Personal Narrative: My Elementary School Experience With Learning Disabilities

While learning disabilities are often used to explain an individual's struggle with a subject, they seldom explain how an individual grew and overcame great adversity. My elementary school experience was a blissful and joyful time; I often allowed my imagination to shape the world around me while still holding onto reality and working on my studies. Yet in third grade, my schooling began to shift. With my advanced math skill, I tested into the gifted program,designed for the brightest students in my school; however, in deep contrast my reading and writing skills were greatly below the average level of a third grader. Due to this extreme contrast in abilities, the final verdict for my move into the gifted program was negative, and I continued my education with the majority of students. I never thought much of this situation until my fifth grade came to an end and the decision had to be made for my transition to a middle school academic level. Although my math skills again recommended me for the gifted program, my reading and writing scores, which were in the bottom twenty-five percent of students, convinced the school board that I belonged in

People often look at their learning disabilities as an excuse for their actions and never try to overcome them; however, my school offered and I took advantage of the methods to do more than simply succeed, and while many individuals ignored advice and techniques, I moved from the bottom twenty-five percent and into a world where the idea of reading and writing no longer strikes fear in me. My evolving system of accommodating and conjuring, along with my desire for success, has granted me this gift and allowed me to surpass every mentally challenging goal I set myself and dispel any chains that my dyslexia held on