so let me set the scene you’re sitting
in your first-grade class doing work all
of a sudden the words and letters come
floating off the page your letters are
switched your sentences are jumbled
reading is a swirling storm and writing
is a mess
but somehow your answer on the page
still makes perfect sense to you
meanwhile all the people around you your
teachers peers friends and family are
all looking at you like you’re crazy so
what exactly is a learning disability by
definition it’s a condition bringing
difficulties to situations requiring
knowledge and skills by those expected
of the same age it’s pretty much saying
that you’re 6 years old you should know
the difference between a B and the D the
story I shared with you is very similar
to my own and many others alike about
10% of the population struggle with
learning disability and I’m one of the
lucky few I’m in my high school there is
about 240 people who struggle with it
and in this room alone it would probably
about the entire two front rows my
journey – Lexia started in 4th grade
when I started seeing a professional
Mathew Sokol for my diagnosis as we sat
there in that small grey windowless room
doing test after test after test it was
never-ending
until finally came the day February 14th
of 2009 I was diagnosed with severe
decide etic dyslexia as my mother sat
there with relief I was absolutely
horrified I was horrified because I was
different and I couldn’t do anything
about it I knew that I would have to
return to school the place I dreaded
with this secret that something was
wrong with me long story short school
was miserable the amount of days I
begged not to go doing everything in my
power from making myself physically sick
to crying into my homework until I
couldn’t until I couldn’t read the
questions
and some and as I sat there in that room
full of motivational posters I vowed to
myself that I would never speak about my
dyslexia Here I am so how many of you
here have ever felt alone felt out of
place and felt like you didn’t belong go
on raise your hands
okay good most of you okay so imagine
filling that for every minute of every
hour day week and month and year and I’m
getting choked up and that’s okay that’s
what I felt from kindergarten up to my
freshman year because somewhere along
the way the classmates around me
discovered terms like stupid dumb and
idiot as well as so much more and so
much worse because sticks and stones may
break my bones but words will never hurt
me yeah that’s a lie I’ve never had a
stick or a stone break a bone but words
I’ve definitely hurt me because I grew
up in an environment where these terms
weren’t only used as jokes weren’t only
used as insults but as jokes I shouldn’t
make it sound so bad though I was
surrounded by endless love and support
by everyone that was close to me and I’m
so grateful for that but what I’m not
grateful for is the constant
belittlement and mockery that comes with
having a learning disability I didn’t
ask for this but the worst part is is
that isn’t just in schools it’s all over
we use these words carelessly and we
toss them around but here’s my proposal
if all of those students room can just
stop and think before using one of these
terms if we can realize the impact of
our words can have on someone struggling
I can guarantee you it’s going to make
those 240 people feel it well it’s a
shame by themselves take it from someone
who knows who knows how it feels to be
sitting in a classroom in here whoa this
is so easy what do you mean you don’t
get it are you stupid or something
I hated my dyslexia and I hated myself
because I couldn’t change it
I couldn’t take a pill to manage it and
I couldn’t take a medicine to cure it
and you can’t run from your own mind I
tried to run away and live in solitude
and become Hollow but that’s my thoughts
for the scariest that’s when I was
filled with questions like was I smart
enough and what did I do to deserve this
and here’s the thing all I wanted was to
be normal but what’s the fun in being
normal my dyslexia gave me an amazing
imagination
I gave me a creative outlook and I was
able to spend all day in school where I
felt lost and misunderstood to come home
and feel welcomed and accepted because
when you have a learning disability you
think differently and you have a unique
way of thinking minor is creativity all
throughout school my grades were
horrible but my creativity was amazing
that is until seventh grade when I got
this Highlander way post card about
runners Knight I’m not going to go
support those nerds the ones that
taunted and teased me my whole life
because I wasn’t smart enough yeah I was
just gonna daydream in my room I was on
my friend about this and she informed me
that you only get a post card if you
yourself are in honors what that was
impossible they clearly sent it to the
wrong person I went anyway I was still
thoroughly convinced I was not in on a
role but I could just get my math class
so it was a win-win as I was sitting
there in that middle school cafeteria
surrounded by all these smart kids and
