Hidden Thoughts of LD Art Competition (2011)

Winner: Gianluca Bonavita
(“Drawn Different” – poster size cut and paste drawing)
My name is Gianluca and I just turned 12. Because of auditory processing I learn differently than most kids my age. Most schools and kids think different means stupid. I used to get teased and get bullied a lot school is still hard for me. I always work really hard. Sometimes I get frustrated and give up trying. But I know I can drawing. Drawing is something that makes me proud to be different.

Lauren Jeevanjee (“My Hidden LD”)
2nd Place
My name is Lauren Jeevanjee and I have a learning disability. I am sometimes really shy but other times I am really hipper and out going. The broken ladder on my page is supposed to represent that I have trouble with a lot of things and the complete bars are representing the things that I am good at. I am getting better at spelling so it is being glued together. The desks have things that I am getting better at things that I am good at and things that I am bad at. Me flying on a jetpack is representing that I have ADHD. An the thought bubble is representing that the school day is dragging on and sometimes I feel trapped in side a class room. So as you can see it is hard to have an LD.

Nathan McBride (“My Mind” – blue, purple)
2nd Place
In my picture the paper and the pencil are chasing me because they constantly pop up in my everyday life. The paper and the pencil represent that I have trouble writing. Drawn on the paper are a few of my problems in education. I have trouble reading aloud in class. I have trouble focusing and get off task A LOT! My attention span is shorter than a mouse’s nose. I use my reading skills to help overcome these trials.

Winner: Dustin Dahlman (1/2)
Greatness – 3D sculpture
Hello, my name is Dustin Dahlman and I am 17 years old. I have a learning disability know as dyslexia. Dyslexia, according to our friends at dictionary.com, is a developmental disorder which can cause learning difficulty in one or more of the areas of reading, writing, and numeracy. Which to be fare is true, but one thing that bothers me about this definition is it only shows the negative side of dyslexia. For years I thought that there wasn’t anything good about my disability, it made words on the page spin and move about and when writing I would know how to spell the word but when I wrote it down the letter would be in the wrong odder (thank God for spell check). I truly believed that anyone with this disability had a hopeless future to look forward to. Which, for a while made me not caring in school due to the fact that even if I tried my hardest I would still only pull of a C’s while other kids who never tried got B’s and A’s. Then High School rolled around and in my freshmen history class I learned that Albert Einstein, one of the words most respected scientists, has the same disability as I. This small fact to other students in my class was the key to hope to me. When I went home that day I looked up Albert Einstein dyslexic to read more. Then I found a website just deiced to famous Dyslexics some of the people I remember were Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Nelson Rockefeller, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, John Lennon and the list goes on. Under one of the articles I was reading it had something about the gift of dyslexic. “The gift of dyslexic is that even real?” I thought to myself. So being the curious person I am I click on it and that one click changed my life. It showed me that under my thoughts about dyslexics laid a gift that I had looked over countless of times. But from reading that article I learned that there was something positive to my disability for example one gift I believe I have is the gift of art and creativity and without being dyslexic I don’t know if I would still be as gifted as I am now. Due to that article I have more belief in myself and my abilities. Now in school I get mostly B’s and A’s also I am taking an AP (which is a college level class) and I’m getting a B. So in my art projects I have sent you I tried to express that even though your different greatness is within you. Thank you for taking the time to read and look at my art.

