The Barrier

If you would like to listen just tap on the link below.

https://anchor.fm/alexandra-mars1/episodes/The-Barrier-e116dkh

Every so often, I’m asked why am I different from others who have dyslexia comes to learning, writing, and reading. They encountered a person with dyslexia who doesn’t want to read or learn because that person refuses. So, why am I different, and why?

First, we need answer this question:

Why do dyslexics believe they can’t learn?

Simple. People believe the lie that they can’t learn. Like me and others were taught from a curriculum and educators who don’t understand dyslexia or didn’t have the tools to teach their dyslexic students. (The good news it is changing, and our society is understanding.)

The lie comes from harmful labels that happened in the classroom because I experienced it. My earliest days attending school were my teachers telling me I was slow and keeping the class behind because I hadn’t grasped the new material’s concept. I felt worthless, dumb, and hopeless, and school was a terrifying place to go.

As I became older, my teachers told me to stop being lazy and do the work. A few of my teachers told me to stop acting dumb and follow the instructions on the assignment. I had a troublesome time when I got older about following directions and figuring out how to complete the homework, and due to dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

So basically, I would work on a project with six steps. I followed one through three of the steps to get the correct answer. When I came to step four, I would get confused, give the wrong answer, and do five and six right.

Since step 4 was incorrect would give me a whole different answer that was wrong. And making the matter worse was I could not discover which step I did incorrectly, for my mind told me it was correct. It always the middle step was incorrect because I couldn’t see my mistake. That made my teachers infuriating, creating a traumatizing experience in learning.

Frustrating!

I know I am intelligent because I could grasp the ideas of the concepts. However, when I need to show proof by completing the assignments, it told a different story.

There was an invisible barrier blocking the knowledge I knew about the concepts I was learning.

When I wrote my answers on paper, it was garbled and gibberish. However, when I spoke to my teacher about what I learned, it came out perfectly. Then my teacher would say, write what you just said; I had no clue how to write it. That is the barrier, and I continue to fight with it today.

Why am I different? Simple, my mother.

Parents don’t realize the influence and power they have over their children. Children need a safe place and a parent who understands their struggles. I was one of the fortunate ones, for my mother understood what I was dealing with.

Her belief in me planted a seed within me, and it took me a long time to discover my mother’s gift. My mother was supportive and told me that I was intelligent, and she understood I was doing my best. My seed of confidence turned into a sprout continued growing as it faced many storms. Without my mother’s gift, I would not have the confidence that keeps me moving towards my goals and the ability to keep moving.

Photos provided by Pixabay.