2025 Scholarship Recipient – Malia McGarry

Living with Auditory Processing Disorder: Say What?

What did you say? is something I would say more times than I can count. Now, every time I say it, that simple phrase makes me grin a little. In the past, I worried about not getting what someone said the first time, and in turn being judged. However, as I’ve learned more about Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), that simple question has become a reminder of my journey: from confusion to understanding, from self-doubt to embracing who I am.

“Say what?” has become the soundtrack of my life. Hearing the words clearly was never the problem, but the challenge came with processing them. Most of the time, it would feel like I was solving a puzzle every sentence, trying to complete the full picture.

Going through life with APD has allowed me to learn how to read expressions, tune into emotions, and better understand tone, which are all important factors that have shaped how I communicate. Most of all, learning more about my own APD has motivated me to become a pediatric neurologist who helps others understand that the brain is a beautiful but complex thing.

Growing up, school was always my biggest enemy, yet I was able to win the final battle. Living life with APD meant that while my classmates were zooming through the instructions seamlessly, I was still trying to decode the first step.

It was often frustrating and discouraging to work twice as hard and understand half as much; however, I never let that frustration determine the kind of student I was.

Over the years, I learned to rely on my own strategies to make up for what I might have been missing because of my APD. I relied on visual cues, became a detailed note-taker, and used repetition to help make sense of what I heard. APD taught me how to be resilient, adaptable, and most importantly, persistent.

Those are a few of the qualities that have shaped how I learn and how I address challenges I might encounter both inside and outside the classroom. Looking back, I understand every step I have taken is a step in the right direction, and I am in awe of how far my persistence, not perfection, has brought me.

Fully embracing my life with Auditory Processing Disorder, my frustration and self-doubt quickly turned into curiosity. I soon realized that I was living inside a neurology textbook long before I ever opened one. I wanted to better understand why my brain worked the way it did and why hearing sounds was so easy, yet processing them sometimes felt impossible. Those questions led me to explore more about the brain: how it interprets information, what neurons and synapses are, and how everyone’s brain is unique. The more I learned about the brain, the more inspired I became to study neuroscience.

My future goal is to work as a pediatric neurologist who helps children realize that their challenges are not limitations; instead, they show how the brain is extraordinarily strong and remarkably resilient.

As I look back, I am no longer under the impression that my Auditory Processing Disorder is a limitation; now I see it as a source of strength and resilience. Living with APD has allowed me to learn that growth comes from the roadblocks we least expect, and through resilience and persistence, we can turn confusion into clarity. Every single “What did you say?” has been a building block in shaping who I have become: someone who leads with empathy, listens actively, and shows patience.

My APD journey has inspired my passion for neuroscience and has shown me that through determination, I can turn any challenge into an opportunity. It has shown me that I can achieve anything if I put my mind and heart into it.

2024 Scholarship Recipient – Ajoi Adams

Living With Dyslexia: A Journey of Strength and Adaptation

Dyslexia is often described as a “hidden disability,” yet for those who live with it, its impact is anything but hidden. It influences the way people read, write, and process information, creating challenges that touch almost every aspect of daily life. For me, living with dyslexia has been both a journey of struggle and an unexpected source of strength, pushing me to develop resilience, creativity, and a deep sense of self-awareness.

From an early age, I realized that learning, for me, did not come in the same form as it did for my peers. While others seemed to glide through reading assignments and spelling tests, I was always the last one to finish. Words would jumble, letters would switch places, and my mind felt like it was running a marathon just to keep up. The frustration I felt during those early years of school was immense, and it was easy to feel isolated, as if I were the only one who was struggling.

The turning point came when I was formally diagnosed with dyslexia. At first, it felt like a label—something that set me apart from everyone else. But over time, I began to see the diagnosis as an explanation, rather than a limitation. Knowing that my brain processed information differently was empowering. It allowed me to let go of the idea that I was “slow” or “less capable” than others. Instead, I began to approach learning with a new mindset—one that embraced adaptation and flexibility.

Learning with dyslexia requires creative problem-solving. I’ve had to find methods and tools that work for me, which has meant experimenting with everything from audiobooks and text-to-speech programs to color-coded notes and mnemonic devices. While others might memorize by rote, I’ve found that I learn best through visualization and association. For example, I often picture stories as if they are movies in my mind, which helps me to retain information and make sense of complex ideas. My learning process may be different, but it’s uniquely mine—and it works.

Despite the personal strategies I’ve developed, living with dyslexia in a world that often demands quick reading and rapid comprehension presents daily challenges. Something as simple as reading a menu or filling out a form can still trigger anxiety, particularly in situations where I feel rushed or under pressure. In academic settings, where tests are timed and speed is often equated with intelligence, the challenges of dyslexia can feel especially pronounced.

However, I’ve learned to advocate for myself, ensuring I get the accommodations I need, like extended time on exams or the use of assistive technology. Advocating for myself has not only improved my academic performance but has also taught me valuable lessons about self-empowerment.

Another key lesson I’ve learned from living with dyslexia is patience—both with myself and with others. There have been countless moments when I’ve had to remind myself that it’s okay to take things at my own pace. I’ve also had to educate those around me about what dyslexia is and how it affects my learning process. Sometimes people assume that dyslexia only affects reading, but it also impacts writing, spelling, and even how I organize my thoughts. Explaining this to teachers, friends, and employers has been a crucial part of ensuring that I’m understood and supported.

