Dyslexic attitudes?

Is there such a thing as a dyslexic attitude?  Someone who wants to learn but is unable to follow directions because of a twist in their brain?  I know there are a boatload of learning disabilities, to be politically incorrect about the whole thing, but there comes a point when attitude and aptitude really need to be separated.  Sure, dyslexic students often have the attention span of a gnat (pronounced "ga-nat" because that's how the frickin' word is spelled!!  And educators wonder why nobody can spell the English language?),  the energy levels that top nuclear explosions, and attitudes because they need to protect that fragile ego when everyone else in the classroom is getting the concept they just are not understanding.

But don't think for a nano-second that these kids aren't smart.   They are brilliant, understand teachers better than teachers understand themselves, and have figured out in another nano-second just how they are going to manipulate things until nobody has any hair left on their proverbial heads.

I watched my piano student purposely avoid the C above Middle C for the entire lesson, all because that is the register that I wanted her to play.  I watched her play patterns hands together when I asked her to alternate left and right.  What she didn't realize was that she demonstrated far more advanced coordination playing the patterns simultaneously than if she had followed my demonstration.  I watched her try to re-invent my instructions simply because she did not want to follow them.  She demonstrated a lot of coordination, and load of brilliant inventiveness, and a boatload of attitude.

Finally, I paused, looked her straight in the eye and said,  "I will try forever to figure out how to explain something that you don't understand, but there isn't a thing I can do if you don't want to learn.  And learning includes being willing to follow directions."

That caught her by surprise.  She had expected me to get upset over her rolling on the floor, doing everything but sitting on the piano bench, and/or getting frustrated because she was successfully avoiding every instruction.  She stopped, sat up (on the floor), and looked at me.

"So," I continued, "the thing is, if you don't want to follow directions, that's okay, but that means I can't teach you anything about piano.  And if you don't want to learn piano, that's okay.  We don't need to have anymore lessons."

Piano is one of the absolute best things that dyslexic students can work at.  It involves cross-brain activity because it's the only activity that requires simultaneous independent use of fingers on both hands.  Wind instruments require a similar level of coordination, but being a pianist and therefore prejudiced, I think there is so much more available on the piano, literally at a student's fingertips.  If I can just get past the attitude, there is so much aptitude for creativity and brilliance.

Maybe if I keep gently addressing attitude, maybe I'll get through to the aptitude.  Eventually.

Or maybe I'll end up in the nut house.