Dyslexia has affected my life in numerous ways. In fact, when I was younger I thought I was cursed and wished that I could have been born without this "so-called" disability that you can't see and you can't touch. I felt like a person with a broken leg was "luckier" than I was because society had empathy for their condition — a condition that they could view with their own eyes. However, what I have since discovered through my own journey is that the subject of learning disabilities, like dyslexia, must have "the light shined on them" to illuminate the truth about learning differences. In fact, as it is with all discrimination, education is key. People have discriminatory tendencies toward other people and subjects that they don't understand — so education is a major component in the solution.

When the schools offered no solutions, my mother enrolled me with a private language therapist where I learned to spell words in set groups with consistent rules and similar prefixes or suffixes, and I soon learned to read by using these same rules to figure out new words. I remember thinking that my specialist, Ms. DeGraffenreid, was one of the smartest people around; she allowed previously fuzzy areas to become clear and even make sense. One funny story that I remember from this time period was when Ms. Wanda told me she had been trained by the Neuhaus — I thought she said "White House" — so I thought I really had a special teacher if she had been trained by the President of the United States. I now know that this was just one of those times that a dyslexic person can look back and laugh at themselves — and see humor in the jumbling and juxtaposition of letters and words.

Additionally, I learned how to organize my study habits, use highlighters, planners, and audio books. Granted, if you ask my mother she'll say she still doesn't understand my organizational methods or think that I have any, but I guess that's why they call them "learning differences."

My mother first read me a story from Dr. Barbara Guyer's book The Pretenders when I was in first grade. The book contains a series of stories about people with learning differences who go on to have successful lives. I have read the chapter with the story of Eric many times since that original time when I was in first grade. The story is about a young man who is dyslexic, who everyone says will never become anything, much less a doctor and goes on to become a well-known plastic surgeon. The educational turmoil and rejection that he faces are mirror images of many of the situations that I have lived through.

Near the end of his story, a doctor tells Eric that he was picked for his residency program as one of six students out of 1200 because, as he said, "We learned that straight ‘A' students don't always make the best physicians. On the other hand, you had a problem, and it must have been very painful to have a few professors say you were dishonest when you asked for exceptions in testing. I know that some professors said you would never make it, but you didn't quit. You're persistent, Eric. And that's why we selected you. You're a survivor." I couldn't have said it better!

Oh, how I only hope that I can someday have as insightful a physician who looks at my application for residency as Eric had.

Self-advocacy is a core component for any person with a learning disability. I have learned from watching my mother that education is the key. I must always work to help others understand my learning differences and to understand that accommodations and/or modifications do not give me a leg up on the competition - they simply level the playing field. In fact, I would like to take self-advocacy to the next level — by educating our future teachers, school administrators, and others involved in the education process as to why all students with learning differences should be allowed modifications. Again, all discrimination is easy if ignorance is your knowledge base. It is harder to deny a student appropriate modifications if you are well informed on the subject matter of learning disabilities.

I think I can contribute to society and increase the opportunities for individuals with learning disabilities by completing my education, becoming a physician, and then acting as an advocate or spokesperson for this segment of our population. Lecturing classes within the educational departments of colleges, maybe someday writing a book about my experiences as a dyslexic member of society, and displaying an empathetic and understanding personality, — as only a person that has "walked in these moccasins" can — will definitely increase the understanding of and thereby the opportunities for all individuals with learning disabilities. And, doing this as a medical professional, someday, will carry an increased level of credibility for those that are initially uninformed.