fear of ridicule
adults with learning disabilities frequently fear the ridicule of others. sadly, these fears often develop after the individual has been routinely ridiculed by teachers, classmates or even family members. the most crushing of these criticisms usually relates to a perceived lack of intelligence or unfair judgments about the person's degree of motivation or ability to succeed. for example, comments such as you'll never amount to anything, you could do it if you only tried harder, or the taunting of classmates about being in the mental retard class have enormous emotional effects on individuals with learning disabilities. for many of these adults, especially those with unidentified learning disabilities, these and other negative criticisms, continue to affect their emotional well-being into their adult years. it is not uncommon for adults to internalize the negative criticisms and view themselves as dumb, stupid, lazy, and/or incompetent. such negative criticisms often fuel the fear adults with learning disabilities have about being found out.
fear of rejection
adults with learning disabilities frequently fear rejection if they are not seen to be as capable as others. if they come from a middle to upper class family where academic achievement is a basic expectation for its members, fear of rejection may be a very real concern. they may also fear that their social skill deficits will preclude them from building meaningful relationships with others and may lead to social rejection. prior experiences of rejection will likely intensify this sense of fear.