Teasing hurts...

When I was in third grade, I couldn't read. I was made fun of and teased because the teachers would call on me to read and I would just cry. I didn't understand why I couldn't do it. I tried every night to force myself to read. I just failed time after time. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I learned how to memorize everything I heard.

One day, everyone's parents came except one boy and mine. He was in foster care with three other children...they didn't want him to feel like he was the favorite. My parents just had better things to do or something like that. I was just too stupid to pull them from their beds that early. We all had to stand and read part of the story that we were reading in class. She didn't read it to us before. I didn't know what to say. I was suppose to read the new section...I couldn't do it. Everyone just laughed. One of the other parents noticed.

The next day they called me into the office. I saw my classmate's father sitting in a chair near a few other people. They smiled and asked me to sit down. I thought they were going to punish me. I knew I didn't deserve to be in school. I was too stupid. It was only a matter of time before they figured that out...

They diagnosed me with visual dyslexia after several tests that year. From then, they began to "correct" me. I had learned that not only could I not read, I couldn't write either. Great...even more that they made fun of.

I am now a sophomore in college and still not "corrected". I still have trouble reading and writing, but now I know it's okay. I'm not stupid. I graduated high school eighth in my class of about six hundred. I may not be able to read very well but I can comprehend at levels that even those with doctorates have trouble with. I don't need to be "corrected" and neither does anyone with dyslexia. Dyslexia is not a disease or a sickness. I may not see things the same as others, but that doesn't mean that I am any less intelligent than anyone else. Everyday of my life, I am still teased because I can not read or write very well and when I don't stop and think. You would think that people would have better things to do...oh well.

If you have a disability or you are different in any way, don't let others bring you down. You are special. You are not fat or stupid or worse. You are you. You are important to me. You mean something to me. I may not know you and I may never meet you. But I truly, and deeply love you.