overachievers I couldn’t help but feel
completely and utterly insignificant I
felt this way because these were the
kids that their whole lives they grew up
smart they never had to go through the
struggle and they spent every day
knowing that they were smart they
thought this award ceremony was no big
deal because of them became easy
I’m even more choked up than I thought I
would but then this crazy thing happened
my name got called for kumoi day that
year I could have stepped back and
thought my dyslexia to find me in middle
school some kids started getting hooked
on drugs and partying but I got hooked
on getting an A I got addicted to the
feeling I felt from seeing an A or a B
on my report card and from that day on I
tried my hardest to get that a I did
everything in my power from getting my
extra help by getting my tests read out
loud color coordinating my notes every
tip and trick in the book to help me and
eventually I got there the years after
that were long and rewarding I made
honors ceremony
I got honors every single year after
that I got my letter in academics the
year after that I joined the Teen
Advisory Council at lacasa
to make a difference after that I got
inducted into National Honor Society and
then after that I joined the leadership
so I could help the incoming freshmen
now this was just my story and my story
does not speak for everyone struggling
with who learning disability but what
are we going to do are we going to sit
there and continue letting the letting
disabilities be treated with hatred and
pity or instead of how about we start
MIT encouraging the different way
everyone learns and understanding that
your level of intelligence isn’t a grade
but it’s what your can be good at
because learning stabilities have their
ups and downs but together we can make
those ups a lot more higher and those
downs a lot less lower anyone can be
successful with the right motivation and
support I mean take it from me I’m a
blonde I’m a girl I’m left-handed I have
glasses and I’m Dyslexic
the odds were completely against me but
I did it and I won’t lie and still feet
and say I don’t face challenges still
because I do I still face the mockery
and I still wonder if I’d be more
successful without my dyslexia but my
dyslexia is a part of me I love my
dyslexia and I love myself and that’s
something everyone should feel
disability or not because sticks and
stones may break our bones but words
will never hold us back so thank you
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
in your first-grade class doing work all
of a sudden the words and letters come
floating off the page your letters are
switched your sentences are jumbled
reading is a swirling storm and writing
is a mess
but somehow your answer on the page
still makes perfect sense to you
meanwhile all the people around you your
teachers peers friends and family are
all looking at you like you’re crazy so
what exactly is a learning disability by
definition it’s a condition bringing
difficulties to situations requiring
knowledge and skills by those expected
of the same age it’s pretty much saying
that you’re 6 years old you should know
the difference between a B and the D the
story I shared with you is very similar
to my own and many others alike about
10% of the population struggle with
learning disability and I’m one of the
lucky few I’m in my high school there is
about 240 people who struggle with it
and in this room alone it would probably
about the entire two front rows my
journey – Lexia started in 4th grade
when I started seeing a professional
Mathew Sokol for my diagnosis as we sat
there in that small grey windowless room
doing test after test after test it was
never-ending
until finally came the day February 14th
of 2009 I was diagnosed with severe
decide etic dyslexia as my mother sat
there with relief I was absolutely
horrified I was horrified because I was
different and I couldn’t do anything
about it I knew that I would have to
return to school the place I dreaded
with this secret that something was
wrong with me long story short school
was miserable the amount of days I
begged not to go doing everything in my
power from making myself physically sick
to crying into my homework until I
couldn’t until I couldn’t read the
questions
and some and as I sat there in that room
full of motivational posters I vowed to
myself that I would never speak about my
dyslexia Here I am so how many of you
here have ever felt alone felt out of
place and felt like you didn’t belong go
on raise your hands
okay good most of you okay so imagine
filling that for every minute of every
hour day week and month and year and I’m
getting choked up and that’s okay that’s
what I felt from kindergarten up to my
freshman year because somewhere along
the way the classmates around me
discovered terms like stupid dumb and
idiot as well as so much more and so
much worse because sticks and stones may
break my bones but words will never hurt
me yeah that’s a lie I’ve never had a
stick or a stone break a bone but words
I’ve definitely hurt me because I grew
