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Dyslexia is a spectrum of learning disorders that involves difficulty reading due to a difficulty in associating the sounds of speech or numerical values with written words and numbers.
Making that connection is called decoding.
It can make schooling very difficult for children, especially as behaviors associated with dyslexia are often attributed to the student being inattentive or unintelligent unless a dyslexia diagnosis is made.
English teacher Jane Broadis shared a poem by one of her students who is dyslexic. They were exploring poems that can be read backwards, often called "reverse poetry." The poems have a different meaning when read in one direction versus the other.
Not to be confused with palindromes, which can also be read forward or backward, but will have the same meaning both ways.
The poem, titled "Dyslexia," paints a very negative picture of dyslexia when read forward.
When read bottom-to-top, however, it tells a very different story:
For anyone struggling to make out the photo, AO's poem reads:
"DYSLEXIA"
"I am stupid"
"Nobody would ever say"
"I have a talent for words"
"I was meant to be great.
"That is wrong.
"I am a failure."
"Nobody could ever convince me to think that"
"I can make it in life."
"NOW READ UP!
"By AO"
Twitter users are overflowing with praise for the student's poem, and its message.
Many of AO's fellow dyslexics related to the poem.
It seems from her poem that AO is beginning to learn that how she feels about herself and her self-worth are ultimately more important than what others think about her.
Doing things differently than other people doesn't mean you're doing them badly. And needing help doesn't make you less of a person.