Biggest Lessons Not In Books

Why is it that a classmate who finds out you are in a lower class makes a big deal about it?

A few days ago I was trying to finish up work from a math class. My friend asked what I was doing. I told her I was doing my math.

She asked me what math I was in and I told her “consumer.” She started laughing and said, “You’re a sophomore and you’re in consumer math? You have to be the stupidest person I know!”

I was hurt and mad at the same time. She was in a higher math class, but that doesn’t give her the right to make fun of me, or anybody else for that matter.

I told her I am in consumer math because I have a learning disability. My friend paused for a minute, and said, “Oh.”

It was as though she felt bad about having said what she did. Our conversation stopped then.

I have dyslexia, which sometimes causes me to see words differently. It’s not as bad now as it used to be but every once in a while, when I’m writing, it kicks in. I’ve gotten out of my resource classes except math.

I found out I had dyslexia when I was in first grade in Houston. Sometimes I felt like an outcast because I didn’t really fit in. I overcame that just by being myself and not letting it be a big deal.

I moved up here when I was in seventh grade. I had relatives here and could go to school in seventh and eighth grade with my cousins.

When I went to high school it was really hard because I didn’t have any friends I was close to at the beginning of the year. Now that I’m a sophomore it’s easier.

But every once in a while someone will ask me which teacher I have for a certain class. I’ll tell them and they won’t recognize the name so they’ll say, “Who’s that?” Then I have to explain the whole ordeal and they’re shocked.

I don’t understand why a classmate who learns something like that about you treats you totally differently.

Just because I have a learning disability doesn’t make me any different from the next person. So, if you know me or someone else with a learning disability, don’t freak out on us. Treat us as you would treat any of your other friends.

All my friends treat me like a human being, not like a monster from outer space. Be cool about it. Don’t be uncomfortable with the situation. If you want to ask about it, go right ahead. I won’t bite your head off.

MEMO: Your Turn is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a Your Turn column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write Your Turn, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615.