Dyslexia: A Student's Experience.

I am really pleased to introduce our guest writer in this article, Trina Bush.

Trina is based in Texas, US and is an 18 year old high school graduate that has lived with the challenges of having dyslexia.  She was home-schooled for eight years and is on a mission to help teenagers and parents understand dyslexia and view it more as a gift than as a disabling part of their lives.

Trina is passionate about sharing resources and at the end of this blog article I will post a link to her 'Dyslexic Teen' blog.

Trina writes...

I had an IEP (Individualized Education Programme) ages 3 to 12 but my earliest memory during this complicated stage in life was when I was 11, I remember sitting at a table with my teacher in a quiet room doing flash cards with words and getting prices from a golden treasure box whenever I managed to role my r’s right or say a word right. I don’t know why, but that small treasure box made me so happy when I finished certain flash cards but I remember the joy I felt when I picked out the toys and candy from that box.

I remember being asked by other kids at recess why they never see me in their normal math and reading classes and seeing how they reacted when I pointed to the white trailer outside the school for special ed saying ‘’I was in my classes.’’ Its always kind of interesting, at school, to see how people reacted when I mentioned that I had special classes. They didn’t say anything. Usually, they would just walk away or change the subject fast. I am grateful that I had the experiences I had then and that I got to be homeschooled. Because I might have experienced worse situations, such as bullying, judging and separation. I managed to miss all of that when my mom took me out of public school.

Homeschooled 12-18

This is the most memorable stage in my life for me because it wasn’t that long ago. I just graduated high school last week! So, these memories are still fresh in my head I guess. I remember the first time I realized for myself that I had dyslexia and started to try and find ways to improve, and started to see dyslexia as a gift.

So, I was on the couch reading a book on my kindle, I remember reading the first couple words fine then the words started to move all over the page and I couldn’t read them anymore. B’s got mixed up with d’s and s’s circled around like snakes around the page. Every letter on the page was moving to replace other letters to make impossible words. I closed my eyes and closed my kindle. I began to freak out. I knew I couldn’t read very long books and that I had something wrong in my brain but didn’t understand what it was. I ran to my parents’ room and told them about the weird experience I had just had. My mom looked at me gently, ‘’Trina, that’s because you have dyslexia. You’ve had it all your life. Me and dad believed that we wouldn’t make it a big deal and label you with it in till you realized for yourself that you do have this difficulty but you can overcome it and it is totally your decision where you want to go from this. If you want to use it as an excuse and treat it as a mistake or if you want to treat it as a gift that God gave you and learn to overcome it. To make others stronger through your progress.’’

Since that day I have been discovering for myself my personal strengths and weakness and how to overcome them. I have created my own dyslexia blog and built myself a dyslexic community on Instagram and I have made it through high school!

Dyslexia is a gift. I hope all those who read this will come to know that and will overcome their own dyslexia.

Here is my list of dyslexia resources that you might find helpful...

INSTAGRAM:

Here is my list of inspirational dyslexic Instagrammers!

Follow for inspiration and quotes -

@dysadvantage @living_with_disorders @billysquest ingspecialneeds @alexiaagency @ada campaign @brainbalancegeorgia @dyslexia-sl @turningaroundyslexia @thinkdyslexic @brightyoungdyslexics @dysis @disablitycare @dyslexiclife  @dyslexiabuddynetwork @dyslexiascotland @dyslexicadv
@meetthedyslexics @colormedyslexiccreative @mydyslexicmind
@turning_around_dyslexia @thedyslexiaquest @dyslexicteen

Blogs about dyslexia.

• Dyslexia the gift ~ http://blog.dyslexia.com

• What is dyslexia?~ http://www.whatisdyslexia.org/index.html

• Dyslexic parent blog~http://dyslexiaparents.blogspot.com

• Dyslexic mom~http://dyslexiamom.blogspot.com

• My dyslexic blog~https://mydyslexicblog.wordpress.com

• Dyslexia Alliance~ http://www.dyslexiaalliance.org/

• Home schooling with Dyslexia~https://homeschoolingwithdyslexia.com/blog/

• The latest on dyslexia- http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/latest

• Learingalley.org

• Dyslexia articels http://www.notey.com/blogs/dyslexia

• Dyslexicteen.info

• And of course, the The Studying With Dyslexia Blog!