One Person’s Path to Literacy
Sunday, September 26th, 2004
Note: this was first published for the now defunct web site: Half the Planet and has been online there or at ldresources since 2000.
I’m 52 years old, married, live in a nice house, have a successful career as an educational consultant, and I have a learning disability, dyslexia. My life was not always so great.
I was a premature breech birth, had meningitis, polio, and every childhood illness. I was tested for everything including language problems from an early age so I was labeled “dyslexic” early. I went to a special school until 6th grade where I had plenty of extra help and remediation. Still, I had to repeat 6th grade at that school. I suffered the rest of my school days in public schools where I did poorly.
When I went to college my life improved markedly because this is where I discovered art. The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words, so I took a lot of art courses. I got good at making things with clay and I learned my first important lesson about my language disability: I could be smart and articulate with clay and still have a language disability which made it hard to be smart and articulate with words.
My next big life lesson happened a few years later. I drove Volkswagens because they were the only cars I could afford. I knew little about cars and had never even changed the oil in one. One day the engine in my VW bus seized up and I didn’t have the money to have it fixed.
I bought the book How to Fix Your Volkswagen for the Complete Idiot. I started reading, slowly. I bought a few metric tools, pulled the engine, and dragged it into the backyard where I took it apart. Two weeks later when I got the engine into the car and it started I learned that when you feel good about yourself and are willing to take risks you can transfer confidence from one domain to another. I knew nothing about engines but took the confidence I’d gotten with art into a totally new domain.
My next domain was rock climbing. Hey, I don’t bungi jump; I’m not crazy. I got into climbing because it was a fun thing to do with friends. We all got into it at the same time and were all chicken from the start. However, we noticed that the more we did it the easier it was to take “exposure.”
So we did it more. And the more I did it the better I got. It wasn’t a talent thing, it was practice. After about five years of climbing I found myself in Yosemite Valley on a big wall. What had I learned? I’d learned that if you enjoy something and do it all the time you get better at it. Practice makes better.
Later I took that idea into a very scary place. I decided to see if I could actually learn how to read and write by practicing. I read and wrote every day for two years. This may seem obvious to you but it wasn’t to me; I had no idea that most people read things every day. I had avoided reading things as much as possible and avoided writing completely. Nevertheless, for two years I took my prior experiences and mapped them into learning how to read and write, and at the end of two years I’d learned a lot. Most importantly, I was literate.
Then came the dawn of personal computers. Once I used one, and then bought one, my writing and then my reading improved at a rapid clip.
Here’s the point: had I been given a computer as a child in school I doubt I’d have been mature enough to take full advantage of it and I doubt the school would have allowed me to use it in a way that would have been meaningful to me. I needed to go through the long, messy process that I went through with art, cars, climbing, and reading and writing to get to a place in my life where I knew I was smart enough to dive into an area that was totally unknown, hard, but interesting.
For me growing up was particularly painful and messy. My father used to tell me the bumps would build character and I would roll my eyes. Well, he was right. And even though I wouldn’t want to go through it all again I have plenty of character because of it all. And I can read and write.
It is much fun to read it again. Yes, you have plenty of character. :) I love the last picture.
Gary took that last picture.
Your autobiographical writing was great to read again, Richard. You’ve come a long way in life, thanks to lots of effort and energy on your part. You have a lot of character, and you a major character too! Thanks for the photo credit. I remember taking in in NYC.
Gary, I met you when I was deep into the chaos that turned into a very good new direction. You got to experience the embrionic me. Good thing you’re a nice guy and forgave me for it. At least I hope you did.
Richard, Yes, you were going through a lot of changes then and had some difficult times, but I knew you were (and still are) one amazingly talented and fun person. It was so good to see your life evolving in new, interesting, and very challenging ways. You put a lot into exploring art, rock climbing, computers, and experimenting with writing. And then the sharing, with me and many, many other people. I’ve always been impressed and inspired by the way you communicate and share your skills and experiences so well to help others. We’re far richer for getting to know you during your long journey.
The question is, when will this dang journey end? I’m tired of “travelling” and would rather just be playing drums!
Richard: “When will this dang journey end?” I don’t know. I think you need a guru. Have you talked to your wife about this?
Grinning….
Very inspiring Richard and it sounds like you’ve come a long way since the early years. But that’s what life is all about and I only hope that as I grow older I gain even the smallest bit of character that it appears that you posses. Thank you for your meaningful thoughts.
Patrick: thank you for the kind words. I agree, everyone goes a long way from early years to later years but few people stop to think about it, document it, and try to get a handle on how it all worked out. I feel lucky in that for the last 20 or so years I’ve been able to make a career out of figuring this stuff out live in front of audiences (as a presenter). That part of this story is over now. Not that I have all the character I want, I just need to move on in the process of getting more.
Hey Richard
Having not been in contact for over 25 years its a real treat to see your site. Your energy level seems even higher then when we were both in the Ceramic’s department. I remember very clearly how you were always , at least it seemed to me, able to focus in on the direction in life you were faced with.
Looking forward to seeing and reading more.
Peter
Peter: always great to hear from you. I took the liberty of moving your comment out of the Canon error 99 thread because it wasn’t really on topic there and moved it over here to a little piece I wrote that is closer to our common past. Hope that’s okay and I think you might enjoy reading this piece.
You’re right, my focus and motivation has always been strong. Not always aimed in a useful direction but once aimed certainly strong. I think it’s the way I learn: I get interested in something and then throw myself at it until I’ve got it. Then, unlike others, I tire of it and move on to something else. Some of the folks from our ceramics class/group, including you, have stuck with it and made a life and living out of it. I’m quite jealous of you and them for that. Of course, I have no idea if my work ever would have amounted to anything. I guess I’d like to think it might have.
Keep checking in Peter, always good to hear from you.
Richard,
What can i say now? I see a reflection of some of the things i had to go through as a ‘differently abled’ child in school. Your father was so right! The bumps build character. Today i think of how i was treated whenever i speak or act in a way that i feel would affect another person in a positive or negative way, im happy its the way it is even though i had to go through some of the most unpleasant things you can see in childhood.
Your story of your learning process is so inspiring and motivating, especially after a very long day at work and a not so good one.
I’m glad to have stumbled upon this write-up today. It certainly makes me feel better and has made my day.
Luv,
Dilip
Dilip: I’m glad you saw it too and thank you for such kind words about it. You might enjoy reading an article I did with two of my friend a number of years ago:
Digital Independence