Throughout my life I have struggled a great deal with reading, writing and spelling. Ten-year-old Emily would have nightmares about reading aloud in class and Friday morning spelling tests. I grew up envying my classmates who read out loud effortlessly and had finished the chapter when I hadn’t made it to the third page. Things only got worse when I arrived at high school. I was faced with a plethora of time writings and an avalanche of essays. I had no idea why I couldn’t write a paragraph during a timed writing but my classmates could turn in completed essays within thirty minutes. My learning disability soon turned into a hurdle that seemed impossible to overcome. It wasn’t until my junior year of High School that I started to notice the impact that my struggle with …show more content…
My results enabled me to get a 504 plan for the rest of my high school career. With this I was able to have extended time of exams, bigger font on each page and a “small-room” testing environment opposed to in a large class room. Each of these accommodations helped me tremendously. I was able to complete my tests in the time I needed to achieve the best grade possible. I also was able to see text better which quickened the time it took me to read things. The anxiety that had previously been caused by a school environment was still there, however, nowhere near as bad as it had been. Receiving my diagnosis made me become a better advocate for my learning needs and I enjoyed school much more as a result. Understanding my dyslexia, both the strengths and the weaknesses that come with it, make it possible for me to feel more comfortable with my learning difficulties and with myself. Knowing and understanding my disability has taught me strategies to learn the best way for me and I have enjoyed reading and writing much more as a