By JULIE ALPAUGH – Digital Photography Editor
In honor of October being National Dyslexia Awareness Month, Julie Alpaugh shares her story of discovering and coming to accept the fact she has dyslexia.
I have always struggled with spelling. I would study for hours the night before a spelling test, but the words would not stick.
The fact I couldn’t spell didn’t concern my teachers because I was an otherwise “gifted” kid. However, when I was in fifth grade, school became increasingly difficult; homework was taking me longer than necessary and I even began falling behind in my writing.
My mom suspected there was an underlying cause, but she had always been reassured by my teachers that everything was fine. They told her “Some smart kids just can’t spell.” Then in fifth grade, my teacher agreed that there may be something going on, so my mom took me to an educational psychologist for testing. He came to the conclusion that I had dyslexia.
Dyslexia is such a broad term because there are different categories and degrees. Every person with this diagnosis has their own unique challenges, but there are commonalities. According to The Merriam Webster definition, dyslexia is a variable, often familial learning disability involving difficulties in acquiring and processing language that is typically manifested by a lack of proficiency in reading, spelling, and writing.
I didn’t believe it; I thought they did the tests wrong. In my view, although it wasn’t true, I felt like I wasn’t working hard enough, and saying I had dyslexia was an excuse. Plus, I had gone through all of elementary school and did pretty well.
Over the years I had learned how to work around my dyslexia contributing to the difficulty of discovering it, but as school was becoming harder, I was no longer able to keep up.
The older I get and the more I read and hear other stories of dyslexia, it makes so much sense that I do in fact have dyslexia. The struggles I have faced and the ways I learn are described perfectly in some articles.
Looking back, though I could sound out words, spelling was so hard because I couldn’t match those sounds to letters. I disliked and avoided reading, yet I didn’t realize the dyslexia was contributing to these feelings and behaviors. Reading required a lot of effort, and during the process the potential enjoyment of reading was lost.
Dyslexia hinders some areas of learning, but those who have dyslexia often exceed in other areas. I have more creativity allowing me to have gifts in areas of art including painting and photography.
I don’t use dyslexia as an excuse, but it has taken me a long time to accept the fact that I have dyslexia and work to overcome the challenges it presents.
