I’m a retired teacher and reading specialist. My last job was teaching middle school kids to improve their reading skills. Thankfully, there was no curriculum and I could do my own thing, and I knew what I was doing. I had tremendous results, because I didn’t assume the kids couldn’t learn, and because when something didn’t work, I had dozens of other things I could try and usually found something effective.

Education is responsible for pigeonholing so many kids, and the system is guilty of labeling kids erroneously, because they don’t know how to teach them. I can’t tell you how many kids were labeled as dyslexic who were not. They just learned differently. I had one sixth grade boy who came to me labeled dyslexic who was actually reading at a high school level, but he was ADHD and did not fit the mold. I had another boy, extremely smart, and also reading at a high level, but he couldn’t pass the stupid state reading test, because he was autistic and had a hard time being tested by a stranger. He was entitled to one on one testing, but he didn’t know the tester and was uncomfortable. I arranged for me to be his tester, because he knew me, and I understood him well. He passed with flying colors, because he was comfortable, and I knew he needed several breaks during the test. I could go on and on. The system sets these kids up for failure!

I hate labels, and I hate the term divergent. A lot of kids are just different. The think differently, they process differently, they learn differently, and they don’t fit into the mold someone decided all kids should fit into. I think people are starting to realize that different doesn’t mean wrong or bad or inferior. It simply means different. Unique. But we have a long way to go.

Damn, now I’m going to have to write about this. Thanks for sharing this.