Dyslexia has also shaped my sense of empathy. I know firsthand what it feels like to struggle in ways that others don’t always see, and that has made me more attuned to the hidden challenges others may face. It’s given me a greater appreciation for the diversity of human experience and the different ways we all approach the world. It’s also driven me to be an advocate for others, particularly those with learning disabilities, as I understand how important it is to have someone in your corner who believes in your potential.

Conclusively, living with dyslexia has been an exercise in resilience. It’s taught me to navigate challenges with creativity and determination, to advocate for myself, and to embrace the things that make me unique. Dyslexia may be part of who I am, but it doesn’t define me—it’s simply one thread in the complex, colorful tapestry of my life. And for that, I’m grateful.

2023 Scholarship Recipient – Kathleen Arnett

Living with Auditory Processing Disorder

Ever since I was an infant, my parents knew that there was something unusual about me on a number of levels—one of them being my hearing. How could I remember every movie I had ever seen—even if only a singular scene—yet it took me a minute or more to respond to the simplest command? How could I possess a third-grade-level vocabulary and reading skills in kindergarten, yet couldn’t pronounce my th sounds properly and struggled profusely with reading comprehension? How could I be a memorization machine when it came to songs and movie dialogue, yet struggle with remembering to do a specific task mere minutes after receiving it?

All of these questions and no answers—except for the family doctor’s perpetual response of “She’ll grow out of it.” Needless to say, I didn’t grow out of it; the problems simply multiplied. It was not until my senior year of high school that we finally got some answers.

In 2021, I was tested by an audiologist and found to have the Integration variant of CAPD (Central Auditory Processing Disorder). Because of this, I struggle to filter out various sounds when both my left ear and my right ear are engaged. This finding explained why my responses to spoken dialogue are delayed, and my comprehension of the written word is hindered. A few months after being diagnosed with CAPD, I was also diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and ADHD—two conditions that further compounded my misunderstanding of both the spoken and written word. At the time of diagnosis for all three conditions, it seemed to me as if I finally understood why I acted and responded the way I did—and why I had never been able to fully explain how it felt to not understand things the way everyone else did.

Since being diagnosed with CAPD, ADHD, and ASD, I have realized that while I will never be “normal”, I can learn how to develop my strengths and cope with my weaknesses.

I have gained access to a whole new world of interventions. Months before being diagnosed, my parents placed me in occupational and physical therapy. During that time, my parents and I had many battles with medical insurance over fee coverage. Before I was diagnosed, the constant argument our insurance company made was something along the lines of, “She can overcome X struggle without further intervention.” After I was diagnosed, however, we began winning some (though not all) of those battles. In addition, I successfully graduated from physical therapy, pediatric occupational therapy, and speech therapy and am looking forward to graduating from adult occupational therapy in the near future.

I still have trouble with certain social skills and reading comprehension, but I am seeing daily improvement in these areas. Because of intervention, I am now able to pronounce my th sounds correctly (90% of the time), read both the treble and alto clefs in music (with minimal difficulty), better comprehend information in most literary works and my textbooks, and either shut out or cope with most unavoidable noise. I have also obtained the accommodations I will need to succeed in college, including extended testing times, audio textbooks, and lecture note handouts.

This fall, I plan to attend Bob Jones University to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders. After college, I hope to obtain a Master’s in either Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology. I desire to study one of these specialties because I want to assist others with struggles similar to my own. I look forward to the future with anticipation and the hope that I can succeed in spite of my struggles as I seek to help others do the same.

2022 Scholarship Recipient – Nicholas Panzarino

Living with APD by Nicholas Panzarino

In middle school, at age 10, I was diagnosed with a learning disability, Auditory Processing Disorder. I remember that day as feeling happy and sad. I was finally relieved to make sense as to why it took me longer to learn and do certain things. Like most people with a learning disability, I had the inevitable moment of feeling powerless and unintelligent. But I also had the positive moments of feeling successful and capable. My middle school years consisted of building my self-esteem by spending countless hours playing the hardest video games and building my own incredible creations with my Legos without having to read the instruction manual.

It is difficult to live a normal life with Auditory Processing Disorder. I am unable to hear sounds as words. Therefore reading, spelling and language comprehension have always been challenging and difficult for me. I have poor memory recall due to not being able to distinguish words or syllables that sound alike. To this day, I still have not been able to memorize the multiplication table. I also have trouble keeping up with conversations in groups and many times, avoid this situation as it makes me feel inadequate and frustrates me. Due to my inadequacies, I do not have a lot of friends and socializing is scary and hard for me. My mother quit her job to help me acquire good study habits and advocate for myself. As a result of my hard work and determination, I graduated high school as an honors student and a member of The National Honor Society.

Advocating for yourself takes time and effort. It helps build your confidence. The more you self -advocate the easier it gets. When you realize people want to help you and contribute to your success, it builds self-confidence. My learning difference also taught me to embrace differences in others. Because I have learned to find my own strengths in unconventional places, I have learned the importance of doing the same for others. Although my daily struggles with school included working twice as hard as other students, I would often get stereotyped by others who did not understand what it means to have a learning difference. However, I refused to give up. I have learned the importance of standing up for my myself, being confident and determined. This got me involved in joining clubs at school and becoming involved in community service.

