DYSLEXIA AWARENESS MONTH

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Click on the picture to access the Yale Center Talking with Your Child About Dyslexia page.

Stand UP LD is a non-profit support network for parents and educators seeking resources to support and inspire children wit learning differences.

Click on the picture to access the StandUP LD website.

Listen as Jane Kaczmarek reads Thank you, Mr. Falker , written by the famous children's book author, Patricia Polacco. Thank you, Mr. Falker tells Patricia's story of struggling to learn to read and of the teacher who changed her life.

Katelyn, 15, Michigan, USA

In first grade, homework that should have taken me five or ten minutes took an hour. I felt I was slower than everyone else in reading and writing. I thought this was just me. I got bullied quite a bit and I would cry at home and not want to go to school. I had headaches and stomach aches and a lot of anxiety. The girls were materialistic and cliquey and they would exclude anyone who was different.

My mom bought me the book Fish in a Tree and I fell in love with it. I thought that the teachers and other kids should know what kids with dyslexia were struggling with on a daily basis. I decided to do a presentation at school about dyslexia as one of the projects for my confirmation classes for church. I found out that I had a knack for public speaking and the staff said, "Good Job." They really didn't know all these things. They had questions and I had some answers. This was a changing moment for me and made me feel stronger. I have since moved on to high school and I spoke to the high school staff. Teachers there were engaged and interested too.

I'm not worried what anyone thinks of me when I talk to teachers or students. I just want to make myself heard. I was invited to speak at another elementary school where the principal wanted to do something about dyslexia so students wouldn't dislike school...

Dyslexia has made me stronger and I have learned life lessons a lot earlier than most kids. I would say to anyone with dyslexia, "We will get through this. We are survivors and we will be okay."