Excerpt
Mrs. Lacey, a former athlete, soon recognized there was one other thing Jacob could do better than anyone else in the class, other than misbehave; that was hit a baseball. So during recreation period she set out to teach everyone how to hit a ball. From the mound, she would toss the ball towards the plate, nice and easy, while issuing instructions at the same time. Then after five or six hitters struggled, she would ask Jacob to get up to the plate and show them the proper way to swing a bat. He would saunter up to the plate, set his left foot deep in the batter's box, bend his knees slightly, elevate the bat to shoulder height, and stare at the pitcher.
Intuitively he seemed to know the key to hitting a baseball was in seeing the ball make contact with the bat. When Mrs. Lacey threw the ball, he never took his eyes off it. As the ball reached the plate, he would swing nice and easy and always, bat would make contact with ball. As the ball soared over first base Mrs. Lacey would begin dissecting his swing, his footwork and follow-through to the class. However bad he felt that morning, however frustrated he was all disappeared during recreation period.
Jacobs life changed during that school year. Although he was still struggling, and continued to sit in the back of the room for English, arithmetic, and history classes, now he had Art and recreation to balance the ledger. His classmates stopped making fun of him. He wasn't stupid anymore; he was just someone struggling at times, as were they. During the course of his academic struggles, Mrs. Lacey would come up to him, and very quietly whisper in his ear, "don't give up. I know it is hard for you, I know you will overcome, find a way. Don't quit now, find a way". She would see tears in his eyes, and knew he was trying, struggling to find the answer.
Mrs. Lacey seemed to know he was a child in need of being touched. When she encouraged him, she held his hand, or touched his arm or put her hand on his shoulder, and then and only then praised his efforts. Anyone in her purview who made any attempt to be cruel to him would be admonished with a look. She would then turn and say, "Find a way; I know you will find a way. Don't give up; you can do it, I know you can do it. You will find a way, and you will be successful. I know you are frustrated, I cant help that, but I will tell you now, you are far from stupid. In fact you are very, very smart. You have to discover how you learn best. I can't help you, only you can help you. Don't get discouraged, find a way; you will find a way, I know you will."
In the evenings at home, he would take the textbook, and go under the kitchen table with a lamp and practice reading. He felt more comfortable in the confines of small spaces taking risks. There he struggled and struggled and struggled. Yet still the sounds he heard coming out of his mouth were not the same as he heard from other students in class. Nothing seemed to make sense to him. But as long as Mrs. Lacy continued to have faith in him, he would struggle on. She simply refused to allow him to quit. He could not let her down. And so, he continued to struggle, and struggle and struggle some more. When he tired and became frustrated he would hear Mrs. Lacey's voice saying, "Find a way, find a way".
One evening, at the height of his frustration, he began to taunt himself. "You are so stupid, what a dummy you are. All those kids are right you are so stupid! Let's see if you can sound more stupid then usual. Read backwards, and really make a fool of yourself." So to take his mind off his stupidity, he started to read backwards, and, viola, holy smoke, he started to sound just like the other kids. He sat there under the kitchen table stunned. What, does everyone read backwards? Go from right to left? He could not imagine that to be true. Nevertheless, for the rest of the evening he continued to practice reading from right to left. It didnt make any sense, nevertheless it sounded right. The next morning in class, while everyone was busy, he raised his hand and said, "Mrs. Lacey, Mrs. Lacey, could I show you something?"
"Of course, I will be there in one moment". As she walked over to his desk he took out his book, and as she approached his desk, began to read out loud backwards. After struggling to verbalize a few words, he looked up at her. She stood there looking at him with the biggest grin he had ever seen. Almost immediately, her whole face softened; a tear formed, and in a soft loving voice he heard her say, "You found a way, didn't you? You found a way."
He whispered, "I dont know, I'm reading backwards. I know its wrong, but it sounds right." She continued to smile, "that's okay, that's okay. With some people the brain works a little differently. It's not any better or worse, just different. Just continue to practice, and develop your skills. Reading backwards, huh." She messed up his hair, and walked away.
Jacob slowly progressed from the last row, to the next to last row, to the middle of the classroom and up to the first row. A place he never left for the rest of his career in elementary school. He had overcome.
He was not stupid, as he had believed. Dyslectic yes, but stupid no.
|