Learning to Read – The Key That Opened The Door


As a young kid, I had always struggled with reading and avoided it at all cost. Reading should be an activity that one does for pleasure and opens their mind to endless dreams. However, reading was not an activity I enjoyed. I was engaged in behaviors that were destructive in order to avoid it. I had to attend an alternative program for two years of high school because I could not control my temper. I was angry for many reasons, but the main one was that I was not able to read. 

I was not diagnosed until the age of 18 and graduated from high school reading at an elementary level. My options were very limited. Yet, my life changed in 1996 when my mentor, an angel, Dr. Robert T. Nash literally saved my life and gave me HOPE as a student who was in Special Education. He and his colleague Dr. Kitz told me I was one of the most illiterate students they had meet, but that it was not my fault. They both said the system failed me. Dr Nash saw talent in me, told me I had a gift, but warned me that the process of learning to read would be one of most difficult challenges of my life. 

I was accepted into a college remedial program. As a freshman in college, he taught me the importance of linguistics. He had me learning about the structure of words. It was fascinating lo learn about phonemes and graphemes (letter-sound connection) and phonemic units. He taught me how to use the dictionary and strategies to decode and encode words. I was learning multi-syllable words (i.e., Monochromatism/mä-nə-ˈkrō-mə-ˌti-zəm). The process sparked a light in me to read and learn more. I became a sponge. 

I started to love reading and it opened many doors in my life. After six years in college, I received my bachelor’s degree, and then went on for a Master’s degree, which took five years.
Masters Celebtration

I then graduated with a Ph.D. in language and literacy after seven years.
Phd graduation video

I was in school 18 straight years after high school, learning and growing. The road was never easy, but once I learned about the Science of Reading at the age of 18, I became empowered to take control of my own life and started DREAMING! Before Dr. Nash’s death, he signed over his curriculum to me and told me to continue his work.

To the youth with dyslexia, do not be afraid of failure, but rather be afraid of not trying. Ask for help when you need it and remember the journey of learning to read is a process. Celebrate each milestone you achieve and look in the mirror and tell yourself, “I will, and I can.” 

Remember to love yourself because you are important!

Peace, 

Shawn Anthony Robinson Ph.D., aka Dr. Dyslexia Dude

Comments

  1. UnknownJune 15, 2020 at 7:52 AM

    Thank you for sharing your amazing story. I'm going to read this to my dislexic daughter now. Our community needs your story and message to be heard by the portion of the educational community yet to embrace the SOR.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJune 15, 2020 at 3:16 PM

    What an amazing story. As a Speech-Language Pathologist I find that almost all of my high school students are reading significantly below grade level and even though they are placed in Intensive Reading classes year after year, the progress in only incremental. It breaks my heart that my students' future options are so limited and I feel incredibly impotent. I believe my school district does a decent job of identifying students with disabilities across races but without smaller group, more intensive treatment for reading disabilities, nothing will improve enough to make a change for these kids.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sra. CarmonaJuly 6, 2020 at 6:24 AM

    You give me so much hope for my children. Thank you for your dedication and compassion.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Michelle Myers Glower MSN, RN, NEA BC, CNEclJanuary 28, 2021 at 4:53 PM

    As a parent, Mother, best friend, to Shawn, never give up on your children, be their advocate, challenge every step that blocks your Childs steps. Make a path for them to see the sun, move the traffic stops and barriers that do not apply, make your needs known and be "Relentless". Michelle

    ReplyDelete

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