I believe it is important to raise awareness about different learners. Not enough people take the time to become educated on what they are and can make false assumptions on how they affect someone. I remember being ashamed of my diagnosis of Auditory Processing Disorder, now as a young adult, I feel good to embrace the positives associated with it and share it with others. It changed the way I felt about myself giving me the confidence and reinforcing the truth that having a disability does not make you any less smart or capable.

I look at the world and see the amazing potential that exists in diversity. My diagnosis of APD has enabled me to see the beauty in difference and the passion to change the way we define intelligence, anyone with a learning disability can fully succeed in life. I am living proof of this. I currently attend Lynn University as a business major.

I will continue to work hard in all that I do both personally and academically.

2021 Scholarship Recipient – William Smallwood

In 2009, I discovered I was different from other students, but I certainly didn’t understand how this difference would affect the rest of my life. First grade is the year most students learn to read, and the majority of my class was on track and improving daily with their reading skills. For me, this was not the case.

While most of the class was reading at a normal first-grade Lexile level of 450-500, my reading level was at 120-220. However, even with this below-average reading level, I excelled in other areas of school like math and science. As time passed, my teacher and my parents started to get concerned, and they discussed the possibility that I may have dyslexia. As it turned out their initial thought was correct, as the testing confirmed that I was in fact dyslexic.

This diagnosis meant that I would have to work twice as hard as other students to get A’s and find different ways to study because my brain works differently, and I had to understand how to adapt.

I learned that my brain can’t connect the sounds made up by the words with the letters that should correspond to the sound. Dyslexia causes my brain to switch letters and move letters from one line to another: for example, I not only have a tendency to switch B’s to D’s but I have issues identifying common words such as know, now, knew, and new. When I read text, letters jump from lines below to the lines I am reading which makes it extremely difficult recognizing and defining words. It has taken many years for me to fully understand how my brain works.

When it comes to studying, I know I can’t wait until the night before a test to start studying; I must start studying at least a week before a test. If a test has anything to do with vocabulary, the best way for me to retain the information is to make flashcards in different colors. Color coordinating the vocabulary terms enhances my ability to process new information.

Although there are challenges to being dyslexic, I refuse to let it hold me back, and I have found some positive aspects. I am extremely creative and see the world differently. In high school, I was able to take the most advanced art classes my school offered, and my teachers entered me into several statewide competitions over the years. While art is important to me, I also was able to take a rigorous academic class load in high school and graduated in the top 5% of my class, #34 out of 602 students. I was also honored to be a US Presidential Scholar semi-finalist for the State of Georgia.

I am currently a freshman student at the University of Georgia. The major I intend on studying is exercise and sport science. After I complete my bachelor’s degree, I plan to attend medical school so I can follow my dream to become a surgeon.

Dyslexia has not held me back, and it has not defined me. Instead, it has taught me that being different and learning differently is sometimes better than being “normal.”

2020 Scholarship Recipient – Mara Land

Living With Dyslexia by Mara A. Land

School was a Puzzle
School success is primarily based upon access to and expression of quality spoken and written English. Mishearing and guessing at instructions, asking for a slower repetition, choosing fewer and simpler words, recalling directions and sequencing differently, experiencing distraction by background noises and piecing together parts of conversations were some of my daily school challenges.

Assembling and re-assembling together parts of words and sentences, re-reading material again to make sense of information, taking frequent reading breaks because of fatigue all in the midst of dizzying classroom noise summarizes other school challenges I faced. School was a daily puzzle. I am single sided deaf and live with dyslexia, auditory processing deficits, ADHD and Tourette Syndrome.

Hearing Loss
In kindergarten, I was diagnosed with hearing loss. Classroom amplification, hearing aids, and sign language were not recommended and were, in fact, discouraged. Sitting in the front of the class, having instructions repeated and protecting my hearing ear by not playing musical instruments were three strategies recommended by the professionals as a way to cope.

What happened in my real life is that the teachers rarely repeated instructions, I did go on to play musical instruments including the piano, violin, and French horn because it didn’t seem reasonable to live sheltered and I learned that sitting in the front of the room was actually worse because I couldn’t see the faces of other students and I missed even more spoken words.

Diagnosed with Dyslexia and ADHD
Despite working extra hard at school and desiring to learn, my academic struggles increased. In 3rd grade I was privately tested and was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. Testing also showed a low IQ score.

No specific intervention was recommended other than I was told to work harder, which I did anyway to compensate, and my parents were told to read up on dyslexia and we were wished well by the test examiner. By middle school, the academic gap was wider. For support, I received outside tutoring, which was a repeat of instructions and not a solution. By ninth grade I lost interest in school. My work ethic didn’t seem to be paying off.

Giving up seemed like a possibility. However, two things got me out of bed every morning: competitive swimming and learning to communicate in American Sign Language (ASL).

American Sign Language
Learning ASL came easily for me and by the end of 9th grade I became proficient. On a hunch, I requested an ASL interpreter for school to solve the communication access problems. Indeed, I was correct. “Mishearing” or piecing together spoken English became a thing of the past as I could more easily see the communication.