up in an environment where these terms
weren’t only used as jokes weren’t only
used as insults but as jokes I shouldn’t
make it sound so bad though I was
surrounded by endless love and support
by everyone that was close to me and I’m
so grateful for that but what I’m not
grateful for is the constant
belittlement and mockery that comes with
having a learning disability I didn’t
ask for this but the worst part is is
that isn’t just in schools it’s all over
we use these words carelessly and we
toss them around but here’s my proposal
if all of those students room can just
stop and think before using one of these
terms if we can realize the impact of
our words can have on someone struggling
I can guarantee you it’s going to make
those 240 people feel it well it’s a
shame by themselves take it from someone
who knows who knows how it feels to be
sitting in a classroom in here whoa this
is so easy what do you mean you don’t
get it are you stupid or something
I hated my dyslexia and I hated myself
because I couldn’t change it
I couldn’t take a pill to manage it and
I couldn’t take a medicine to cure it
and you can’t run from your own mind I
tried to run away and live in solitude
and become Hollow but that’s my thoughts
for the scariest that’s when I was
filled with questions like was I smart
enough and what did I do to deserve this
and here’s the thing all I wanted was to
be normal but what’s the fun in being
normal my dyslexia gave me an amazing
imagination
I gave me a creative outlook and I was
able to spend all day in school where I
felt lost and misunderstood to come home
and feel welcomed and accepted because
when you have a learning disability you
think differently and you have a unique
way of thinking minor is creativity all
throughout school my grades were
horrible but my creativity was amazing
that is until seventh grade when I got
this Highlander way post card about
runners Knight I’m not going to go
support those nerds the ones that
taunted and teased me my whole life
because I wasn’t smart enough yeah I was
just gonna daydream in my room I was on
my friend about this and she informed me
that you only get a post card if you
yourself are in honors what that was
impossible they clearly sent it to the
wrong person I went anyway I was still
thoroughly convinced I was not in on a
role but I could just get my math class
so it was a win-win as I was sitting
there in that middle school cafeteria
surrounded by all these smart kids and
overachievers I couldn’t help but feel
completely and utterly insignificant I
felt this way because these were the
kids that their whole lives they grew up
smart they never had to go through the
struggle and they spent every day
knowing that they were smart they
thought this award ceremony was no big
deal because of them became easy
I’m even more choked up than I thought I
would but then this crazy thing happened
my name got called for kumoi day that
year I could have stepped back and
thought my dyslexia to find me in middle
school some kids started getting hooked
on drugs and partying but I got hooked
on getting an A I got addicted to the
feeling I felt from seeing an A or a B
on my report card and from that day on I
tried my hardest to get that a I did
everything in my power from getting my
extra help by getting my tests read out
loud color coordinating my notes every
tip and trick in the book to help me and
eventually I got there the years after
that were long and rewarding I made
honors ceremony
I got honors every single year after
that I got my letter in academics the
year after that I joined the Teen
Advisory Council at lacasa
to make a difference after that I got
inducted into National Honor Society and
then after that I joined the leadership
so I could help the incoming freshmen
now this was just my story and my story
does not speak for everyone struggling
with who learning disability but what
are we going to do are we going to sit
there and continue letting the letting
disabilities be treated with hatred and
pity or instead of how about we start
MIT encouraging the different way
everyone learns and understanding that
your level of intelligence isn’t a grade
but it’s what your can be good at
because learning stabilities have their
ups and downs but together we can make
those ups a lot more higher and those
downs a lot less lower anyone can be
successful with the right motivation and
support I mean take it from me I’m a
blonde I’m a girl I’m left-handed I have
glasses and I’m Dyslexic
the odds were completely against me but
I did it and I won’t lie and still feet
and say I don’t face challenges still
because I do I still face the mockery
and I still wonder if I’d be more
successful without my dyslexia but my
dyslexia is a part of me I love my
dyslexia and I love myself and that’s
something everyone should feel
disability or not because sticks and
stones may break our bones but words
will never hold us back so thank you
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
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