Woodbury Reports Review of News and Opinion Relating To Struggling Teens

I love stories like this for two reasons: first they are stories of resilience. Second, They are stories that illustrate the problem with our schools and our attitudes about the one size fits all system we have locked our selves into. Many successful dyslexic adults make the same observation as Wilson when asked if dyslexia accrued any benefits. Apparently having dyslexia forced us to work harder than most and learning to work hard can be an advantage in the market place. A golf pro who worked with our students starting a golf team once observed that the students he worked with from ASSETS School in Hawai'i were great at learning golf. When asked why by a confused headmaster, he replied "Maybe they are better at coping with frustration! Golf is all about dealing with your frustrations!" 

All too often we know that we dyslexics sometimes don't make in to the legitimate market place--we get stranded in school; pushed out before we ever get a chance to work at something we are suited to do or might love as much as Justin Wilson likes driving in races. Jackie Stewart from another generation can tell a similar story of perseverance and achievement despite being wounded in school.

Let’s face it: we really don't know what working hard actually means or even what it looks like.  We do know that many people who probably work very hard in school never get off  of the starting line.  We also know what frustration looks like and how devastating it can be for our children. Justin Wilson and other successful dyslexics were lucky enough to have found a place of self respect and honor.

So into the mix I would like to pose the following questions for our consideration: Can we figure out a way that students can summon the will to expend effort without being hammered by a hostile school environment? Surely there's a way to protect honest effort, encourage kids to rise to learning challenges, without frustrating and wounding them in the process?

We can’t ask a fish what it is like to be wet, and I am not sure asking a dyslexic if there are benefits or strengths associated with being dyslexic can get you an accurate answer.  Consider the Hawaiian Sea Turtle, Honu, as she lumbers across the sand to lay her eggs.  She is awkward, slow and poorly equipped for crossing the long stretch of beach before her. She struggles for every inch of ground she covers—she is worn and exhausted by the time she gets back to the ocean.

Once in the water we see something very different—she swims with strength, speed, confidence. She dives deeper, stays down longer, and comes up dryer than any other animal in the water with her. Her flippers—a liability on land become a boon to her swimming which she does with uncommon grace.

Every dyslexic adult who can look back from a place of success can tell a story of struggle in school—every successful dyslexic was a child who like a turtle on land had to bear the burden of being judged in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Can’t we just help our kids get to the deep open ocean waters of their lives with out demoralizing them while they are children crossing the sand ?  Can’t we forgo drawing conclusions about them, or allowing them to draw conclusions about themselves while they are still struggling across the sand? Just sayin'--Lou

Excerpt:

"During a question-and-answer period, one student asked Wilson whether dyslexia had been a benefit in any way.

“I do think dyslexia has helped me,” he said. “It’s pushed me to work harder in everything I do.

“You get a lot of satisfaction out of doing something that’s hard,” Wilson said. By contrast, some classmates who sailed through schoolwork emerged into adulthood without really having a good work ethic or determination, he said.

“To be forced to work hard back then has helped me to get to this stage.”

Nicely done! The use of the the quote from the book of Matthew ( Matthew Effects)  should have been attributed to Kieth Stanovich: 

http://www.readingrockets.org/articles/researchbytopic/4862/

Otherwise terrific talk--Lou

Love Ted talks!-