Because of my hearing loss, my brain naturally compensates through stronger visual perception.

At this time, I did not know I had a disorder in auditory processing: I just couldn’t fully hear. When my school administrators wanted to save money by eliminating my interpreter, they claimed I could “hear”.

Auditory Processing Disorder Treatment
Promptly, I saw an audiologist who explained that I have an auditory processing deficit due to hearing loss. The symptoms of hearing loss and auditory processing deficits overlap in that there’s hearing but not always processing of language, or understanding and remembering instructions, for example.

Wisely, the audiologist recommended brain training to help with higher-order processing, memory, speed, and attention. Despite having an interpreter, I was still struggling with slow reading and retention as well as with expressive writing.

When I started Gemm Learning exercises, I saw no connection to my reading skills; similarly, when I started learning ASL I saw no link to how it would benefit me at school. Fairly soon, I began to notice ever-so-small improvements: reading eased, writing wasn’t the same old battle, I was less flustered, recalling words no longer involved strain, and my grades improved.

Best of all, I scored high on the ACT, which I attribute to Gemm Learning. I am now a freshman student in the Honors Program at Gallaudet University.

Essay of Note – Dear Dyslexia, by Lisa

We have known each other all of my life, but no one else knew that you were my shadow until elementary school. In third grade, my mom and dad found out that you held me back in class and tried to fix the problems you caused.

During the school day, Mrs. Ietto pulled me out of class for tutoring. We would work and work and work endlessly, trying all we could to improve my reading and writing abilities. We used flashcards, color-coded letter tiles, and whiteboards. Sometimes, it worked. My spelling and reading skills increased, but that did not stop the mistakes from happening.

With you by my side, both English and math became my enemies as school continued to increase in difficulty. You mixed up lowercase b’s, d’s, p’s, and q’s. In math, plus-signs and minus-signs looked practically the same. Left and right meant absolutely nothing to me – holding up both hands and seeing which one makes an ‘L’ does nothing for a person who sees letters that are shuffled and backwards. The sounds of words and their spellings also did not translate well in my mind because of you.

For a fourth grade Mother’s Day writing assignment, I tried to spell out the word ‘specific’ but spelled it as ‘pacific’ because they both seemed the same to me. I struggled because of you, but my school eventually thought that I had beaten you.

Fifth grade became my last year of tutoring before I continued to learn new grammar rules and spelling words without Mrs. Letto sitting by my side. Fifth and sixth grade turned out to be not too much of a struggle. Of course, that does not mean problems were nonexistent; they were just better than before. In sixth grade, I made it into the enrichment math program, and I worked diligently that year to do well. You continued to hold me back when I entered seventh grade.

Because I was going from a private school to a public school, I had to take placement tests for reading and math. I could be placed in a high-leveled reading class or not take a reading class at all (either of which I was hoping for); however, no such luck came to me. Placed in a lower reading class, I was heartbroken. I thought that I had overcome your difficulties, only to be proven wrong.

As the years passed, I continued to try to outrace you and to press on with my battle against you. Too often my struggles resulted in failure. When entering high school, I realized my desire to learn multiple languages, and I became aware of the impact you have on doing so. You make it basically impossible. Pronouncing words properly, comprehending reading passages, and applying grammar rules became a source of my frustration and struggle while studying German. You have created quite a blockade from accomplishing my dreams. Doch , I will continue to fight.

Despite the attempts I have made to improve and defeat you, I still feel your influence in my daily life. I know not where to put commas in sentences. Every time I type, I am guaranteed to hit the backspace key over and over again. Without spell check, my writing would be incomprehensible. Even now, I still cannot differentiate my left from my right. Once in a while, I even forget how to spell the simplest of words. You permeate every aspect of my life, Dyslexia, but I will not give up. I am determined to beat you into dust and win this lifelong war.

2019 Scholarship Recipient – Julian L.

Going to College

My name is Julian, I have auditory processing and dyslexia. For me, this never really never caused a problem. I was happy, had friends, played sports, and all of the other things that make most kids happy.

Sure, I couldn’t read like others in my class, and I didn’t always understand things, but I was smart enough to adapt. I learned to laugh when others laughed and learned to comment in similar ways as my friends, so to me, I was fitting in.

I guess I assumed that maybe everyone had trouble understanding and seeing words the way I did.

Then when I was in third grade I was removed from my regular class and friend and put in a “special” class. That’s when I realized I really wasn’t like others in some ways. I, unfortunately, lost a lot of friends during that time and was often isolated from the rest of the student body. So, my school years were not the best despite making moderate academic gains.

Fortunately, my parents found Gemm Learning and that made a huge difference in my life. It really taught me to read and understand. It’s hard to explain what I hear and don’t hear or understand or don’t understand to someone whose brain operates in a normal way. I can’t explain why I have words in my head to say, but, when I speak, they sometimes come out differently or wrong.

I can say that even at my age now, I still seem to be improving each year. Learning to read faster and understanding more has really opened a new world for me. I know if you can read and understand what you are reading, you can learn most anything you want. Learning and understanding is still difficult, don’t get me wrong, but I feel that I have made the most of my situation. In fact, I did another session of Gemm Learning just last summer. I hope that one day all the kids that have auditory processing issues and dyslexia could have the opportunity to enroll in Gemm Learning.

