As I was doing some research on dyslexia, I recalled a friend of mine who vaguely mentioned that he suffered from it. His name is Joe, 25, and he’s from New Hampshire. Since we were friends, I felt that he wouldn’t mind me talking about his condition and decided to probe him about it.
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It all began when Joe was in 4th grade (10 years old). Joe was never the bright spark in class. He was a little shy boy who sports such as soccer and hockey. However, if there was one thing he absolutely despised, it was reading out loud in front of his class. Not that he was frightened of reading in front of his classmates he just felt really awful when doing it because it reminded him that he just wasn’t as good as his peers.
“It’s not that I’m lazy, I just 
don’t want to look like a retard.”
He was told to leave normal reading classes to attend a Special Education (SpEd) reading classes. This only made him feel worse. He felt that he was different from others and attending a SpEd classes just served as a reminder of the difference.
According to Joe, at these SpEd reading classes, no matter which grade you leave to join it, you would start off with a clean slate just as 6-year-olds do when they begin learning how to read. Joe felt especially angry and embarrassed because he was 10, but he was only reading like a first grader.
Even his friends, being kids, were unable to understand his plight. They assumed that SpEd classes were easy and always mentioned that they were in the classes instead of the normal class because it was way easier. But, to Joe, this was just untrue. He didn’t find SpEd classes easy and had to work a whole lot harder to ensure that he could read.
At 6th grade, Joe went to a different reading class and had to start from scratch all over again. In this class, he had to read from flashcards to identify the sounds of vowels and consonants.
“I didn’t feel more demoralised in my whole life.”
On top of dyslexia, Joe also suffers from ADHD, which makes learning a greater challenge for him. He agrees that dealing with dyslexia is difficult and he found it hard to do things in order. “Sometimes words and letters move. They don’t physically move, but you mind moves them. So, instead of reading ‘feel’, I’d read ‘leef’. It happens with numbers too.”
At 18, he was diagnosed with dyslexia. As for treatment, Joe claims that they merely told him to write things down so that he doesn’t forget and to just “deal with it”.
However, Joe insists that to overcome dyslexia and to learn to it, a lot of effort has to come from within.
“It’s rough and very frustrating, but you just have to fight.”
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That was Joe’s story. After lis
tening to it, I began to wonder. I initially believed that children in the US would have it easier since there was more awareness of dyslexia and more would be done to help them overcome their condition. I’m having doubts now. I remember hearing that treatment for dyslexia would be tailored according to the needs of specific individuals. So, what works and what doesn’t? And how much would the treatment cost?
I’ll have to start investigating how people with dyslexia are treated in Singapore and then figure out how to work our awareness campaign.
- Sandra
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