“I CAN”
If only I didn’t have Dyslexia it wouldn’t be so hard for me to read. I wouldn’t feel so much pressure when I have to take a timed test. I like spelling words but it’s harder for me. Sometimes it’s hard for me to grip a pencil. It is hard to learn over and under and left and right and yesterday and tomorrow. Cleaning out my closet feels like too much. I feel under pressure and don’t know where to start. When I read and reread and still don’t understand it doesn’t feel too good. If someone says “dude, you’re not a good reader” I really actually feel quite bad. Sometimes when I’m really worried about something I have stomach aches.
But if only I didn’t have Dyslexia I wouldn’t have ever met my tutor Shelley. She has taught me that only e, i, or y come after a k or with ck at the end of the word. She has taught me about final stable syllables like ble, dle, tle, stle. There’s a lot of them! And stle says “sul” like castle.
I wouldn’t have gone to a new school in 3rd grade and I wouldn’t have met all my friends. I had to learn to talk to my teachers about my Dyslexia so they could help me. It made me nervous but after I would say “hey, I did it”. It’s really cool that I have to struggle so that I can know what other people feel like. It helps me want to help people more. The way I learn is different than other people because I have Dyslexia but it’s ok. It’s ok because I’m still a person.
If only I didn’t have Dyslexia I wouldn’t have learned that if I take one thing at a time I can get the whole thing done easy. I wouldn’t have learned to say “What? I have Dyslexia. It’s no big deal dude”. Even though I have Dyslexia I have a lot of potential. I am smart. If only I didn’t have Dyslexia I wouldn’t be me!
Written by Matthew Bulpitt
Porter’s Story:
Porter was in 2nd grade at our public school. Porter had loved attending school and was excited to learn. This excitement soon dwindled and was replaced by sorrow, sadness and an unwillingness to return to school. Porter felt “dumb” and was being ridiculed by his teachers for not keeping the pace set in their curriculum. Porter came home one day and asked if he could quite going to school. His little heart was broken and he felt the pressure was too much and Porter had finally given up.
As a parent I was devastated that my little boy felt so discouraged at such a young age. You see with dyslexic children. They learn how to adapt so they appear to be functioning at the same level as their peers. We saw the warning signs that Porter may have dyslexia, but we were told by the school that he was not dyslexic and would NOT need further accomodations. Finally, in 3rd grade Porter’s world came crumbling down. He could no longer hide the signs of dyslexia and he was failing. When the school finally tested him he was reading at a 1st grade level and comprehending at a kindergarten level. He was 3 years behind. How was he to catch up?
We found Shelley Hatch, and the Dyslexia Center of Utah through a friend whose child also had dyslexia. He gave such high praises for Shelley and the work she had done with their son that we were eager to see if Porter might share in the same success. We were delighted when Shelley saw us and explained how Porter’s brain worked. Shelley allowed me to understand how to communicate with my son without all the frustration. Porter is now thriving in school. His English skills have improved to the point that he is now reading 3 grade levels above his grade. Porter doesn’t feel “dumb” anymore. In fact he enjoys his time at Shelley’s and always walks away with a smile. Porter feels loved through Shelley’s process. Shelley is a dynamic, loving, enthusiastic teacher of children with dyslexia. Shelley loves them through their process and encourages their growth. Shelley is like a 2nd mom to my son. We will always be grateful for the gift that she has given my son and our family. We have our son back. Porter is an energetic, confident boy who now knows that dyslexia is not a curse, but a gift. When dyslexia is chanelled properly it can create dynamic learning abilities.
My son is a standing testament to that experience today.
WE LOVE YOU!! Thank you for taking our family in!
Warmest Regards,
Becca Giessing
Administrative Assistant
Utah Fire & Rescue Academy
We as parents do have a voice and they are listening…
To whom it may concern-
I am a mother of 3 boys. I have some concerns about Bill 150 and if it will pass. My 9 year old Cordell, now in 4th grade, has struggled with reading since kindergarten. I noticed in first grade that he never tried to sound out the letters in the words he was reading. I also noticed that his sight words were often confused. saw and was, for and from, he could never read the simple word “THE”. This word was on nearly every page and he would miss the word every time he came to it.
I knew something was wrong. We both continued to get frustrated when we read together. I often compared him to his older brother who neither accelerated nor was behind in reading at his grade level. Cordell’s older brother could sound out the letters to words beginning in kindergarten and was pretty successful by first grade. I know siblings do not have the same reading skills but something was off. Cordell knew the sounds of each letter but could not put the letter sounds together to form a word. He usually guessed the word depending on the beginning letter.
Cordell was placed in the school’s “STARS reading program” during the summer after first grade. He really seemed to excel ending the program at a K reading level. But when second grade came around he was placed several levels down at a D. ”Mom, I’ve already read all these books, why do I have to read them all again” he would plead. Because of Cordell’s high intelligence he had memorized most of these books by reading them once months prior. I pleaded with his teacher, asking why he was re-reading all the same books. She stated that this was the level he was on. I began taking him to the local literacy center twice a week where they would work with him. I didn’t see a lot of improvement.
