at and enjoy, it will also give you practical experience and references when you apply for a position down the road. It may also give you leads to jobs in the very places you are volunteering.
Hospitals are a good place to start. Internal job postings are usually posted for at least 2 weeks prior to being posted outside the organization.
I wouldn't give up on the vet tech angle either. Volunteer at an animal shelter or Veterinary clinic, and you may find a vet who is willing to train you on the job.
Good luck.
I love volunteering at animal shelters/vets. But, there are only two shelters around here. One, won't take any volunteers, "liability" ya know. (Even though the place was staffed with teens and one adult. The other one is a hell hole, the place is run by a family of obese slobs whose main goal in life is to make others miserable. They are verbally abusive and they treat the dogs and cats like ****. They dump bleach into runs with dogs in them, use regular dish soap and a filthy sponge to clean litter pans/bowls/mats all in the same sink. The kittens are crammed into tiny cages in an overheated room where all they do is meow sadly all day, no human interaction at all. All the adult cats are allowed to run free in a room, and when I worked there last fall, they all had "colds" so they couldn't be adopted, even though they appeared healthy, ie: normal bowl movements, healthy appetite,no runny noses, etc. All they had me do was fold newspapers into little cubes, just so they could fit into smaller boxes. Of the three vets, one is a grade a a-hole, the man has a God complex bigger then a TV preacher, all I did was stand around and watch him do stuff, wasn't allowed do help/clean/walk dogs. Closest to me doesn't allow volunteers for some reason, another one is too far away and over staffed. I've gone to all sorts of tutoring places, Slyvain parred me up with this girl from a near by college, and she helped me along with some younger kids. She was constantly talking to me like I was a toddler, she would even try and write my name for me! After awhile I got a letter stating "they couldn't help me". I was A's in every thing but math, so I was fair game to teachers who don't believe in Learning disabilities. For twelve years I have:
Been put in Sp Ed classes and treated like I was too stupid to live.
In other Sp ed classes me, and the other 5 people, where treated like we didn't exist, teachers talked about us to other teachers, in front of US. IE: "I hope by the time Sally's 12, she can tie her shoes." "How is Billy even in this grade!?".
I've had teachers tell me if I was any stupider, they have to water me.
Been told it's my fault, I'm making it up, it's all in my head.
Had an aid follow me around in the 6th grade, and basically turn my life into a living hell, talking LOUDLY to me like I was mentally handicapped. "WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET A DRINK/GO POTTY/SIT OVER THERE?" and my parents wondered why I had no friends in that grade.
We took fake college entrance exams, I got three answers right on the math portion. I got one answer right on the TAKS exit exam (TX standardized test.). I would love to be a vet tech, just can't find a way into the school or to pass even basic college math.
Help me understand here... why would a medical situation impacting your joints affect your mental quantitative reasoning abilities?
I believe the OP means 'in addition to' not 'because of'...
OP - I am a math teacher and I can tell you there is hope! I tell my students all the time, they will survive in life if they hate/cannot do/whatever mathematics.
You like animals...pursue that in every way shape and form you can think of. Definitely go visit local animal shelters and boarding places and ask if you can volunteer. For you that is going to be the best way of getting into the field. No pun intended.
What about writing? Is that something that might interest you?
Is there anywhere else that you could start volunteering? You may have to do something unrelated to animal care for a bit just to gain some experience.
I don't know where you live, but I'd still see if there were an Adult Education office somewhere near. They're geared toward adults, and as such, tend to treat people like adults.
For twelve years I have...been put in Sp Ed classes and treated like I was too stupid to live.
Do you have an IEP? (And I would assume there is a transition plan written into it.) If so, you can take a copy of it to any community college and/or adult ed school and get special accomodations to help you enroll and pass your classes. It's a law. What state do you live in?
Do you have an IEP? (And I would assume there is a transition plan written into it.) If so, you can take a copy of it to any community college and/or adult ed school and get special accomodations to help you enroll and pass your classes. It's a law. What state do you live in?
An IEP isn't going to help him in the workplace. It doesn't matter if he gets help in college if he is incapable of doing math--some people are--down the road he will need a job that doesn't require math.
There are lots of jobs out there that don't require math-or you can easily make accommodations for small parts of a job that do require math. Teaching in most subject areas doesn't really "require" math except for putting together grades-but then there are online gradebooks now that figure all of your grades for you so that would be one way to teach without math. A lot of customer service jobs don't require math or would have computer programs that figure the math for you. Can you do math on a calculator or not at all?
An IEP isn't going to help him in the workplace. It doesn't matter if he gets help in college if he is incapable of doing math--some people are...
I wasn't referring to the workplace; I was responding to what the OP said about sp ed resources in community colleges or adult education schools. And I disagree that anyone, especially someone who appears to have made as much effort as this person has, cannot master basic math skills with the right resources.
And in regard to teaching, I disagree: in many states, one needs to pass a math competency test just to get a high school diploma, never mind what a college degree would require.
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Easy? Maybe not, but attitude and hard work is everything. Keep trying. 
(Even though the place was staffed with teens and one adult.
The other one is a hell hole, the place is run by a family of obese slobs whose main goal in life is to make others miserable. They are verbally abusive and they treat the dogs and cats like ****. They dump bleach into runs with dogs in them, use regular dish soap and a filthy sponge to clean litter pans/bowls/mats all in the same sink. The kittens are crammed into tiny cages in an overheated room where all they do is meow sadly all day, no human interaction at all. All the adult cats are allowed to run free in a room, and when I worked there last fall, they all had "colds" so they couldn't be adopted, even though they appeared healthy, ie: normal bowl movements, healthy appetite,no runny noses, etc. All they had me do was fold newspapers into little cubes, just so they could fit into smaller boxes.
After awhile I got a letter stating "they couldn't help me". I was A's in every thing but math, so I was fair game to teachers who don't believe in Learning disabilities. For twelve years I have:
