Dyslexia, literacy and art lessons!

In my opinion short stories are a dying breed. I prefer to write short stories because I prefer reading short stories to reading novels. Sometimes when I see how long a novel is I get over-whelmed. In the time it takes me to get to chapter 5 of a book, I have read 8 short stories. That makes me feel accomplished! On that note I will post an original, unedited story from my book, tomorrow! So be there or be cylindrical! LOL

So what's going on with me? I am teaching art now as well as writing! My student's name is Ron and he is a very nice man! He learns quickly and listens well. He is so excited that I am actually afraid to let him down as a teacher. I'll do my best!

I feel pretty good about teaching Ron to paint. I think teaching is so very fulfilling! He it is said never goes any where much any more. Also we have something in common... we are both disabled. I am happy to help him get out of the house a bit and by reaching out to him he helps me feel.... blessed. Because it shows me that I can still contribute and that I have value.

Basically that is my topic today. In AA we say, “If you don't give it away, you can't keep it!” This is very true. Always, ALWAYS pay it forward! The blessings you receive in return are always innumerable. If God has freely blessed you with something.... then find a way to give that gift of joy to someone else.

When ever I am stuck in the tedious reels of the negative people in the world I try to Pay it forward.... why? Because it stops the old reels of negative thinking. This is a very important life skill. If everything is going wrong, falling apart, leaking at the seams that is when I show another person kindness and the rewards are endless! On this note, I am thinking that when the books come out I might like to use them to promote literacy!

I was thinking I would take them to schools and set up competitions. That way kids get extra credit and my name gets out there. What ever keeps them reading is very positive. I have dyslexia but I absolutely adore books! It took a long time for that to happen. Tell you a little story....

I was terrible at reading when I was young.... simply horrid. In those days however there was no dyslexia. A parent would hear:

not applying herself

dreamer

can't stay on task

lazy

stupid.

Well yes my grand parents heard all of those things but as hard as they worked with me I simply could not read longer words! Just couldn't! Flash cards, Dick and Jane, studying until 1 in the morning had not fixed me. They were ready to resign themselves to the fact that I had better bulk-up because manual labor might be the only career for me.

By 7^th grade I had immersed myself in art. It seemed to be the only class in the entire world that had no books in it. I could sort of hide out in art class and earn an easy credit. It seemed like solid logic at the time. (Shut up I was 12!)

But one day to my absolute horror I found out that in art you learn history and vocabulary. I watched, fear creeping up in my gut as the art teacher wrote vocabulary word after vocabulary word on the chalkboard. She asked some of us to read the terms so they could be defined and discussed. Damn her why would she betray me like that? I thought … and I literally felt the knife twist in my back when she said, Angel read the next word.

Mortified I looked at the board:

rpape chmae

I saw those letters but it made no sensible word to me. It was written in hieroglyphics. I blinked my eyes:

rmaapp aheae

Oh God! The kids are laughing! They are calling me names in whispers. I have to pee. I'm going to vomit. How much time until the bell? I want to die.

“Spell it.” Mrs. Renard instructed. Barely able to speak I said,”repap chmae.” She asked me to sit down and to stay after class.

You're the art teacher, I've seen you go through garbage cans to find milk cartons for class. We are the geeks of the school. We stick together right? Please don't call my parents, they already know I'm stupid.

To my great surprise she had kept me after class and told me simply, “Draw a circle.” So I did.

“Now dear fill it with dots. Darker on one side, lighter on the other. More dots make dark, less dots make light.”

I did that and she kept me after the next day proclaiming quietly, “draw a square.” Then she repeated the directions from the day before. We did these exercisers for over a month. It must have strengthened my eyes. In one semester I went from a 3^rd grade reading level to an 8^th grade reading level! You literally could not keep a book out of my hands!

Oh and the dots... they get a happy ending too because I learned to do this: