So what was my great discovery? Before I get to that - let's talk reading.
When did I fall in love with reading? About 12 years ago. I was nearly thirty and on bed rest with my first child and before wifi I had limited options. So, I decided to read.
Before this time, I hated reading. It was hard. I could never remember what I read and it made me so tired. Occasionally the letters would move around and I consistency struggled to stay on the right line. Just after college I picked up a novel everyone said I had to read. Just 300 or so pages. Took me a month a reading a little every night. As much as my eyes could handle.
But on bed rest I pushed though and read novel after novel. I think it took me days to finish one book but I did it. I soon discovered that I loved the story and that I'd push though the frustrations just to be able to read another good romance story. (practice makes perfect)
Now - I love to read. Twelve years later I can fly through books. I read all four books in the Twilight series in a week (not so good for the house cleaning though.) I recently reread the novel that had taken me a month 12 years ago and finished it in one night.
So what was my discovery? By my description you may be able to tell if you know much about reading problems. I am dyslexic. Out of the 37 possible characteristics I had twenty-eight. (it takes 10 to classify as dyslexia)
I must say my husband and I had a good laugh about the description since it make so much sense to many of my "quirks".
I also love the irony that God has called me to write. I mean I did well in math and science why not focus there? No he calls me to literature and I managed to graduate high school with a 3.6 with never completing one required reading book.
But God isn't concerned with what I can't do as much as what He can do. I choose to be open to people he has placed in my path to teach me. After all if He can take me from reading a novel over a month to reading it in a night He can do anything.
Here are the 28 characteristics I could identify with. They may give you new insight into our past interaction if you know me. :)
• In school, appears bright, intelligent, and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level. • Isn't "behind enough" or "bad enough" to be helped in the school setting. • High in IQ, yet may not test well academically; tests well orally, but not written. • Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, sales, business, designing, building, or engineering. • Seems to "Zone out" or daydream often; gets lost easily or loses track of time. • Difficulty sustaining attention "daydreamer." • Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids. • Complains of headaches while reading. • Confused by verbal explanations. • Reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions, and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words. • Complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing, or copying. • Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don't reveal a problem. • Lacks depth perception and peripheral vision. • Reads and rereads with little comprehension. • Spells phonetically and inconsistently. • Easily distracted by sounds. • Difficulty putting thoughts into words; speaks in halting phrases; leaves sentences incomplete; stutters under stress; mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases, words, and syllables when speaking. • Handwriting varies or is illegible. • Clumsy, poor at ball or team sports; prone to motion-sickness. • Can be ambidextrous, and often confuses left/right • Has difficulty telling time, managing time, or being on time. • Computing math shows dependence on finger counting and other tricks • Excellent long-term memory for experiences, locations, and faces. • Poor memory for sequences, facts and information that has not been experienced. • Thinks primarily with images and feeling • Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly. • Strong sense of justice; emotionally sensitive; strives for perfection. • Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure, emotional stress, or poor health.