Doy noha vedy sxelsia?

Can you really imagine what it would be like to have dyslexia? Or perhaps dispraxia? Or for that matter, any other kind of language incompetency? I can imagine. Because, in fact, today, I had one.

In today's class reading exercise, I was one of the few who were given an incorrect version of the reading - some letters were upside down or backwards, so b's, p's, d's and q's were easily confused; some words didn't have spaces between them, or the spaces were in the wrong places...and all in all, it was very difficult to read. I tried my best to decipher what was going on and make sense of the reading, but my brain had a hard time getting around the oddly-paired consonants and vowels.  Greg was the first one to get picked on, and I tried to follow as he struggled to read his paper, which I'm guessing was just like mine. What caught me off-guard in our little role-playing game was when he was told to "try harder" and "concentrate more". He was scolded for trying his best and, frankly, he was doing a better job than I would have done. I found myself thinking 'please don't pick me, please don't pick me, PLEASE don't pick me' and tried to look away so I wouldn't be chosen to read next.

In retrospect, it was good to know what it feels like to be centred out.  It's good to know the pit-in-your-stomach feeling, and to be aware of the anxiety that picking on a student with a LD can cause, so that it can be avoided. 

Another interesting fact brought up today was that learning disabilities shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing.  Learning disabilities are not the fault of the student or the teachers, and in my opinion, should be viewed as a challenge and an opportunity for improvement as a teacher. Accommodating students with learning disabilities also gives us the chance to practice differentiated instruction and to explore possible modifications in the class.  Learning disabilities, therefore, should be embraced, not shyed away from.  By doing this, hopefully the students will feel less alienated and more included in the class setting. Inclusion is very important, as it makes students feel comfortable and as if they are contributing to a term. In addition, for some of these students, the classroom 'team' is the only peer group they are involved in, so it's very important to foster a healthy, inclusive classroom.