2008 Woodie Awards
Students with disabilities need to be recognized
Erin Mustain
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Forum
Some people take reading for granted. For them, reading is simple and relaxing. For them, it is easy to open a book and let their imaginations run wild with the story. For others, reading is a life-long struggle. For those who reading does not come naturally to, it can be frustrating and confusing.
Diagnosed with dyslexia at an early age, Kelly Kolander has not let frustration or confusion discourage her from reading and doing well in school.
But accomplishing this was not easy and Kolander's teachers did little to help her. Her teachers were not sensitive to her needs and most were not aware of her disability. Most of her teachers just assumed she was not working hard enough.
The reality was that she had to work harder than other students just to keep up with them. She had to watch her classmates effortlessly learn to read while she struggled. She had to spend more time reading because she read slower and it took her longer to understand the words. She had to face the fact that she was different.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, dyslexia is a "disorder that causes people to have difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and hinders the development of reading skills."
Teachers need to be able to recognize this disability in their students. They need to be more compassionate toward students who have problems with reading and writing because it is not always due to the student not working hard enough.
When Kolander first started school, her teachers understood that she had a problem with reading and writing. Kolander went through kindergarten twice and was put in special education classes in the first grade. For a few hours everyday, she was told to leave her normal class and go to a special education class to work on her reading and writing. During this time, Kolander was bringing home excellent report cards.
She stopped going to her special education class in the fourth grade because her teacher never told her when to go to the class. "I was shy and I didn't know what time the class was so I stopped going," Kolander said. Kolander stopped getting the extra help she needed and her teacher did not seem to care.
Diagnosed with dyslexia at an early age, Kelly Kolander has not let frustration or confusion discourage her from reading and doing well in school.
But accomplishing this was not easy and Kolander's teachers did little to help her. Her teachers were not sensitive to her needs and most were not aware of her disability. Most of her teachers just assumed she was not working hard enough.
The reality was that she had to work harder than other students just to keep up with them. She had to watch her classmates effortlessly learn to read while she struggled. She had to spend more time reading because she read slower and it took her longer to understand the words. She had to face the fact that she was different.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, dyslexia is a "disorder that causes people to have difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and hinders the development of reading skills."
Teachers need to be able to recognize this disability in their students. They need to be more compassionate toward students who have problems with reading and writing because it is not always due to the student not working hard enough.
When Kolander first started school, her teachers understood that she had a problem with reading and writing. Kolander went through kindergarten twice and was put in special education classes in the first grade. For a few hours everyday, she was told to leave her normal class and go to a special education class to work on her reading and writing. During this time, Kolander was bringing home excellent report cards.
She stopped going to her special education class in the fourth grade because her teacher never told her when to go to the class. "I was shy and I didn't know what time the class was so I stopped going," Kolander said. Kolander stopped getting the extra help she needed and her teacher did not seem to care.
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