One way that I work on my empathy for others is to imagine myself in art class. Talk about feeling like a moron - I just did not get it and my projects were terrible.
Oh, do I hear you there. I can't draw/paint something to save my life, in spite of many attempts since childhood. People who can draw or paint, etc., tell me confidently, "Oh yes, you CAN learn how to do this!" I tell them, "No, I can't. No matter what I do or how people try to teach me, I spend hours struggling to draw poorly what you could do well in 20 minutes while chatting over coffee." They often don't really want to believe me. Maybe it's hard to accept that something that can be so easy for them can be incredibly difficult for someone else.
My lack of drawing ability (as well as disbelief in it, which continues to this day) gives me a lot of insight into what slow and very slow academic learners face in school. It must be no fun hearing, "Of course you can do this if you try!" by authority figures, and then struggling to do something poorly when everyone else can master it faster. I wonder how many children develop feelings of inadequacy when being pushed too hard by well-meaning (but clueless) adults.
Val
