October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. As a twenty-two-year veteran teacher, I admittedly am not very familiar with it, but I know about the importance of seeking out the experts. As a lifelong learner, I wanted to learn more about how I can help these students who might enter my classroom. But what better way to learn about the needs of our neurological diverse students than to give them a platform to share their own narratives?
I am so lucky to have an American Sign Language Program (ASL) wherein I have students who stay with me for four years. Jisela Banuelos is a senior, and currently a student in my ASL IV Honors class. Her mother, Maureen Banuelos, is a kindergarten teacher in our district. I have gotten to know her and her mother over these years, so it made sense to reach out to get this important information from more than just outside sources and “experts” on all things dyslexia. There is nothing more powerful than sharing one’s own narrative. Here is their story.
Q: What is your first memory of noticing something was different about yourself/your child?
Jisela
I remember being in kindergarten and the teacher was giving us the alphabet to learn. I would simply not do the work and I would sit and talk to my friends. I was later pulled away from my group with a lady who would help me and some other kids work on our letters and vocabulary words. Fast forward to first grade, and I remember doing spelling tests and I would get my letters mixed up like b and d.
Mrs. Banuelos
I remember trying to teach Jisela letter names and sight words before she started Kindergarten. I had already been a teacher for eight years when I tried teaching her. I had already taught my son letter names two years before. I noticed that she had a very hard time recalling what she learned from the previous day.
Q: At what age did you receive your diagnosis?
Jisela
I think I was diagnosed with a learning disorder when I was in elementary school. I was one of those kids that would be pulled out of class to get some “extra” help.
Mrs. Banuelos
Jisela was diagnosed with a “Non-specific Learning Disorder” in third grade. She got an official diagnosis of Dyslexia when she was in sixth grade through a private diagnostician.
Q: What was your first Individual Education Plan (IEP) experience?
Jisela
I was in the third grade and I was given a test to fill out and then the lady that would give me “extra” help would ask me to read things, remember things, and point things out to me.
Mrs. Banuelos
Jisela was assessed in third grade per my request and we had our first IEP in November of her third-grade year.
Q: What were some of the frustrations, hurdles, trials, and triumphs you experienced?
Jisela
Ever since middle school, when I would get pulled out of my classes to get “extra” help, kids would always ask me where I was going, and why I was leaving. I felt embarrassed that I was the only kid who was being pulled out of class. I didn’t want the extra help from people. I didn’t want to be different. I just wanted to fit in with everyone else. This led me to not want to be in tutorial for any of my years of high school. I did not want the extra class period to get work done. I wanted to fit in and not have anyone ask me why I was in that class.
Mrs. Banuelos
Jisela was incredibly against any special help or accommodations. She felt embarrassed to have to attend in-school tutoring. This was very hard for me because I have basically the same learning difficulties as her and felt that if I had had extra help/accommodations, I would have been more successful.
Q: Did you experience any mental health issues or seek out therapy?
Jisela
I went to therapy in elementary and in middle school due to how I was coping with the way people were treating me and how I hated being different. Therapy was very helpful for me when I was younger, but when I was in middle school, I mentally refused the therapy. I would physically [but not mentally] be there with the therapist because I thought to myself that no one would ever know what I was going through.
Mrs. Banuelos
In third grade, Jisela started to have severe social anxiety that also affected her appetite. Anything she ate made her nauseous. She lost ten pounds in a few months when she was only eight or nine years old. My husband and I had her evaluated at Kaiser [our health care provider] and she did therapy for a few months. It made a tremendous difference.
Q: What made you have to obtain legal advice or legal actions?
Jisela
I was in the sixth grade when my parents were told that I was no longer qualified for special education. I knew that I still needed to be a part of special education because I was still learning things way after my classmates were.
Mrs. Banuelos
When she was in sixth grade, we were told that she no longer qualified for special education after her triennial evaluation. We spent a ton of money on legal help and almost gave up many times.
Q: What would be your best advice for parents?
Jisela
Don’t keep asking the kid who is struggling if they understand after everything that is said. When I would hear, “Do you understand” numerous times in a conversation, I would become upset because I felt as if I was being treated as if I wasn’t smart enough to know simple life things just because I was getting “extra” help.
Mrs. Banuelos
Keep asking questions. Follow every conversation with an email summarizing the conversation. Always include your student’s administrator and case manager, your attorney, and anyone else who may be pertinent to your student’s success.
Q: What do you wish teachers would know about dyslexia and what do you wish they would have done?
Jisela
Something that I wish teachers would know about dyslexia is that some days are harder than others. Another thing is to not ask silly questions just because someone has dyslexia.
Mrs. Banuelos
I can’t say that I wished teachers knew more about dyslexia specifically. But, I wish teachers were more informed about teaching practices that include all children. Jisela would have benefited from some real differentiated instruction.
Reflection
Not only did I learn more about dyslexia, but I also learned more about my students and the importance of parents advocating for the rights of their children with special needs. I know that I have so much more to learn, but this has opened my eyes to how little dyslexia is talked about. I had no idea that dyslexia was the most common learning disorder. I had no idea the narratives that have often been associated with students with dyslexia. I now better understand how negative stereotypes and assumptions about students with special needs can lead to anxiety and depression.
This interview has allowed me to see that many of the struggles of special needs students and their parents are universal. As a special needs parent and advocate myself, I applaud Jisela and Mrs. Banuelos for their strength, perseverance, and fortitude. I look forward to diving deeper into my quest to become a lifelong advocate for all students while learning from not only my own journey but the journey of those I have been so blessed to have entered my classroom walls.
Thank you both for sharing your narrative.
