I Am Not Alone

On Monday night I met another dyslexic who's story was quite different from my own. Unlike me his dyslexia had been discovered early on. Well at least earlier than me. He was diagnosed in 8th grade and still reads at about a third grade level. He claims that he cannot read. He never received any special training or had much help in school. He did not even know that dyslexics are protected under the American's With Disabilities Act. I always thought that it was the non dyslexics that did not understand the disorder. I am finding more and more that most people in this country do not really know what dyslexia is all about, that there is training and there are laws that protect us.

I just finished my tutoring for my dyslexia. I cannot say that I am cured and I know that I never will be, but I know that it has helped greatly. I get retested on the 29th of this month so I will not know officially how much it has helped until then. But I can tell you that it has helped me read more efficiently and it has even helped my ability to read music.

I know that with knowledge comes responsibility to do something with it. I need to use what I have learned to help other people out there that are struggling to make the letters stop moving and to educate all the others about the gift of dyslexia. To all of you out there that struggle with this disability remember this; you are not alone and your voice will be heard.

21 Years Wasted

I woke up this morning in tears. I dreamt about all of the times my life was much harder than it had to be because I was an undiagnosed dyslexic. It does sound overly dramatic of me to whine and complain about "all the wasted years," but it is hard sometimes to not look at it that way. It is hard not to think, "What if I had been diagnosed in first grade?"

All of those memories that my subconscious brought forward in the wee hours of the morning involved former teachers. Memories like my fifth grade teacher holding up my spelling test in front of the class yet again because I got every word wrong. Or my high school math teacher, when I approached her thinking I may have dyslexia, said to me that because I had never been diagnosed by a doctor that I obviously did not have dyslexia. 

I am one of the lucky ones. I have been informed that most people that have to wait this long for a diagnosis have a lot of self-esteem issues as well as other problems. I struggle with self-esteem some, but not nearly as bad as others. It is only by the grace of God that I was able to make it through 21 years of ridicule and disgrace because of my undiagnosed learning disability. 

It is time to let go of the bitterness towards ignorance. I need to be more focused on educating the masses. So here it goes...

My Diagnosis

It wasn't until my senior year of college that I finally found help. I had spent 17 1/2 years in school before I finally found, on my own, how to get a diagnosis for the the learning disability that had plagued my academic career. It was not a teacher who identified my learning disability or told me where to go. My diagnosis only occurred because my mother knew someone who's daughter had been diagnosed.  Four hours of testing and $2,000 later I finally had a piece of paper saying that I had dyslexia. This $2000 piece of paper was like a golden ticket to the learning center; I now could have my tests read to me, use the reading equipment, and had double time to take my test. In my last semester of college my GPA soared.  

Had I been diagnosed at a much younger age my life may now be completely different. I do not say this to sound bitter, and there is no point at looking at what could have been. I say this rather, to remember that we need to diagnosis children as early as possible. My life goal is to now prevent my story from occurring again by getting students who have dyslexia diagnosed at an early age. My hope is that this blog will raise dyslexia awareness so that we can make sure that every student, rich or poor, can get the help that will allow them to reach their full potential.