Winner: Dustin Dahlman (2/2)
Different– oil painting
Hello, my name is Dustin Dahlman and I am 17 years old.· I have a learning disability know as dyslexia.· Dyslexia, according to our friends at dictionary.com, is a developmental disorder which can cause learning difficulty in one or more of the areas of reading, writing, and numeracy.· Which to be fare is true, but one thing that bothers me about this definition is it only shows the negative side of dyslexia.· For years I thought that there wasn’t anything good about my disability, it made words on the page spin and move about and when writing I would know how to spell the word but when I wrote it down the letter would be in the wrong odder (thank God for spell check).· I truly believed that anyone with this disability had a hopeless future to look forward to.· Which, for a while made me not caring in school due to the fact that even if I tried my hardest I would still only pull of a C’s while other kids who never tried got B’s and A’s.· Then High School rolled around and in my freshmen history class I learned that Albert Einstein, one of the words most respected scientists, has the same disability as I.· This small fact to other students in my class was the key to hope to me.· When I went home that day I looked up Albert Einstein dyslexic to read more.· Then I found a website just deiced to famous Dyslexics some of the people I remember were Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Nelson Rockefeller, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, John Lennon and the list goes on.· Under one of the articles I was reading it had something about the gift of dyslexic. “The gift of dyslexic is that even real?” I thought to myself.· So being the curious person I am I click on it and that one click changed my life.· It showed me that under my thoughts about dyslexics laid a gift that I had looked over countless of times.· But from reading that article I learned that there was something positive to my disability for example one gift I believe I have is the gift of art and creativity and without being dyslexic I don’t know if I would still be as gifted as I am now.· Due to that article I have more belief in myself and my abilities.· Now in school I get mostly B’s and A’s also I am taking an AP (which is a college level class) and I’m getting a B.· So in my art projects I have sent you I tried to express that even though your different greatness is within you.· Thank you for taking the time to read and look at my art.

Runner Up: Colleen Ryans
Breaking Books - sculpture
In creating this piece, I had the experience and knowledge of just how cruel peers and even adults can be. Closed minded and conceded, was my view of all people’s view to learning disabilities and the main motivation for me to create this piece was an incident that happened last month. I was put up by my peers and asked to spell and in reading this you would know what happened all the others did was pint and laugh at me and sent a downward spiral of if everybody says I’m smart, then why can’t I be on paper? So this is my tribute to my experiences and me being “smart on paper”.

Winner: Michael Clarke
Home Sweet Home - picture collage
I am 32 years old and was not diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing Disorder until last year. As a young student, I believe my learning disability contributed to my difficulty in school. Now, as a teacher, I work with students who have learning disabilities. At home, I struggle to hear the things I should at times because I lack a decent natural filter for background noise, and unfortunately in my home there is no lack of noise.

Runner Up: Elizabeth Knecht (1/3)
My Beast and Me Live Alone - poem with 3 drawings
I am a 63-year-old woman who has struggled with a learning disability since the first grade. I have received little help for my disability over the years and it was taken me a very long time to come to terms with my disability. Thank you for this opportunity to tell my story.

My Beast and Me Live Alone

An old woman am I, with a learning disability.
I’ve been alone with this beast a long time now.
We use to fight an awful lot, but at the moment,
We enjoy to chat and sip our tea.

My Beast: Dyslexia
Me: Elizabeth Knecht

Runner Up: Elizabeth Knecht (2/3)
My Beast and Me Live Alone - poem with 3 drawings
I am a 63-year-old woman who has struggled with a learning disability since the first grade.· I have received little help for my disability over the years and it was taken me a very long time to come to terms with my disability.· Thank you for this opportunity to tell my story.

My Beast and Me Live Alone

An old woman am I, with a learning disability.
I’ve been alone with this beast a long time now.
We use to fight an awful lot, but at the moment,
We enjoy to chat and sip our tea.

My Beast: Dyslexia
Me: Elizabeth Knecht

Runner Up: Elizabeth Knecht (3/3)
My Beast and Me Live Alone - poem with 3 drawings
I am a 63-year-old woman who has struggled with a learning disability since the first grade.· I have received little help for my disability over the years and it was taken me a very long time to come to terms with my disability.· Thank you for this opportunity to tell my story.

My Beast and Me Live Alone

An old woman am I, with a learning disability.
I’ve been alone with this beast a long time now.
We use to fight an awful lot, but at the moment,
We enjoy to chat and sip our tea.

My Beast: Dyslexia
Me: Elizabeth Knecht

Runner Up: Israele Costa
Do Not Enter; Enter

Dear stuck to me like glue,

You’re stuck to me until I say goodbye to earth. There’s no way I can get rid of you. Sometimes you get on my last nerves. You don’t let me focus in school or anything. You’re that disability that I only learn when things are written down. You get me so frustrated that I just want to punch you in your face. Why did you choose me? You could have picked someone else. There are good things about you too. Even though you get on my last nerves, I love you because you make me who I am. You make me work harder on tasks I can’t complete. I’m a hard working girl because of you. I would like to get rid of you but I choose not to. I am who I am because of you.