I believe that it enabled me to finish high school, apply to college and be accepted into the REACH Program at a college in South Carolina. This is a four-year certificate program. I just successfully completed my freshman year. This program enables students with disabilities to attend college classes with tutors, live in dorms and be just like regular students. You are not separated and put in “special” classes and the other students do not know you are a part of the REACH program. I know and I’m happy to say that my disabilities did not prevent me from applying to, and being accepted into a postsecondary program that provides an inclusive experience with no limitations. College is now possible for kids with disabilities.

My freshman year certainly made up for not being a part of “regular” school in high school. It’s amazing when you have the opportunity to “fit in” that you actually can become a part of a something much bigger. I’m looking forward to seeing what my sophomore year holds for me, and thanks Gemm Learning for helping along the way

Spring 2018 Scholarship Recipient – Samara Dengler

During my younger years, I never imagined I would be able to fully appreciate my capacity for perseverance. When I was in third grade, I was diagnosed with ADHD, Dyslexia, and Auditory Processing Disorder.

Each one of these learning disabilities has made it extremely difficult to learn even the most basic material. ADHD made it difficult to focus; Dyslexia made it very hard to put my thoughts down on paper; and Auditory Processing Disorder caused me to not be able to comprehend exactly what people were saying to me; My friends would tell you it makes me sound like an owl with my constant use of the word “who?”

Over the years, I found my own strategies that helped me understand the way I best think and process information.

As I entered high school, I was still fine-tuning the ways I educated myself best. I have continued to do so throughout my senior year, and will most likely need to the rest of my life. These difficulties may be reflected in my GPA and test scores, but they do not represent my true capabilities. I am passionate about my studies and continue to develop new learning methods.

I am very dedicated to both my studies and my extra-curricular activities. Over the last seven years, much of my outside time has been spent with horses. Horseback riding has taught me to prioritize, how to learn from my mistakes, it has built my confidence, and taught me responsibility. It may take months to master a new riding skill. This alone has instilled in me the value of hard work.

When I was younger I never wanted to ask questions because I felt as though I had more questions than everyone else. Riding horses has shown me that it never hurts to ask a question, regardless of how many you may have asked in the previous five minutes. Every question and answer, has helped me develop into the person I am now.

Growing up with these learning disabilities strongly encouraged me to become a teacher. I never want to see a student struggle as much as I did. I long to help each student find a learning plan that best fits his or her needs: help them reach his/her potential, and not have any of my students struggle like I did.

During my junior and senior year of high school, my first period was a Teacher Apprenticeship in a local Elementary school second grade classroom. Being in this class for the past two years has impacted me tremendously. The ability to help students like me everyday, has only increased my desire to teach. There was a student, Nadia who reminded me of when I was her age. I worked with her on areas where she was struggling, and having the ability to show her strategies that I developed and used was immensely rewarding. I not only got to see her growth, but even more, I was able to see her have the “light bulb” moment.

I can not describe how happy I was to be able to share my strategies, and see they can work for others. In addition, the greater part of my volunteer hours came from helping at a local underprivileged elementary school in their After School Program, where I assisted students with their homework, studying for tests, and even playing educational games.

This experience allowed me to see an entirely different group of children and how each one learns. My learning disabilities may have impacted my GPA and Standardized test scores, however, these are not a true measurement of my knowledge, abilities or passion. Not receiving the help, I so desperately needed with my learning disabilities has just made me stronger and more resolute, while horseback riding has helped me become an independent person who will never give up, or let anything stand in my way.

Fall 2017 Scholarship Recipient – Bridget Corso

Imagine this: you are an eighth grade student who can not read. Instead, you “catch” letters that are floating in the air, put them back in order, recognize the word, define the word, and then move to the next word to repeat the process. You do not comprehend what you are reading completely, but you hope to understand enough about the topic to learn something and answer a question. I did not have to imagine it, because this was my situation.

Yes, I am dyslexic, but at this point, I was self-diagnosed.

I had been tested many times, but was never diagnosed. In fourth grade I gave up, and tried different therapies with no improvement so I chose to learn my own way. I focused on my strengths. At a very young age I approached test taking with problem-solving strategies. In order to get an “A” I not only needed to know the information, but also needed to figure out how to read the questions.

Computers enabled me to excel. I found Quizlets, old exams, as well as many other resources to familiarize myself with questions. In order to not be embarrassed with not completing homework I did every question. I was never confident that I would write down the
correct assignment.

Starting high school I knew that I would not be able to maintain the grades my hard work deserved so I decided to get retested. Finally, I was diagnosed with Dysphonetic Dyslexia and CAPD, and was fortunate to locate the correct therapy. Unfortunately, therapy takes a significant amount of time and effort to improve. I had to quickly learn how to balance struggling in school and the long hours of therapy, which made me focus on a success in another field.

Field Hockey was where I found that I was extremely athletic.

That summer after sophomore year I worked extremely hard at two important things that defined why I am a success today. I participated in a summer immersion program called Girls Who Code where I learned to love computer science and problem solving and my desire to be a Computer Engineer. The second thing, and the most important, was the Gemm Learning therapy it is the summer I learned how to read.

