An experience part one


"You are good, and what You do is good..."
Psalm 119:68a

Starting Monday, December 1, I began my journey though my dyslexia.  I'm not sure what I expected but I know that whatever it was that I was expecting, it wasn't what happened.

Carl and I started our day with a similar exercise to the one he'd done with me at my assessment back in July; the "close your eyes and imagine a piece of cake" one!!! This time, however, it went a step further. When I had my cake, he told me to put my mind's eye (visual perspective) in my finger and look at my cake from my finger's position...just like before. Then, he took my finger and moved it to a spot behind and slightly above my head. He told me to look at my cake from there.

After I could see my cake from this bizarre new spot, he told me to erase my cake and imagine stings, one from each ear, and one from the middle of my head coming together in a point above and behind my ponytail. He told me to zoom in on the point. This spot is called an "orientation point" and helps me to "orient." Dyslexia causes a person to "disorient or be confused" with symbols, words that aren't visual, and other things.Being oriented for the first time felt wonderful. The only way I could describe the feeling was: "It's like Daddy just walk through the door and I'm safe now." It was a feeling of intense relief.
 
After I oriented, Carl got me to read aloud. He started me on a grade seven, which is the last level I completed when I  did my assessment with him back in July, (see An Invitation for details on this) however, I was disorienting at a grade two level all the way through, which meant I was stumbling over words and going into "autopilot" mode. Once I was oriented I  wasn't stumbling over words and I didn't flick the switch on my autopilot. HUGE!!!! I went up seven grade levels in four hours of this program! Grade 9  is the highest the reading levels go in this program.

After this remarkable discovery, it was time to tackle modeling the alphabet with clay. I thought this was going to be so easy, it wasn't. Most dyslexics also struggle with another form of dyslexia called "dyspraxia." If a person is dyspraxic, it means that they have trouble forming the letters. I have this too!!!

In order to overcome this, I had to make every letter with clay, both upper and lower case. This may sound easy, but with my dyslexia I had problems with spatial orientation. That meant I could not tell if there one arm of the letter was longer than another - why my writing wasn't very neat. I also couldn't tell thickness - but I can now!

This whole spatial orientation thing is huge. I now don't bump into door frames with my wheelchair. I can fold a piece of paper corner to corner. I can write neater. I can sit in my chair straight with my head straight because know where I am in space! I can't wait to discover all the areas this will affect in my life.

So much of my disability we have put down to my brain injury. But it hadn't been. The good news is dyslexia can be overcome!


Comments

  1. Chuck22 December 2014 at 10:19

    Thank you Monica for sharing your journey so beautifully. I am always inspired by your stories. You are truly an overcomer. Keep us posted...and Merry Christmas to you and your whole family.

    ReplyDelete

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