No pain, No game

[UpsideDownBrain]

I sit here and ask many thousands of people that struggle with dyslexia ... Do you feel silenced. Unheard and always left behind in school no matter how hard you push. You lack in all areas of learning. You aren’t alone.

I’m in my last year of high school in a program for learning disabilities. It sounds like a miracle school. A school for kids who need EXTRA support. No matter what the world has always views us less then other brains. My school is within a school. Which means the government doesn’t give us money to fund for OUR own building. 65 of us have learning disabilities from dyslexia to autism. We are stuck in a hallway that looks different from the rest of the other school. We aren’t ashamed but lack help. Our foot prints are covered by the other school success. My teachers want to support us but they don’t have the power. It’s up to us. I’m just tired of trying and getting no where in school. I will work till my fingers bleed but my mark will never be a reward. I will move on subject after subject and still not understanding what I just learned. So I’m stuck because I hate getting help. I have had to depend on so much resources to get a passing grade when I have the potential beyond a straight A student.

My point is does the school system ever learn that students are grader then a graduation certificate?

I’m scared I won’t get there.

[Giosang]

Hi Holly,

Don't be scared. Keep the faith. Demand help! When you get out of school into further education things will improve a lot. You will get a lot of help and support, but you have to learn to ask for it and to accept it.

I completely understand what you are saying -I was a special needs teacher in the UK for many years and we always worked in the worse classrooms with the least amount of money than any other department. But don't worry about all that -just do your best.

Try to look beyond school - focus on your future. It's never too early to think about what you would like to study at college -art, music, drama, cooking, caring, hairdressing, woodwork -the list is long.

Think about what you really enjoy and focus on what you would like to study in the future - then, when you're ready, contact your local further education colleges and go and speak to the people who work in the special needs departments. Ask for their advice. Take your mum with you.

And ask the colleges what you can do as a dyslexic student -what support they can give you and what courses they recommend.

Look to the future Holly and you will begin to see a light.

You write well - you are passionate - so don't ever give up. Good luck.

Please keep in touch here.