Bluetree, I am not a cranky child. The op of this thread is my riding buddy and I will be getting a "private lesson" soon. She certainly isn't judgmental. I hesitated to respond to this, because I knew I would get this type of remark. It's OK, though, because I know how hard I have tried... 3-4 workshops (the last one by a woman mechanic), classes, innumerable lessons from my DH, who is very patient. Generally, I am am a pretty strident, independent person, but I will give you a comparison that maybe will help you understand. Do you know anyone with dyslexia or some other kind of learning disability? Would you tell them "just to try" when they kept misreading words, losing their place, or unable to decode a word? Non-verbal learning disabilities are pretty much hidden, and poor spatial relations and fine motor problems are learning disabilities, or at the least "learning styles." I have overcome a lot of what I faced as a kid, but there's a lot of stuff I just don't do. My good verbal skills have pretty much helped me out in life.
It's not that I "won't" learn things in a new way. I have difficulty learning spatial things any way; I have to over learn and memorize, because it doesn't stay in my brain and become intuitive, ever.
It's not like I have stopped trying, but frankly, I deal with it by riding with people most of the time. I mean, my learning issues affect every part of my life and the advent of technology has only made it worse, because unless something is verbally mediated, it is very, very difficult for me.