Growing up Dyslexic
I am dyslexic. There are times when a written or spoken word makes absolutely no sense to me, or I'll "process" it as something totally off the wall. My mother thinks I am really funny (meaning comedienne) because of some of the things I say as a result of brain mis-processing.
The nuns in school didn't think I was so funny. In fact, they thought I was a pain in the rear. I had an ability to visualize solutions to mathematical problems and provide the right answers, but couldn't write out the solution without getting confused. I could learn to write more than one language fluently, but could not speak or hear them as fluently. They accused me of cheating and being scatter-brained. Not very nice of "holy" people to treat a student that way; but, this was my plight all through my elementary and high school years.
Were it not for a high school teacher/counselor, who happened to be working on his Ph.D. in Education and recognized the symptoms of dyslexia, I would not have learned that I was not stupid, I just needed to develop different learning habits from most kids. He urged me to join the debate squad, on which I was the only girl, so that I would be forced into learning how to think on my feet, and learn public speaking (I was scared to death about public speaking, but I did win awards). He also encouraged me to join theater, which established my reputation as a comedienne because I kept getting things backwards. And he taught me methodical, disciplined learning habits when the nuns pretty much gave up on me.
The result was that I graduated in the top 5% of my class and school overall, and won scholarships and grants all the way through Grad School at a prestigious private university. As an investment banker, I could crunch bond yields to maturity in my head faster than someone could with a calculator. Later, I learned web programming languages and became a Web Strategist and enjoy a fun career as a consultant in "new web" technologies. I also became a Literacy counselor teaching ESL in adult education.
My husband learned long ago to never trust my sense of direction, though, because I have none - I still get things backwards. But, it just goes to show that, with the right help - and influence - a kid with dyslexia can fare well in school and in life.
And, the kid you think has ADHD, might really just be a frustrated, dyslexic genius!
The International Dyslexia Organization - Promoting Literacy Through Research, Education and Advocacy
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Sounds like it took a lot of hard work and courage to overcome dyslexia. It's awesome you were able to keep your sense of humor throughout the whole experience -- even if it wasn't always planned.
And Alysia, it sounds like you're in good company, several celebrities reportedly have dyslexia including Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Cruise, Jamie Oliver and Tommy Hilfiger. Looks like it didn't slow them down either.
One of the things my wonderful counselor did to encourage me was to occasionally toss out the name of someone who had dyslexia:
Beethoven (daX4) - did you know that pattern is repeated throughout the entire symphony? - my favorite composer
Einstein (failed English)
Pierre Curie (Mdme. Curie's other half)
Alexander Graham Bell (can you hear me now?)
Sir Isaac Newton
Galileo
Yeats (not to be confused with Keats)
Edgar Allen Poe (The Raven and I were friends, lol)
Rodin (let me think...)
Ansel Adams (photographer extraordinaire)
Andy Warhol (have you had your 15 minutes?)
Werner Van Braun (atom bomb)
John Lennon (imagineer)
John F. Kennedy
Mohammed Ali (was still Cassius Clay, back then)
Henry Ford (inventor of the assembly line, too)
Walt Disney
Agatha Christie (my favorite author)
DaVinci
and a few more contemporary folks:
Ted Turner
Charles Schwab
Greg Louganis
Orlando Bloom (can I faint now?)
Robin Williams (and he's "nuts")
Cher (who would have thought)
others I just learned about:
Orville and Wilbur Wright
Darwin
Roald Dahl (one of my daughter's favorites)
Scott Adams (Dilbert)
There are so many! Do dyslexics consciously or unconsciously overcompensate for the part of their brains that scramble things? I've long recognized that I'm not a linear thinker (sequential order is a challenge). So, how is it that there are such brilliant mathematicians and scientists among dyslexics?
Makes you want to go "hmmm..."
alysiak, I too am dyslexic and could barely read until I was in college.
I know that might sound strange for some, but I was in all the slow kid classes and it truly wasn't until I was at the University of Arizona, and enrolled in their SALT Program that my life turned around. That's the learning disabled program on campus and they taught me how to discover my alternative paths to learning.
Just a handful of years after being in SALT I was reading live on the air in front of 200,000 listeners.
REWINDING BACK TO COLLEGE:
I would never read in front of a classroom.
I know we're going to do some interviews on dyslexia and alysiak can I interview you when that time comes?
We'd love to have you share your story and get it in the video medical encyclopedia.
Best to you and thank you for SHARING.
-Todd
That could be dangerous, lol!
It's not so strange to me that it took so long for you to find alternative paths to learning. I think too many teachers (I feign to call them educators) focus on the acronym "ADHD" - mis-using it as a label, and probably as an excuse for not wanting to deal with the student's learning issues.
I hear you about standing in front of a classroom - horror of horrors!
Thank you for sharing your story! I think you serve as an example to kids and parents who may be struggling with dyslexia, trying to overcome the stigma, worried about their chances of going to college and wondering if they can have a successful career.
About an interview...you flatter me, Todd!
OMG - two dyslexics on the phone together - what a thought, LOL!