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FredLastPowell
ProfessorLynnM.Raymond
UWRT1103E01
23September2015
TheStrugglesofaTwentyFirstCenturyDyslexic
WhenIwasyoungmymomtaughtmetoread.IwasnotverycooperativebecauseIdid
notseeanyreasonforreading.Itwasnotfunorexciting.Atthetime,Ionlyreallylovedplaying
outsideandwithmyfriends,soIresistedmyreadinglessons.Thisquotationfrom
Overcoming
Dyslexia
bySallyShaywitzprobablyexplainssomeofmyreluctance,
Mostchildrenlookforwardtolearningtoreadand,infact,dosoquickly.Fordyslexic
childrenhowevertheexperienceisverydifferent:forthemreadingwhichseemstocome
effortlesslytoeveryoneelseseemstobebeyondtheirgrasp.
Slowlyweworkedthroughphonicsandsightwords,Iconqueredthemechanicsbutdidnot
enjoytheprocess.MyreadingwasongradelevelandoccasionallyIwouldpickupaPokemon
orStarWarsrestrictedvocabularyreaderwhenitwasntrequired.Thisisa
connectionwithhowShermanAlexielearnedtoread,
IlearnedtoreadwithaSupermancomicbookShermanAlexie.Mostoften,however,
readingseemedlikedrudgerytome.
ThatwasuntilInoticedmyolderbrotherreadingbooksallthetime.Healwayshada
bookwithhimfromwhenthesuncameupuntillitwentdownagain.Heevenreadatthedinner

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table.OftenwhenIaskedhimtoplaywithmeitwasastruggletogethimawayfromhisbooks.
Istartedtogetjealousofhisbooks.Ithought,
Whatcouldbesofunaboutreadingthosesillypiecesofpaperwiththoseannoying
wordsonthem?IdecidedthatIwoulddoeverythingIcouldtostophimfromreading.Itried
hidinghisbooksalloverthehouse.Butthatdidntwork,foreverybookIhidhewouldstart
readinganotherone,soeventuallyIgaveupandaskedhimwhyhelikedtoreadsomuch.He
toldmethathelovedreadingbecauseitsenthimtoanotherworldwhereanythingwaspossible
andheaskedmeifIwantedhimtoreadoneofhisbookstome.OfcourseIagreedandsohe
readhiscurrentfavoritenovel,
GameofThronesbyGeorgeR.R.Martin,
tome.Hewouldread
atleastachaptereveryday.Iwasmesmerized,totallyentrancedbythefantasyworld.Naturally,
Idiscoveredmuchlater,hehadediteddrasticallyasheread!
Ibeganmiddleschoolasavoraciousreaderofyoungadultfantasyandsciencefiction
butasareluctantreaderofmuchelse.Ifoundnonfictionastruggleespeciallyifitneededtobe
readoutloud.MymothernoticedthatIwashavingtroubleanddevelopedaplan.Partofthe
problemwasthatthemiddleschoolbookshadafontwhichwassmallerandclosertogetherthan
Iwaspreviouslyusedto.Mymompurchasedthesamebooksindifferentformatswithlarger
print,morespacebetweenthelinesandbrighterpages.Thesestrategieshelpedsomewhat.She
alsoincludedinmystudieshighinterestmaterial.Twoofthebooksshegotformewere
Call
oftheWild
,and
The

LightningThief
theyarestillamongmyfavoritereads.

Myliteracychallengeshavebeeninfluencedbydyslexia.Dyslexiaisalearningdisability

thatisverycommon,over10%ofthepopulationhasit,anditaffectsone'sabilitytobreakdown
andunderstandwords.Tocompensateformydyslexiamymotherhasspentalotoftime

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supportingmylearning.Shebelievesthat,Readingisimportantforeveryoneandthemorefun
youhavereadingtheeasieritistolearnandimprove.Westruggledthroughthedyslexiaby
readingloadsofbooksandeventuallyIwasconfidentenoughtoreadmostwordsinclass.Ifit
wasnotformymomIwouldn'tbeinthisclasstodayandIwouldnotbetheconfidentindividual
Iamtoday.OneofthequotesIlikefrom
TheSecretLifeofBeesis
SueMonkKiddwroteIwishedshe'dbeensmartenough,orlovingenough,torealize
everybodyhasburdensthatcrushthem,onlytheydon'tgiveuptheirchildren.Mymomwas
smartenoughtorealizethat.
Instantmessaginghashelpedmyliteracyskillsenormously.WhenIwaseightIfound
spellingverydifficultandhatedpracticingit.WheneveritwastimeformetopracticeIwould
onlydothebareminimum.ThenIstartedplayingonlinegameswithfriends.
Asweplayed,myfriendsimprovedatcommunicatingthroughthegamesinstant
messagingsystem,whileIfloundered.Mykeyboardingskillsweregrowingbutmyspelling
abilitydidnotchange.Itgotmoredifficulttokeepupwiththemandlessfunforallofus.SoI
decidedtoputmoreeffortintolearningtospell.Weworkedthroughseveralspellingbooks,to
noavail.IstillwasnotimprovingandIwasstartingtogetdepressedaboutit.Onebookmy
motherwasreadingatthetimesuggestedusingvisualandverbalstrategiestolearnspelling
aloudbylookingforthewordsinyourhead.Allofasuddeneverythingstartedtomakesense
andIcouldspelllonger,morecomplicatedwords.
IstartedtotypefasterandthenIcouldplaygameswithmyfriendsagainwithout
worryingaboutslowingthemdown.WithoutinstantmessagingIwouldnotbeabletospell

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nearlyaswellasIdotoday,althoughofcourse,spellcheckismybestfriend.Instantmessaging
andspellcheckerarebothexamplesofhowtechnologyhasinfluencedmyliteracynarrative.
ThroughoutmylifeIhavestruggledwithreadingandwritingbecauseofdyslexia.My
literacynarrativecomparescloselytomycurrentstrugglesinclassesrequiringmuchreadingand
writing.Butevensowithdeterminationandthesupportofmyteachers,Ihavebeenabletocatch
uptomypeersandalsogainconfidenceinmyselfasawriter.

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WorksCited

Kidd,SueMonk.
TheSecretLifeofBees
.NewYork:Viking,2002.Print.
Sherman,Alexie.
SupermanandMe
.
LastPowell,FionaPersonalinterview22Sep.2015.
Shaywitz,Sally
OvercomingDyslexia
byDr.SallyShaywitzWeb22Sep.2015.