Reading Blues

3 Pages 658 Words

Dyslexia is an inherited condition that makes it extremely difficult to read, write,
and spell in your native language despite at least average intelligence. In the book, Sixth
Grade Can Really Kill You the author illustrates the impact that dyslexia can have on the self-esteem, and educational progress of an exceptional individual.
Helen a pronounced class clown begins to dread going to school and often refers to it as her worse nightmare due to her reading ability. When Helen is called upon to read, she often stutters her words or cannot pronounce them at all. In an endeavor to escape the severe embarrassment of her peers, she often reads prior to class in order to get her words situated. Although her efforts are genuine, it does not prevent other students from giggling and calling her names. Her feelings of inferiority cause her to become physically ill. She expresses her sincere hatred of school by spray-painting “school makes me puk” on the wall (DeClements, 23). Unfortunately, her effort is a poor one because she misspells puke and is once again on display as the joke of the school.
Helen’s learning disability is discovered when her mother realizes that she continually has trouble reading at the sixth grade level. Mrs. Hollings proceeds to take Helen to a psychologist, and has her tested. When she scores average on the IQ test, Mrs. Hollings believes that she can cure her daughter by providing additional support. When the school finally eliminates disruptive behavior and a low IQ as the cause of Helen’s reading problem she is tested for dyslexia. Once the results were received, after many years of felling bad about herself, she is placed in a class filled with students just like her.
Through this book, I have learned that there are several warning signs of a learning disability that all teachers should become familiar with. For example, when Helen attempted to read the words she pronounced them in a slow choppy c...