Hello everyone! As you know Matthew entered the Inspirations contest at school and wrote a paper titled “If only I didn’t have Dyslexia”. He won first place in the 3rd-5th grade division. He gets to represent his school in the Regional competition. Below is a copy of his paper. He dictated the sentences to me and I typed for him. I helped him put the sentences in paragraphs but kept his words just as he said them. It is done so well and you just might tear up! Thanks for all of you who care so much about him.
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