Hi! My name is Zach and I have dyslexia. When I asked my mom, “What is dyslexia?” She said, “It means you have trouble seeing letters as words.” 

Sometimes, reading and writing is hard for me.  

Sometimes I can read well, but other times I cannot! Grrrr! I am not lazy, I am not a blockhead, I just have dyslexia!

I also have a hard time remembering directions. With dyslexia, I have trouble knowing my left from right and up from down.

This means that following directions is not easy for me. Most of my friends do not have dyslexia. 

I wish they understood me! 

Left Right

Up

Down

Even though I have dyslexia, I am good at many things!

I am good at riding my bike and I can go really fast.

I am on my best behavior with my grandpa and grandma.

They think I am good at telling jokes!

My mom would read to me when I was a baby. As I grew, she noticed I did not like books very much. She could tell I had trouble figuring out shapes and words. 

She worked really hard with me. However, she knew that I would need more help than she could give me. 

When I started school, my mom took me to see a doctor. She was worried about me. The doctor did tests and I had to see a lot of new people at my school. The doctor told my mom I have dyslexia.

He said that I see words and letters differently than my friends do. Sometimes I may get letters switched like when I write “left” instead of “felt”. I try to do my best in school. But it is hard for me. 

My teacher Ms. Clarke helps me with my dyslexia. She tells me I am good student. Mrs. Clarke and other people at school had a special meeting to talk about my dyslexia. They found ways to help me learn that won’t frustrate me as much. They really want me to know how to read and write.

Now I get excited to do well in school.