Top 10 Reasons To Identify As Autistic-Dyslexic

1. Your inherent lack of coordination will cause your parents to seek out alternatives to traditional sports. And let's face it, some of those alternatives are pretty darn cool.

2. Most people need to fit eye-reading around their busy schedules. Ear-reading, on the other hand, allows you to devour 2-3 books a week. (Making you one of the most well-read people in the room.) Bonus: you can listen to audiobooks while shooting arrows Katniss-style.

3. When people want to know the truth to tricky questions like, "Do these jeans make me look fat?" they can ask you, confident in your honesty. They can also trust you not to cheat. (Or at least confess if you do....)

4. Technology: you get to use a lot of it.

5. You're an expert on your obsession du jour.

6. The journey to find "your thing" leads you through all manner of experiences and exposes you to countless opportunities. You get tested, you get challenged, and you find answers.

7. You learn to work very, very hard.

8. Someday when your significant other begs to watch a foreign film (with subtitles), you have a legitimate reason to tell her no. Lucky you!

9. You're unpretentious. You're not superficial. What you see is what you get. It's refreshing.

10. People underestimate you. (But you know better.) This means you can surprise people (or not) at will.

Bottom line is, autism and dyslexia are high walls to scale, but check out the amazing view at the top. It's beautiful up here.

Treasure Chest

How does it feel to be autistic and dyslexic? I wouldn't know. I'm neither. But daily, I view the path my son walks as he navigates life with both. I walk beside him. I notice how his labels weigh heavily, how he carries them on his back like an oversize trunk as he trudges along.

His trunk overflows with wonders unfamiliar to the general populace. Yet society doesn't encourage him to rummage through it and find which valuables might prove useful to him. And useful to others. They know that his trunk lacks the commonplace contents in the orderly knapsacks of most people—tools for building, ideas for sharing, or talents and skills to propel their owners toward success (that is, if their owners utilize them).

My son possesses too many items to carry in a backpack, and not knowing how else he would haul these curiosities, the world issued him an unwieldy chest.

When I examine the treasures inside, I often shake my head in confusion. What is this, exactly? How is it used? Why would anyone need this? And yet, they are his items to carry. His to use. His obsessions that breed keen knowledge, his deep sensitivity, his compulsive tidiness...just a few of the prizes.

I watch as passersby look on him in pity, sorry for the burden he bears, and thankful for their compact pouch of goods slung lightly over a shoulder. I watch as passersby look on us with scorn. "Do something, for God's sake!" Their eyes communicate. But also, I watch as passersby smile at him, seeing past his load into the rich strength of the person beneath the weight.

And I accompany him, swinging my own little bag of trinkets to and fro as we walk. As we shift his load this way and that to make travel easier, an idea takes root.

Wheels.

His trunk needs wheels—wheels enabling him to even run with his awkward box if he chooses.

And after we remove the trunk from his back, together, we will study each distinctive component, one at a time. We will find out why it's special, why it's necessary, and how it can be used. And we will use it all. The process will take years...time well spent.

I don't know what it's like to carry a full trunk. But fortunately, my small knapsack contains the tools to love someone who does. It holds tools to make wheels.

Asplexic Adventures

My son is autistic and dyslexic. Lightly autistic, profoundly dyslexic. His brain works more like a Rube Goldberg machine than a Macbook Pro, and navigating the educational system with him makes training for a marathon look enjoyable. But I do it. I'd do anything for this kid.

Anything.

Even "the thing" I said I'd never do: homeschool. Why not, you ask? First of all, homeschoolers eat only organic food purchased from farmer's markets, and I believed my love of Junior Mints precluded me from candidacy. Secondly, homeschoolers wake at 5:30am to begin their lessons. This means they finish by 10:00am, leaving plenty of time to gather half a dozen eggs for breakfast (from their backyard chicken coop). Since I prefer to meet the day closer to 8:00am or later-- and don't own edible birds-- I felt woefully inadequate to instruct my son.

Photo Credit

And yet, I quit my part-time job and dove into the business of teaching Dj.

Here's a fun fact: dyslexia affects 1 in 5 students in the U.S.. You read that right. Dyslexia runs along a spectrum (sorta like autism) of mild to severe, and most kids with the disorder remain undiagnosed. But you'll find it follows family lines. Two of my husband's siblings are acutely dyslexic, and I suspect they're merely the diagnosed relatives.

Yet with lots of support (namely from Gallatin Valley Learning Solutions) we've made progress, he and I.

Still, the road contains bumps and potholes that often trip us (hello, spelling, I'm looking at you), but with each step our destination becomes more visible on the horizon. Yikes, that sounds cheesy. Reality sounds a little more like this: As we claw our way up the treacherous mountainside, I am thankful my CamelBak is filled with vodka. (Okay, more likely it's filled with a chai tea latte, but that doesn't quite communicate desperation like hard liquor.)

Anyway....

The point is, the journey is tough, but we ain't givin' up. Not ever.

If you suspect a loved one has dyslexia, explore the growing mounds of research and resources. If you don't know where to begin, fret not! Let me point you in the right direction:

Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity
Learning Ally
The 1in5 Initiative
Bright Solutions for Dyslexia
And for tidbits from all of these sites plus some, follow GVLS on Facebook.