This is the story about a grade 9 student who stood up in front of her class and told them she had developmental dyslexia. This is a girl who had been bullied by many of the people in front of her. This is a girl who had been treated differently her whole life and was no longer going to put up with it. This is my story.

Hi!

I am Madison and I have developmental dyslexia. This does not mean I am incapable like some might think, this simply means I need to put in extra work to achieve the same results.

Hi, Mr. D.

I just wanted to let you know that I have developmental dyslexia and require extra time for tests as well, I have difficulty reading.

Thank you for letting me know, Madison. I will keep this in mind for the year.

This was not a cry for help nor a request for special accommodations or special treatment. It was simply an explanation of who I am and what my struggles are.

Good morning Madison, today we will be doing some out loud reading but due to your struggles, I will not be asking you to read.

A few weeks later....

What? Why? What just happened?

I did not want special treatment, I did not want to be singled out. It made the bullying worse. I wanted to be like everyone else.

If I was treated differently how would I learn?

But this treatment continued. The teachers did not understand what I needed.

It felt like I was being stepped on by the teachers.

It felt like I was being squashed.

It felt like they did not want me to succeed.

I felt like nothing.

This went on forever. Before I was diagnosed, teachers gave up. Once I was diagnosed, teachers thought I was incapable. No one knew how to help. I felt horrible. I was always down. I needed to take action. I needed to change my future.

I had an idea.

I was going to write my grade 9 public speech on how I felt and on how I wanted to be treated. As well as how I believed people similar to me should be treated.

I was going to stand up for myself.

A couple years later...

Hi, Mr. S.

I have an idea and I would like to write my public speech based on my experiences with developmental dyslexia.

Love the idea, Madison.

Let me know how I can help.

Yay! For once I was excited about what I was doing. It was an even greater plus that my teacher supported me completely and was willing to help in whatever ways he could.

I got right to work. Even though I knew it was going to be a long road untill I completed it, I remained enthusiastic.

Presentation day.....

Madison are you ready?

If you decide you only want to present in front of me and a few friends that can be arranged, if not you are up next.

Thank you, but I am as ready as I will ever be!