The finally straw was a test he took at school and brought home. The test had 15 questions on it. Cordell was to read a few sentences and answer the questions. He got 2 of the 15 questions right. As I read the questions I knew he was smarter than what the test showed. I read the sentences to him and then asked him the questions again. This time he got them all correct. I then asked Cordell why he didn’t answer the questions right the first time he took the test. “Did you read the sentences and the questions” I asked. He said he read them but that “sometimes the letters on the page go straight up and down and sometimes they go like this.” He took his hands in cupping shape and twisted them side to side like twisting a door knob.
As I began to vent my frustration with friends, it was suggested I have him tested. We tried to go through the school test system and were told Cordell did not show enough disability to be tested through the school. I decided to have him tested privately using my own funds.
What a relief. We finally had an answer to our reading frustration. Cordell was found to have a processing disorder and slight dyslexia. Cordell was exceptionally high in a lot of areas but his reading and writing was well below grade level. We enrolled him in a private tutor 2 times a week in the middle of his 2nd grade year, again at our own expense. Because through the IEP system, Cordell did not have low enough scores to be helped.
Cordell has continued with this tutor for 2 years now. Finally this last report card he brought home all A’s. He has exceeded this year in spelling (getting 100% on all of his tests) and has continued to increase his reading level. Cordell is a very bright boy. He excel socially. He enjoys conversing with adults and can keep them well entertained while holding his own in the conversations. Had Bill 150 been in place when he was in 1st grade he may have been held back 2 grade levels by now. Holding him back would not have helped him. Cordell needed specific instruction that he could not get through the school “Special Ed” program. And remember, Cordell did not qualify with his IEP scores for special instruction.
Studies have proven that 85% of learning disabled children who receive the correct intervention before 3rd grade can be caught up to grade level by the end of 3rd grade and will remain on or above grade level the rest of their educational career. I am very anxious to see this statistic hold true for Cordell.
I sincerely hope that Bill 150 will not pass with the current wordage. I think we will do a great disservice to the children, like Cordell, with a learning disability that are not given the proper interventions through the school system.
Sincerely,
Jodi Hall RN
& mother of 3
Jodi,
Thank you for the email expressing your concerns with SB 150. We have heard from others with similar concerns and have addressed them in an amendment that specifies “appropriate intervention” and also includes an exemption for a child “who has been determined to have a learning disability, including dyslexia, by an independent qualified practitioner.” That includes children who have learning disabilities, but not an IEP or 504. I think you may be more comfortable with this amendment to the bill included as many others have been. We will also have intent language that follows the bill that will specify the types of interventions that are “appropriate.” The amendment itself will be made public online sometime later this morning and you could access it at le.utah.gov
Representative Becky Edwards
TRUE STORY:
Jets coach Ryan reveals he has dyslexia
June, 18, 2009
By Tim Graham
Posted by ESPN.com’s Tim Graham
I don’t know what’s more remarkable, Rex Ryan’s ability to overcome dyslexia or the fact we didn’t know he had it.
| David Drapkin/Getty Images |
| Jets head coach Rex Ryan has revealed he has dyslexia. |
Ryan recently revealed he has dyslexia in a noteworthy story written by NewYorkJets.com editor Randy Lange.
Ryan said he was diagnosed with dyslexia a few years ago, but with so much information being churned out on everything from Terrell Owens‘ house-hunting woes to Tom Brady‘s kayaking skills, it’s extraordinary to discover such a remarkable fact about an accomplished coach.
Dyslexia is a learning disability that makes reading, writing and comprehension difficult.
Ryan often jokes about how he’s the mental dud in a family of brainiacs.
His mother, Doris, earned her doctorate from the University of Chicago and was vice president of New Brunswick University. His famous father, Buddy, was a two-time academic All-American (although his spike in the classroom coincided with meeting Doris). Rex’s brother Jim has an MBA and is an attorney in the St. Louis area.
“I remember skipping school when I was a kid all the time,” Ryan told Lange for the story. “The only way I would go to school would be like if there was floor hockey or softball or something like that. Then I’d stay.
“I was embarrassed. How come I was struggling? I’d get a spelling test and it was ridiculous. I couldn’t even get in the ballpark. So that was really frustrating.”
He compensated through resourcefulness. Motivated mostly by athletics and his desire to be a football coach, he graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State and received his master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky.
Lange’s story explains that Ryan deals with his difficulty in processing such an avalanche of information as an NFL head coach by color-coding his materials.
“I’ll tell my players anything because I’m not ashamed that I have this,” Ryan said. “It’s something that I overcame.
“By far, I’m not a perfect person and I don’t have all the answers. But if I can relay a story that’s happened to me or a situation that’s happened in my life that I think a player possibly can benefit from, I’ll be more than happy to share it.”