Jennifer's Story
In her own words
It
wasn't until I home-schooled my youngest daughter that I found out that I had
dyslexia. My husband and parents always encouraged and believed in me, but I
still thought I was stupid. I saw my daughter applying the same tricks I used
while learning to read, memorizing the order of works that were recited. As
long as the order of the words was not changed I could "read" and spell them.
But, put the words in a different order or context, and I could not "read" or
spell them. Not until I was in fourth grade did I learn to read, and in fifth
grade did I comprehend what I was reading. I was barely able to pass my math
courses for college-prep in high school. It was my thesaurus, not my
dictionary, that was worn out. I could not spell a word well enough even to
look it up in the dictionary, nor could spell check help. I would look up a
word meaning the word that I wanted to find the word I thought I wanted. Then I
would look up the word that I found to make sure that word, by its definition,
was the word that I wanted. I tried two years of college before I gave up. I
loved to learn and enjoyed college, but I could not keep getting Ds, Cs and one
or two Fs and receive a college degree.
When I saw my daughter going down the same learning path, I tried to find
answers. In the early 90s, there still wasn't much information out there on
dyslexia, but I read every library book that I could find. At least, I now knew
that I wasn't dumb. I found no help for me, but though a friend who was a
reading teacher I found more coping skills for my daughter.
I still wanted to finish my college degree, but I knew it would result in more
Ds, Cs, and Fs. I was told about hiring people to read out loud to you and
courses with book tapes, but I wanted to handle the material myself.
Every once in a while, I would check in the library to see if there was new
research or information about dyslexia. I googled "dyslexia" on the Internet,
and new information about a program that started in the UK came up on the
screen. I linked to the DORE website, read the articles, and wrote down their
toll-free phone number. I shared the information with my husband, who
encouraged me to call. After a few months of getting up my nerve, I did call.
They sent me a video with material telling about the program. A few months
later, we set up a time to talk to them in person just to ask more in-depth
questions, and so that my veterinarian husband could see if, medically, they
were what they said they were.
I stared the program a month later. The first thing that I noticed was my depth
of field was more defined. After my second visit, I noticed that the speed of
my reading had increased. I was able to read and understand philosopher Francis
A. Schaffer's book that I've tried to read on and off for years. Also, I was no
longer telling my husband to use both hands on the steering wheel to keep me
from getting motion sickness. I was reading the road maps while traveling and
not getting sick after four months of the DORE Program. In the seventh month of
the program, I could spell words! I may still use a dictionary some, but now I
use it like my husband does— just to make sure. Finally, my husband now trusts
me with balancing the checkbook. I'm much more sure of myself in social
settings. My husband says that I pay more attention to time, and the house
clutter is slowly getting organized. After I finish with the DORE Program, I'm
going to finish my college degree. I didn't think that this would be possible—
to be out of the prison of dyslexia, for that is what dyslexia is: a prison of
a mind that can't communicate. Now because of the DORE Program, my mind is free
to communicate.
Our youngest daughter has just started the DORE Program.