Once Upon a Time... I Hated Reading

By Anika Roo

Once upon a time, there lived a boy. His Christmas Break was filled with joy, laughter and fun. Out at sea there were no monsters, only stars to gaze upon. But the clock was ticking. Soon it will be back to school. He quickly grew sad and anxious, because he knew that once the holidays were over his monster would be back. His mother tried to reassure him but, in her heart, she knew, he may never see this year through. "What would become of my sweet child without a high school diploma?" She had to do something. She opened her laptop and found Once Upon a Time... I Hated Reading.
"Could this book explain my son’s disinterest in school?"
~~~
Having dyslexia is no fairy-tale. As a survivor of dyslexia, I am very familiar with all the ups and downs. But I also found hope of a possible happily ever after while writing Once Upon a Time... I Hated Reading. I wanted to share this hope with you as I truly believe anyone can survive and even flourish, not just despite their SpLD but with it.
Come along and join Juan, Ana, Lucas, and I on our journey to befriend our monsters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anika Roo
• Release date: Jan 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005234881

Book preview

Message From The Author

I have written this book with great consideration because an objective of Once Upon A Time is to acknowledge that we are not talking about a disorder but about people.

Throughout this book the words dyslexic, disability, mentally handicapped and disabled have not been used. In my opinion these terms should be avoided as they are discouraging and have negative connotations.

Words used by any individual, including an author such as myself, have great impact on any human being’s life.

Hence, I prefer to say, a child with dyslexia instead of a dyslexic child. Think about which sounds less labelling and dehumanizing.

This book is very personal for me. I wanted to write something different and inspiring, instead of just an ordinary self-help book. I wrote this book with the vision of it being therapeutic literature. My aim is to create awareness into illiteracy and to help and support individuals with SpLDs (Specific Learning Difficulties), especially Dyslexia.

Although it is inspired by true incidents and my experience as an individual with dyslexia and ADD, it is not in any way autobiographical.

Writing this book was life changing for me. In fact, in the last eighteen months my writing abilities and my convergence have greatly improved. Now I seldomly see the text floating, blurry or double. However, my foreshortening of words, pronunciation of multisyllabic words, transposing of letters/words, spelling, and reading abilities are still in need of some work. But knowing my strengths, weaknesses, and the causes of my vulnerabilities has opened new doors for me.

And I wanted to share this knowledge with you. My sole purpose in writing Once Upon a Time is to inspire and encourage you to read, learn, become knowledgeable, become a functional somebody, and to learn to love yourself like I have learned to love myself.

I feel optimistic about my future and I hope after reading this book you will feel the same way about yours.

Wishing you a life changing read!

Anika Roo

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to the people who have played a key role not only in the production of the book but in my life as well:

Jorge

My daughters

Shah Jewlal

The Baldoo family

My illustrator

My editor and publisher

Contents

MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

1: IN THE BEGINNING

The Invention

The Evolution

The Secrets

The Importance

2: THE QUEST FOR THE MONSTERS

Why Can’t I Read?

Search and Eliminate

SpLD (Specific Learning Disorders)

3: THE MONSTER

The Impact

The Myths

4: ORIGIN OF THE MONSTER

The Evidence

5: TRACKING THE MONSTER

Profiling Dyslexia

Signs and Symptoms

6: I’M NOT THE MONSTER

7: THE MONSTER HURT US BOTH

Visual Processing

Intellectual Functioning

Social Skills

Memory

Attention/Focus

8: TAMING THE MONSTER

Managing Primary Causes

Fusiform Gyrus

Lectio Divina

Mastering Comprehension

Be Your Child’s Advocate

Emotional Support

Support Aids

9: FIND YOURSELF

Natural Learning Abilities

A Promising Future

Neuroplasticity

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Introduction

~~~

On a warm winter’s night, in a small fishing village far away, a loving mother stood at her window gazing at the moonlit waters. She could hear the last bits of conversation from the Año Nuevo dinner downstairs. With every word spoken and wave breaking on the shore, her uncertainty and sadness grew stronger. Generation after generation the skills of their family business were handed down. The ocean provided well for them, but her son could be so much more than a fisherman.

