I stayed silent at school. My teachers took it the wrong way.

Ryan Douglass

I never understood math. I still don’t. I’ve always been better at English. From pre-K to 12th grade, vocabulary and literature were my happy places, while numbers sent me spiraling through headaches and heavy breathing.

I never said a word in my middle school math classes. I didn’t think I had anything to contribute. Teachers would discuss with one another how much more engaged I was in classes focused on arts and humanities. To them, I was a different person once the periods changed. To me, I was the walking definition of “knowing your lane.”

My middle school hammered down the message that you had to be somewhat good at math to go anywhere in life. So my comic book reading hobby was only seen as a creative outlet, while STEM was the road to a stable career. Because math was so essential, being bad at it was embarrassing. So it was best to keep this shortcoming quiet. But in reality, I couldn’t hide from my teachers. I wasn’t asking for help and my test grades were bad.

I couldn’t name the reasons why I didn’t participate back then. But now as an adult, I know why a child may appear to be withdrawn in the classroom.

For starters, a learning difference, like ADHD or dyscalculia, or even social anxiety can be a factor. A…