Jasmine’s Story-

Dyslexia was something I inherited from my parents. For as long as I can remember, I have had problems differentiating between certain letters and numbers that look similar (I’m looking at you p, 9, 6, d, b, q, g),  comprehending and remembering things I read, writing in a way that’s grammatically correct, doing math in my head, and spelling. I get headaches when I read for too long and I have to re-read things multiple times to get any meaning out of it. Dyslexia has been something I’ve fought against for most of my life.

I’ve never been required to get extra help with reading or writing. I think I’ve always been lucky in that regard. Since I have a parent with dyslexia and have had many teachers with knowledge of the disability, I was able to learn ways of coping with it. I remember in sixth grade my teacher pulled me aside because she noticed that I had been writing some of my words inverted. Rather than tell me I needed to get extra help, she sat with me and helped me think of ways of differentiating letters when I write (for example, the way I could differentiate b and d was to think of the word bed and how the lines are where bed posts are). I still use the tricks she taught me to this day.

Dyslexia has only taught me how to work harder. I never let it bring me down. Throughout my academic career, I’ve always been in honors classes and I even took AP English. I just had to work harder than others and put in more hours. I knew it would take me longer than others to read, so I just gave myself extra time to finish reading assignments. When I wrote papers, I would ask my dad to proofread it. I’ve adapted to my disorder, and this helped me become more resilient and flexible.

Reading can be painful sometimes and writing can give me a headache, however, I have never let that stop me from doing what I want. I’ve always loved reading, and while it may take me longer to read than others, I’m constantly reading. I love writing even though it’s a challenge. I’m thankful for the people that believed in me and urged me to push myself. To those who believed in my academic ability even with my dyslexia, I am eternally grateful. And, to those in Nor’easter News, who provide an outlet for people to write and the support to convey your story in the best way possible, regardless of ability or innate talent, I am grateful and glad that I could be part of such a group.