My Dyslexia Story
Photo by Michael Spain-Smith | Dress from Nordstrom
“Studies have documented the broad range of negative sequelae of trauma exposure for youth, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other anxiety problems, depressive symptoms, and dissociation. In addition, decreased IQ and reading ability, lower grade-point average (GPA), more days of school absence, and decreased rates of high school graduation have been associated with exposure to traumatic events. Evidence suggests that youth exposed to trauma have decreased social competence and increased rates of peer rejection.”
I was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia when I was in 3rd grade - unable to read, understand numbers, difficulties speaking and communicating. I have been around the world telling my story for the past several years and to this day I still get emotional. Not because of all the life-changing challenges I went through throughout the years and in grade school from being bullied, labeled, and trying to make the most out of the 13 different high schools I attended. At one point a school member told my mom… “She shouldn’t come back to this school since there is no way to help her.” I get emotional every time because I am not alone and as I’m writing this, I know a child out in this world is about to drop out of school from not being able to reach their full potency in life.
After everything that happened, I went to my senior graduation walk. This diction was hard to pull off but because of the Law “no child left behind this was possible. I owed this “graduation walk” to myself that since my whole school experience was anything but normal and easy I wanted the end to be normal and easy so I received a high school disability degree and 1 ½ year later I checked myself in outpatient rehab.
“Deficits in Working Memory (WM) are related to symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).”
My “working memory” has always been a huge struggle and the only program that I used to help even as an adult is a “Lindamood-Bell” program found to help maintain and structure my memory.
Rehab took a turning point for the better. During the rehab program, I found the love of learning again, and there were a few different things I did to embrace this new me.
I spent every day at the bookstore starting at the 8-grade reading level.
I stayed in a strict routine every day. I read, worked out, cooked, socialized, prayed, bedtime at the same time every day.
Every time I saw, heard, or read a new word, I would look up the definition, type it up, print it out, and place it in a “vocabulary binder.”
I only allowed myself to watch or listen to educational things - from Ted Talks, The News, to documentaries.
Most importantly, I accepted myself as a 20-year-old growing woman that I had an 8th-grade learning level that this was not my fault nor was it anyone else’s.
I checked myself out of Rehab the next year; I wanted a taste of adulthood, and BOY did I have the time of my life doing such!
“Dyslexia remains poorly understood as a serious learning condition that inhibits personal, social, and economic development. Without identification and effective intervention, the impact of dyslexia can be significant and long-lasting not only for the individual but for society at large.”
I enjoy living and for that no lost job because I couldn’t count simple change, no negative word calling me stupid, dumb, your useless in this life. Stop me from sampling trying to find me.
There are three things about myself I 100% knew - things that if someone asked me as a little girl and now these have always stayed the same.
I knew I loved the thrill of doing new activities, adventures
I enjoyed learning; it is fascinating to me even though I struggled so much
I deeply enjoyed helping others.
Maybe because of these 3 things that led me out of all my struggles as a young adult and let me to making a name for myself as Miss World America national finalist 2016, a speaker, a mom to my beautiful little boy, Lincoln, creator of my up clothing line in1881 and board member of The Dyslexia Foundation.
I would not take back my youth life, but I pray others in our communities understand the damage of not handling children who simply struggle to learn the right way, failing to give children the right to learn, and giving all teachers the proper tools to understand a child with learning differences.