Morocco- 'Little Things which Make a Difference' The Gift of Dyslexia

1/16/2016 2:48:17 PM

(MENAFN- Morocco World News) I’m dyslexic which actually isn’t anything extraordinary; I’m only one of the 20% of all people who have this gift.

That's right one of every five people on this planet have this same gift. Let's make this clear; this is not a “disability.” It is a difference and a God-given gift. It's not astonishing that this gift has a bad image; even the name for this difference dyslexia starts with the prefix “dys” which means abnormal impaired difficult or bad. By labeling it in a negative way it's normal that people think of it as a disability.

You may be asking 'What's dyslexia and why is it a gift?'

Dyslexia is considered to be a learning disability because people with dyslexia often have difficulties learning to read write and perform mathematical calculations. People with dyslexia have a different way of thinking; often looking at the global picture and not the specific details.

Dyslexic people often think 'outside of the box' and for this reason while they are creative they have difficulty understanding some simple 'logical' things. Classic examples are Albert Einstein whose teacher said that he was 'an absent minded fool who would never amount to anything' or again Thomas Edison whose school teacher thought he was mentally retarded (now we use the term 'developmentally challenged') and who went on to bring us a revolution with the invention of the electric light bulb.

There are so many people with this gift who have excelled in all fields. My favorite writer Mark Twain Pablo Picasso Leonardo da Vinci Ansel Adams August Rodin Mohammad Ali Richard Branson Alexander Graham Bell Robin Williams Andy Warhol Steven Spielberg Walt Disney the list goes on.

We can even suppose with near certitude that if all these people had not been dyslexic the world would not be what it is today. This is why it is a God given gift.

I can say that I never suffered like so many dyslexic people have and there are several reasons why. First of all I thank my parents who were really wonderful. I’m sure that neither of them even knew of dyslexia. I myself didn’t even know that I was dyslexic or what dyslexia was until my first child was discovered to have this gift (she’s now 29) and knowing this made many things clear for me.

I never experienced the difficulties with reading that so many dyslexic people have because of my mother. A key factor was the early start she gave me teaching me to read with Dr. Seuss long before I started school along with her patience and constant encouragement. I learned to love to read. I was almost a straight-A student (all except math). In addition from the age of four I loved to draw and was encouraged.

‘Hooked Heart’ Oil on canvas June 2010

Even now I regularly reverse letters when I write and I tell my students laughingly “I’m dyslexic so if you notice some letters reversed when I write on the whiteboard just let me know. It will show me that you know how to spell and that you’re paying attention.” This gift and my constant revision of what I write has actually made me very attentive to spelling errors. I spot them straight away when I’m correcting papers. This can help me to be aware that perhaps someone has my gift as well!

Math has always stayed a major difficulty for me and when I think of the algebra teacher I had in high school who called me stupid and who made me hate math it underlines how important it is for teachers to recognize each person’s gifts and differences and never to criticize a student or make them feel incompetent.

There was a quote in the film Embracing Dyslexia from “a teacher or administrator” regarding a dyslexic first-grade student which really shocked me: “Not everybody can be smart and somebody has to stock the shelves at Walmart.” My GOD! How can people be so ignorant and insensitive! If I had the person in front of me who said this I would surely respond that he or she should be the one stocking the shelves at Walmart and not dealing with children.

It is essential that the world wakes up to this and recognizes it as a special difference not as a deficiency.

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