In the end, my story about years of hard work and significant issues with learning does have a happy ending. I can now read and comprehend! Armed with these skills, I have received the grades my hard work deserves. I now know how to recognize and identify problems; as well as generate creative solutions.

Through this struggle, I have learned that I have the ability to overcome obstacles, the determination to achieve my dreams, and possess exceptional skills to ensure success. With this knowledge I now move on to my first step to my computer engineering
degree.

Spring 2017 Scholarship Recipient – Annika Berntsen

My moss green eyes, ash blonde hair, and pale skin were gifted from my kind Norwegian father. Most importantly, he gave me his fierce creativity via dyslexia. Dyslexia wasn’t a true concept to me as a kid, but rather a heavy gray cloud that consumed my tiny kid mind. In the first grade, I was placed in the lowest reading group, alone. In the second grade, multiplication tables consumed my entire existence. In the third grade, long division slowly devoured my confidence.

I remember those sobbing panic attacks in the minivan the mornings of elementary school spelling tests. Hours of practice with my ever patient mother could never seem to prepare me.

Scrambling up letters always seemed to be inevitable. As my years of education progressed, I developed a relentless determination to get good grades. I spent hours and hours studying, rehearsing, memorizing, whatever it took to prove to myself that I was just as smart as my peers.

As I entered middle school, my mother self-diagnosed my dyslexia as an auditory processing disorder. Plagued with such a discouraging title, my confidence crumbled. Teachers treated me differently. They slipped me answer keys to assignments with fake smiles, pity lingering in their eyes.

Rather than allowing me to adapt the curriculum to my one personal learning style, teachers impulsively shoved answers keys into my hands, somehow expecting this to cure me.

As I was thrown into a high school eighteen times larger than my middle and elementary school combined, I learned to utilize my unique perspective and learning methods. As my mind struggled to see curriculum as my peers did, I noticed that I saw the world through a different lens.

I interpreted concepts differently; my perspective was unique. To avoid my academic struggles, I escaped to creative outlets. Funny tweets got me friends and binge watching Youtube videos got me a career. I taught myself iMovie, creating videos, which portrayed my reverse perspective and dry humor.

Dyslexia created a fierce work ethic and a burning determination within me. As a college student majoring in Media Production, my dyslexia allows me to bring new ideas and a fresh outlook on storytelling and projects. Without dyslexia, I wouldn’t be the fighter they I am today, and for that, I am forever grateful for my Norwegian genes.

Fall 2015 Scholarship Recipient – Julia McGheean

As a child, in total frustration, I would throw my reading books across the room. I loved the stories but hated the text. I sought out others to read to me and listened to books on tape. This behavior contrasted testing in the 99th percentile in both verbal and quantitative skills and being placed in the advanced math and the gifted programs.

Soon, my teachers began to question my work and I began to question myself.

This left me in a conundrum. How could a smart kid struggle in school like this? They must have made a mistake. Although I earned a 3.8 GPA upon graduation, my efforts were triple those of my peers.

Reading is a chore. Words get in my way, dashing in and out of sight like butterflies fluttering on the page. That black and white print haunts me as it dances, vibrating in and out of focus while playing “Catch Me If You Can”. I try to follow in a straight line across the page but it wins every time.

Numbers are no different. Memorizing the times tables was an insurmountable feat. Fives would be sevens; sixes, nines and three and eight look alike. My columns looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa or slumped in a heap and I was left to do my math with a scrambled set of numbers. Intuitively I would come up with the answer or do picture
math in my head but I could scarcely show my work.

I was a curious child with deep thoughts but struggled with sequencing my sentences to make sense of my ideas. I struggled to remember the direction of letters and struggled to hold back my tears. I wished I could just tell them what I was thinking but they wanted it in print. I wondered how others got through it.

Then I learned it wasn’t like this for everyone. I was diagnosed with an auditory and a visual processing disorder which effected my sequential memory, decoding and eye tracking skills. This, in turn,effected my reading, writing and math. These issues were minimally addressed in the classroom and my frustrations and tears remained hidden at school.

Through dyslexia, I became a visual learner and developed a passion for visual expression. I learned that I was born an artist. I learned that dyslexia, a weakness in public school, is my strength at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. As an artist, I am free. My academic learning issues have no effect on me here. I am free from the demands to excel through my weaknesses and free to use dyslexia as my strength!

I am now a sophomore at a prestigious art college, majoring in sculpture and minoring in painting. My future career goals is to become a working artist and teach sculpture and painting at the college level. Through my dyslexia, I interact with the world in my unique way. In this arena, my dyslexia will help launch my success as an artist.

2015 Essay – Desiree

One of my most significant life challenges has been overcoming dyslexia. I recall being diagnosed while in the second grade. At the time, I did not quite understand what being dyslexic meant or that I would now be branded with a label of a learning disability. However, I understood the way I learned was different from other second graders. Other kids teased me due to my struggle with reading so much that I grew to disliking books and school. Reading aloud triggered emotions such as shame, embarrassment, and fear, fueled by watching the reaction of people as I stumbled and stuttered trying to interpret the words. Writing elicited feelings of frustration, anger, and overwhelming anxiety because my thoughts were not usually communicated due my tendency to misspell so many words. Friends who attempted to help only increased my complex emotional storm. My schoolwork consisted of a repetitive reading and writing cycle, which I found frustrating, because I wanted to get it all right the first time around.

