A Spell Of Dyslexia

Pam: I can’t decide if I’m lazy or dyslexic. But there must be some reason I can’t spell to save my life.

Ann: You’re not lazy or stupid so I guess that leaves dyslexic.

Pam: Hey! Who said anything about stupid?

I have a whole box of my grade school papers in the attic. Up until about third grade they all have my name at the top spelled, “M, A, and a backwards P”. I wrote in exact mirror image until I was almost eight years old.

Ann: Seriously?

Pam: Yeah. In fact, you won’t believe this. I still sometimes struggle to remember which way a 3 goes versus an E. If I’m writing by hand I have to refer to a keyboard or other reference to get it right.

Ann: So that’s why you wrote me that check for E-hundred dollars, huh?

Pam: Very funny.

Ann: Seriously, I had no idea. I remember talking to Troy’s kindergarten teacher when he wrote letters backwards. She assured me he’d outgrow it. Sounds like you never did. But I don’t remember your kiddos struggling when they were younger.


Pam: Ross didn’t. He was always a great speller. By the time he was about six I was asking him how to spell things. Sometimes he’d actually help me spell words on notes to his teachers!

Ann: That explains why you think hooky is spelled, “S-I-C-K”. What about Kate?

Pam: Poor thing…she got my awful-speller gene. But, lucky for her, she was born at the right time. She never had to go through school without the wonderful invention of word processors with spell check.

Ann: Good thing for you, too, now that Ross is away at college and isn't here to help you anymore.

Pam: And believe me, I use it! You know I don’t believe in sending thank you notes and sympathy messages by email. I think they should be handwritten on nice stationery. But when I write one, I actually type up what I want to say on a word processor and then print it out and copy it by hand. It’s a lot more work, but at least that way I don’t embarrass myself.

Ann: Yeah, dyslexia can definitely result in embarrassment. When I was a kid, our parish priest always had the honor of being the moderator for the regional spelling bee. One time the word was supposed to be “ogre”. But he misread it and pronounced it as “orgy”.

Pam: Did he realize what he had said? Did he correct himself?

Ann: Not until the kid asked for a definition and the entire room burst out laughing.