The Dyslexic Democrat

The polls were not good. A lot of people thought Kendrick Meek (D) should just drop out of Florida's U.S. Senate race. It looked as though Meek was not even going to move past 25% of the vote against the Republican nominee, Marco Rubio, or even past the incumbent Gov. Charlie Crist, running as an Independent.

Meek was not going to back down. It just wasn't part of the hulking 6'3" former A&M linebacker makeup. Meek is no quitter.If he had been a quitter, the rundown streets of Miami's Liberty City would have chewed him up and spat him out long ago, when he was the shy dyslexic child of a single mother who became Florida's first African-American Congresswoman.

State seal of Florida

Kids who grow up on mean streets know that defeat is something that must be prevented at all costs, or street credibility evaporates for good. So Meek struggled through a Dickensian-like battle for respectability. He graduated Miami Springs High School and with the help of a full scholarship became star defensive tackle for Florida A&M where he earned a degree in criminal justice. No small feat for a kid with dyslexia who bore the brunt of his classmates' teasing for being slow.

Football

Meek has said that because he was dyslexic, there were things he just couldn't do, but that football bridged the gap for him, keeping him motivated and still striving for an education. If it hadn't been for football, said the former linebacker, he doesn't think he would have made his way through college. Meek was diagnosed with dyslexia in the third grade.

Dyslexic Child

Speaking about his disability, Meek described words that appeared jumbled on the page, and numbers that were transposed. Class work was a constant struggle. It was a trial to have to work long and slow at what, for other kids, seemed automatic. His classmates picked on him for taking so long to do his work.

Kendrick Meek

Natural Leader

Ken Riley, Meek's coach at Florida A&M remembered that Meek was a leader both on and off the football field. Riley said that Meek made such tremendous efforts toward coping with his dyslexia that no one suspected he suffered from a disability. Coach Riley described Meek as, "… extremely articulate and determined." Meek earned the appellation "clubhouse lawyer" from Coach Riley because whenever the other players needed any type of help or advice, Meek was the one to whom they gravitated. Riley described Meek as a "natural leader" who already knew he was going to go into politics.

Everyday Individuals

Meek spoke about the Florida constituency: "You do have an over-representation of poverty and hard times here," he said. "When you come from this kind of situation, working to correct it, you become a United States senator that carries the values of everyday individuals."

Stay Tuned

Meek may not have won the battle this time around, but is still fighting the war for the duration. Stay tuned.

Related articles

• Techniques and Tips for the Dyslexic Student (community.cognibeat.com)
• Symptoms of Directional Dyslexia in Preschool (brighthub.com)
• Dyslexic but I don't know what to do next (mirror.co.uk)

Dyslexic Reading

The reading errors of a person with dyslexia are anything but random. Their errors tend to be quite specific and are mirrored by their spelling mistakes. Here are some common errors in reading among those with dyslexia:

* Reads the word on one page, but doesn't recognize it on the next.

* Grasps phonics but is unable to sound out an unfamiliar word.

* Finds it slow-going and difficult to pick out and read single words on a page where there are no pictures or a story line for context.

* May substitute a word with identical first and last letters or a word with a similar shape, for instance from/form, trail/trial.

* May add or subtract letters to words, for instance cold/could, stair/star.

* May substitute a word with identical letters in a different sequence, for instance how/who, lost/lots, was/saw, blow/bowl.

* When reading aloud, the cadence is slow and phrases are choppy rather than smooth. They ignore, or seem to ignore, punctuation.

* They tire after only a short period of reading.

* They expend so much energy on figuring out the words that reading comprehension falls by the wayside. They understands a great deal more when someone reads to him.

* They confuse letter directionality when reading and writing. The letters b and d are good examples. One letter faces right, the other left. They may substitute one for the other on a regular basis. The same is true of up/down letters such as b and p, n and u, and m and w. When these letters are often substituted for each other, this is a sign of directionality confusion.

* Substitutes words that look similar, though the substitution changes the meaning of the text. For example, he may substitute horse for house, walking for wanting, white for while.

* As they read, they may substitute a word with the same meaning that doesn't resemble the original, for instance fast for quick, cry for sob, or travel for journey.

* Leaves out, misreads, or adds short function words like from, were, are, the, of, to, a, an.

* May leave off or substitute word endings, for instance talk for talked, needing for needed, late for later.

Dyslexic Spelling

The dyslexic's spelling tends to be much worse than his reading. Here are some examples of the spelling errors typical in dyslexia:

* Vowel sounds are hard for them to visualize. Rather than use an incorrect vowel, the dyslexic may just leave vowels out altogether as they write, making it impossible for anyone to read what has been written.

* With a great deal of effort, the dyslexic student may be able to retain a list of spelling words memorized on Monday for a Friday spelling bee, but won't be able to recall the spelling of those same words two hours later when they need to use those words in a sentence.

* Misspells common sight words (common, non-phonetic words) on a regular basis, for instance where, what, because, they. Frequent practice doesn't correct the situation.

* Misspells words while copying from a book or from the blackboard.

* Their writing displays signs of uncertainty—there are lots of crossed-out words and words that have been erased.

Thanks to www.cognibeat.com for allowing us to reprint their article here. The original can be found at http://community.cognibeat.com/2010/12/readingspellingdyslx