Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall

Author:Sandy Hall
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250100665
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

seventeen

Kyle

On Thursday morning I have the big meeting about my “school problems,” as my mom has been calling them. So instead of going to second period, I go down to the guidance office, where my parents are waiting for me along with Ms. Gupta, my guidance counselor, Mr. Nelson, and this other guy, “Call me Craig,” who works for the school district to test kids with problems.

Ms. Gupta starts the meeting by describing my “problem areas” and then launches into the results from my testing. They all seem to agree I probably have dyslexia but not necessarily where I see letters backward, which is what everyone assumes dyslexia is like, just where it changes how I read and process things.

Apparently everything I’ve ever known about learning disabilities has been wrong. Because they don’t actually make you stupid or unable to learn. They just put obstacles in your brain that make things harder.

It’s still really complicated, but it doesn’t actually feel like anything to be ashamed of.

My parents do most of the talking up to a certain point, but then people start talking about me like I’m not there. I try to pay better attention so I can speak on my own behalf, and that helps.

“How did he get so far in school without anyone catching it?” my mom asks. “I’m not pointing fingers at all. I should have been aware he was having trouble. I’m his mother. And I was aware, to a point. We started working harder at home to make sure he stayed caught up with his class. But I just thought he was kind of a flighty kid.”

“He’s gotten very good at compensating,” Craig says. “He works hard at making up for his deficiencies by being organized. At least most of the time. But his writing is scattered and his comprehension just seems off for a kid who is obviously intelligent. I think his potential has been limited by the obstacles he has with reading.”

I swallow and look away. It’s hard to hear someone talk about you like that. Complimenting you in some ways, but talking about what’s wrong with you in the next sentence.

I take a deep breath. “I also used to be in classes with my best friend, Gideon, like in elementary and middle school. It’s not like he did my homework for me, but he would explain things to me the way I needed them to be explained. But now we don’t have classes together like that. ’Cause he’s basically AP everything.”

“I have a feeling you learned some methods during those years for how to rethink and reorganize your brain, in part thanks to Gideon,” Ms. Gupta says. “He’s a nice kid, but I do want you to realize that you’ve done a lot of this on your own.”

“I guess I don’t understand how I have dyslexia when I don’t have trouble with letters and stuff. Like, I know the whole Elvish alphabet.”

“The Elvish alphabet,” Call Me Craig says with a grin teasing his lips.

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