Finally, when the guests left and the night was silent, she reached for her laptop and began to read. 

~~~

We live in a literature-rich environment, full of letters that need to be decoded for us to be functional human beings. When we fail or show signs of being unable to comprehend this decoding process, the world we live in can become a cruel and negative place. These issues are compounded when others use labels.

When I was a kid, they didn’t call it dyslexia. They called it you know, you were slow, or you were retarded, or whatever. What you can never change is the effect that the words ‘dumb’ and ‘stupid’ have on young people. I knew I wasn’t stupid, and I knew I wasn’t dumb.

Whoopi Goldberg, American Actor

Words and labels have a long-term effect on what people think of themselves. Words and labels become one’s identity with tragic repercussions:

1. Some Accept

After a while we say, Ok, I’m not smart, I’m lazy, stupid, clumsy, unwilling and disobedient. So, I will own it, I will behave as such, and I will be it.

2. Some Become Indifferent

We give up the battle. We choose to stay safe in our comfort zones, reluctant to act or make a change.

3. Some Become Shy or Reserved

We hide away, trying not to get any attention. No attention means no discovery which means no ridicule.

4. Some Become the Badass or the Clown

But refuse to be the stupid ones. It’s better if everyone fears you or laughs with you but not at you.

5. Some Become the Rebel

If they attack you or judge you, fight back. Start a war/rebellion against the parents, the system, and the community.

6.Some Choose Violence or Drugs

Take your revenge against the world or drown out the world.

This book can’t stop the name calling or the pain of the hurtful words, but it can create a seventh option for you:

The enlightenment of your strengths and who you truly are, that is, you are gifted not stupid.

Having any SpLD (Specific Learning Difficulty) is challenging but the great tragedy and heartbreak is when the people we trust our future to, fail to see that we are smart.

A child will spend thirteen years in school. In those thirteen years the schooling system will either crush the child or help the child discover him-/herself. With a lack of knowledge on SpLDs, it will most likely be the former and the school system then forces the child into one of the six options mentioned above.

Everyone already supports the opinion that education grows and enriches a child’s mind, and no one ever thinks otherwise. But this is only true for the fortunate few who are suited to the prescribed learning method. The schooling system will do the opposite for a child who is not diagnosed before third grade. School becomes a lonely nightmare steering the child away from a bright future filled with opportunities to becoming just another statistic in the poverty cycle.

But this fate can and must be rewritten. We must educate ourselves and everyone around us if we are to end the stigma around SpLDs.

We are not stupid, dumb or lazy. And we are most certainly not handicapped, disadvantaged or disabled. We simply learn and think differently.

Once diagnosed, dyslexia can become less challenging as we now have knowledge on how we need to read, learn, and manage it. See Taming the Monster.

And most importantly, our perspectives on ourselves change. We are no longer at a disadvantage but at an advantage.

When the late Muhammad Ali was in school, he had difficulty reading and his teachers labelled him dumb. But this iconic sportsman became the most famous athlete of the twentieth century.

We are talented people with very interesting perspectives. See I’m Not the Monster and The Monster Hurt Us Both.

We must look to our predecessors; we must commemorate their struggles and achievements. You must learn from their struggles and gain hope from their achievements. See Happily Ever After.

With Once Upon A Time and this hope as your foundation, you can build your courage, discover your strength, tear down the walls of life that confine you and unleash your passion and curiosity.

{passion + curiosity = reading2learn}

1

In The Beginning

~~~

Ana finally understood why her son accepted his fate in the family business. It broke her heart for she knew he had given up on his dreams.  As she wiped her tears, she felt a hand on her shoulder, "Mi corazόn, are you okay?"

I’m sorry. Did I wake you?

"Don’t be silly. Why are you crying mi corazόn?"

It’s Lu—

What happened?

I think Lu is having problems with school.

How can I help?

"I don’t know mi amor. That’s why I am reading this e-book."

"Okay mi corazόn, you read, and I will make us coffee."

~~~

The Invention

Have you ever thought about the invention and evolution of reading?

The invention of reading and writing dates back to the fourth millennium BCE.

That’s right, writing and reading were invented.

At different points in history, humans decided that the spoken language was no longer enough. After communicating orally for millions of years they decided that they needed more.

In the Stone Age, we lived in caves, hunted animals and gathered fruits and nuts. There were no schools to attend, homework to complete, households or businesses to run. The only thing humans had to worry about was finding food to survive and not being eaten by wild animals.

Eventually humans started to build huts and then towards the end of the Stone Age, we started to build permanent dwellings to live