The photo above courtesy of bing – all other pictures below courtesy of pexels

Please help me welcome Amy Temple!. Amy reached out to me about a week ago inquiring about doing guest posting, and after a couple of exchanges – I said YES! I’m so glad I did; she’s phenomenal and I encourage you to listen and be inspired by her story as well as her journey. So let’s give a warm welcome to Amy and please show your love and support by leaving her a comment below!

SOCIETY HATES ME!

I mean it can’t stand to even look at me! It sees me coming and it does all it can do to hide from me.

I don’t know why. I haven’t done anything to it.

I want us to be friends. I want us to hang out but it turns its nose up at me.

I tried to make it understand that this is how I was made but no dice.

You see, I learn differently. There are some things that I can pick up instantly and there are things that take me just a little bit longer to pick up.

After I was diagnosed, professionals told my parents that I would never amount to much. I would never be able to live independently…and on and on, it went.

My first experience of society flipping me “the bird”.

After high school graduation, I spent the next couple of years making numerous phone calls and going on endless job interviews… but all to no avail. I am blessed to have very supportive and encouraging parents who never treated me differently because of my learning difficulties. I have always been open about having them… to me, they are what they are.

However, my “condition” prevented me from finding a job… fast food restaurants and the like would not even hire me! I even signed up with a temp agency but nothing. All I got was a couple of internships with the promise of possible permanent employment… which never materialized.

It was not like I was lacking in any kind of skill. I have two secretarial certifications from a vocational training center. That should be good enough but just say the words;

“I have learning difficulties”

And you can almost hear the buzzer from Wheel of Fortune when a wrong letter is picked. Then…came an opportunity that was thought to be – dare I say – the Holy Grail!

I had applied for a medical secretarial position at the medical center of the retirement community I was volunteering for. I received notification that I was one of three final candidates. We were to each do a paid two-week internship. I felt SO confident that this was it! I had the most experience. I was the only one who had an actual certification in medical secretarial work.

But…

Another strikeout! I went to talk to the hiring manager afterward and discovered that the two medical secretaries I had been working under lied about my performance so that their friend would be hired (she was one of the final candidates).

I was furious! What got me was that the one other candidate was a single mother who really needed the money! I remember thinking, “What kind of lies did they say about her!?”

I had enough after that! I got sick and tired of all the BS I kept getting for having learning difficulties as I had done something wrong!

I have been self-employed in the dog care field for 12 years. My specialties are walking, feeding and playing.

I am also pursuing a writing career. My focus is inspirational and humor.

A couple of years ago, I decided to write a memoir about what life really is like with learning difficulties, entitled:

I am not stupid — *Amy’s first book available now on Amazon – Click Book for Purchase!*

It’s a quote I must have said hundreds of times when I was being rejected and discriminated against.

And it’s true… I’m not.

I have an above average IQ.

I have a life to live and I simply don’t have time to be worried about what others think of me.

I KNOW what they think!

They want me gone.

Out of here!

But…

I’m not going anywhere…

Society may just as well get used to it.

Amy is a resident of Florida. Since 2006, she has been self-employed in the dog care field. In May 2017, she self-published a memoir titled “I Am Not Stupid” which is available through Amazon. She writes for s eethegoodinfo, an inspirational website and the Learning Disabilities Association’s newsletter LD Source.

If you would like to know more about Amy and hear so much more of her powerful story, please click the link above (her book title) and show her some support by purchasing her book. I purchased mine! – Let’s support one another!!