My memories are full of people reassuring that I was such a bright kid, but I never felt that way. For a long time, I believed people were wrong about my intelligence and that they were looking for ways to enhance my self-esteem. Success and confidence walked into my life in the fourth grade when I attended a private school for children with learning disabilities. I was able to receive the help I needed through the hard work and additional efforts from parents and teachers. By the time I reached my mid-year seventh grade, I had acquired a ninth grade reading level, which was quite a big accomplishment for me.

However, my junior year of public high school brought many challenges. I was constantly seeking ways to improve myself, so I elected to enroll in an advanced placement English class, which involved my favorite subject in school. I received a “D” on my first course paper. Devastated, I began to question my intelligence again. Since being enrolled in private school, I had never received anything below a “B” on my essays. I was extremely upset, so I began to wonder if the problem was my dyslexia. The teacher began to challenge us to write all our essays in class while being timed. I struggled with thoughts of giving up, because I felt like I could not keep up or pass her class. In the end, I did to stick with the class, and I began to work harder to receive a better grade in her class. By the end of the semester, I was receiving high grades on my essays, and there was no question in my mind that despite my dyslexia I could do advanced course work.

Today, I am a college student who mentors other students and provides motivational talks about living with disabilities. I always mention its effects on the lives of people who have dyslexia and how to overcome barriers related to their disability. As part of a mentoring group, I found sharing helps increase my confidence. My disability brings challenges, because I still struggle with reading out loud, and I utilize accommodation in order to meet the demand of my course load. I do not mind, because my dyslexia does not define me. My dyslexia has taught me resilience, perseverance, and endurance, because the best things in life are a challenge.

2015 Essay – Alexis

Anything Is Possible If You Put Your Mind To It, With Or Without Dyslexia

My name is Alexis S. and I found out that I had dyslexia when I was in third grade. I have always had a hard time reading and writing, and feel behind in class often when I was little.

Growing up with this disability was hard but it taught me that I can do anything I put my mind to. The first time I found this out was when I wanted to get straight A’s in school so my parents would believe in me.

Then I was able to do dual enrollment classes as a junior in high school, and II got an A in my first college class I saw that I could do anything I put my mind to.

This will help me in college because you need to believe you can do something to be able to do it or come close to doing it. Having faith in myself will help me in my future career when I need to lead people. People acknowledge you more when they hear the confidence in your voice.

It will also help me when I have to try something new or an animal’s life depends on me. I want to be a veterinarian, so I have a lot of college, and I will have a lot of animals depending on my diagnosis. I will most likely be cutting into an animal and I will have to have confidence in myself to be able to perform the procedure and perform it correctly.

Dyslexia is hard to learn around, but with the help of my parents and teachers, I was able to and able to learn that I can do anything I put my mind to. I will never give up on any of my dream, even if that means I will get little sleep, it will be worth it in the end. Thank you for your time, and I hope you always remember that you can do anything you want with the right mindset.

2015 Essay – Kathleen

What I Learned About Myself Through Living With Dyslexia That Will Help In College And In My Future Career

My name is Kathleen S. and I am currently attending West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Having dyslexia has helped me to persevere and have empathy for others. On a personal level, being dyslexic has made me very determined to succeed.

I have found that I tend to work harder when people tell me that I can’t do things as well as others. I was once told that I would never be able to learn another language. I proved that I could learn Spanish, and I earned a B in Spanish 1 and 2.

In high school, I was not allowed to have an have nn IEP because I was doing well in my classes and was considered to be “too smart” to have an IEP. This made me want to learn how to advocate for myself and others.

In college, I always met with each of my professors before classes started in order to get the syllabus early and to discuss any accommodations that I may need.

School is not easy for me, but I have learned that if I start my projects and my readings early, I will be able to get the most out of my education. Doing so reduces my anxiety and helps me to participate in class. Being able to use a smart pen and other assistive technologies to read to me has been very helpful. I will continue to use these resources going forward and let others know that these resources are available to them.

I have considered three different career paths, all of which revolve around my desire to help others:

K-12 school counselor, Private advocate for individuals with dyslexia and other disabilities, and Counselling at a community college where I can help students to be successful so they can pursue their goals and learn how to advocate for themselves.

Throughout college, I have worked for the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities. Because I understand what it is like to have a disability, my students have often told me that I am the only person who truly understands what they are going through.

I never give up and I strongly believe in helping others to learn how to advocate for themselves. Students with LD’s can accomplish anything they choose to and I want all to know that it does not make you any less of a person. In fact, it makes you stronger!

2015 Essay – Clara

My Journey with Dyslexia

I was born at a time when teachers did not believe in learning disabilities. Instead, they tended to have only three classifications for students: smart, average and dumb. I generally fell into the last category. I attribute this achievement to several lessons I learned while dealing with my dyslexia.

My first lesson I learned was that school can be lonely. From the beginning I had difficulties reading any text out loud and then explaining what it was about; and also spelling and math were difficult – too many symbols that I would constantly mix up. My teachers would make their opinion of my performance very clear and I ended up being ostracized for most of the time. None of the other students wanted to be seen with the ‘dumb’ kid.

The second lesson I learned was that there are more ways to solve a problem, one just has to keep looking. My father never gave up on me and would try various ways of teaching me to read, to understand what I have read, how to spell correctly and how to solve math problems. While he also did not know about dyslexia, he recognized that my brain worked differently and I need to be taught in other ways – regardless of how hard it would be.

Third, I learned is that while hard work is essential, it is not enough – one has to work hard persistently despite setbacks. During my school years I rarely saw any immediate improvements in my grades and ended up being disappointed and frustrated.

I am glad my father never gave up on me and continued pushing me. I applied this lesson in my first semester at college. In my first 2 months in Algebra I almost failed – not because I didn’t understand the material but because of my dyslexia. Despite this, I did not drop out of the class and my persistence paid off – I earned a B in the class, with an overall GPA of 3.75.

One lesson I am still learning in my journey with dyslexia is to reach for goals beyond my current skill level. I think I’m still afraid that my teachers end up being right and I am ‘dumb’. To prove to myself that I can succeed I take classes that interest me even if they are demanding. While this might threaten my GPA, I feel that the experiences gained are worth a less stellar GPA.

In the end, learning how to deal with dyslexia strongly influenced my career choice. I am majoring in psychology to work as a Child psychologist afterwards. My goal is that other children do not have to face the same problems as I did – school is already hard enough without having an undiagnosed learning disability.

2015 Essay – Phoebe

Dyslexia Again

Learning to live with my dyslexia has been a long journey and I have learned a lot about myself as a student as well as a person along the way. When my mother first learned that I would have more difficulty learning how to spell than my siblings, she tried to help me learn by having me write out the most common words in the English language every day, making me rewrite each one that I misspelled ten times.

It didn’t take long to find that this approach was not having the desired effect as I only scored in the sixth percentile for spelling that year in our annual standardized tests.

A few years later, a new approach was introduced to my mother as a possibility for helping me learn this all-important skill of spelling. A special education teacher at a school that I attended part time as a home-schooler suggested that my mother’s approach was overwhelming me and hindering my ability to learn rather than assisting my development.

She advised that I should be shown my mistakes and made to find the corrections for a few of them, thus lowering the stress level while still forcing me to learn. The effect of this change was immediate and very positive as I received an average score on my spelling for the first time on that year’s standardized test.

Through this experience and others, I have reached a new understanding not only of the written language, but also of my own personal learning style. I have discovered that I learn best through creating pictures, both in my mind and on paper, as my mind only seems to create images and not words. This discovery and my use of it has helped me already to receive one of the highest grades in my college anatomy class, as I was able to create an almost complete skeletal system on a handful of easy to study flashcards. I also learned that I could create a realistic 3D image in my mind with very little effort and used this many times to learn material in both my anatomy and chemistry classes.

My ultimate goal is to enter the field of forensics in a few years and I believe that, as I continue to learn how to use my dyslexia as a helpful tool rather than fighting it like an obstacle, I will continue learning daily as I work with my hands and my mind.

I am convinced that, because dyslexia has been labeled as a learning disability, many dyslexics feel defeated before ever having the chance to realize their full potential, but I have seen that it is, in fact, a gift to those who will learn how to use it and I will continue to grow as a student, not only in a classroom but also in everyday life, as I continue to learn more about my dyslexia and how it affects me and my ability to learn.

2012 Scholarship Recipient – Lacy Stephens

The End of Big Bug Dug

The colorful caterpillars crawled along the back wall of the classroom. The caterpillars were made from hand colored bookmarks adorned with a student’s name and the name of the book that was read. In third grade at my school, a great deal of status came from having the longest caterpillar. No one bragged, but everyone knew who was the best reader, and, unfortunately for me, who was the worst.

I would stare at the caterpillars made from fifteen bookmarks, knowing that my fellow classmates were able to get through at least one chapter book a week. My puny caterpillar was less than five bookmarks. My teacher had just informed me that I had to read chapter books if I wanted to put up any more bookmarks. No more Big Bug Dug for me.

I didn’t know how to read chapter books. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I would have a better chance of building a Lego bridge to the moon than reading a chapter book. This was impossible, or so I thought.

This was the year that my mother told me there was a reason for my struggle. I had dyslexia. It is hard to say that I have overcome my dyslexia because it is with me still every day of my life; however, with support from many wonderful people over the years, I have learned how to use my strengths and implement strategies to minimize the difficulties it has caused me. I have gone from a person confused about how to decode simple words to a person who is doing well in my advanced placement English class and looking forward to doing well in college.

When I think about my journey, there are many reasons for my success. I always loved being read to; however, I had several tutors who really made a difference in teaching me the complexity of deciphering the written word. I felt that they wanted me to succeed, and that faith in me made me want to succeed as well. I knew that learning to read needed to be one step at a time, although they were often baby steps or even a step backward. My first tutor used creative ideas.

To ease my stress, she let me hold her pet hamster to engage me in the act of learning to read. She provided the first chapter book that I ever read, Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng. That single act made it seem possible for me to succeed. I learned over time how to circumvent some of my difficulties. Audio books helped, and I went through all of the children and young adult audio books in the local town library. To this day, I proudly possess five library cards.

My dyslexia diagnosis can still be seen in my difficulty with spelling some visually similar words, like propriety and property, but spellchecker helps, and now I can actually read the word choices and select the right one.