“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin We all learn in different ways, we all have trouble spots. Some might be for math, some reading, but many people in this school have ADHD, dyslexia. Dyslexia According to PBS, about 17 percent of the population has dyslexia. “Dyslexia is basically what I see. In my brain, it stores [information] in the visual part of the brain instead of the language part of the brain,”Junior Korri Simmons said, “Therefore, the visual part of the brain gets overloaded, and it starts flipping and doing weird things with [my mind],” This causes people to have trouble spelling, learning to read or doing math. Simmons said the things she struggles most with is how thing are laid out on a page and how she switches letters and numbers around. She said has to use strategies to help her learn, and not make as many mistakes, but it take an extra amount of time on everything she does in school.

Problems and solutions You have to take a test to know you are Dyslexic even though its passed through family members, you can go to classes or special programs to help cope or correct the brain to a certain extent according to PBS. Korri said she got diagnosed with dyslexia at KU and they helped her through a program to help correct where her brain likes to put the written language. “It doesn’t fix all the problems, but it does help,” Simmons said. She said she was working with a specialist originally. Then her parents took that information and did it at home every day. She said every day they would do: reading drills, sounding out, speed recognition when she was little. Dyslexia is incurable, and doctors are still finding solutions to help people who have it. These programs may help and give ideas, but it’s always going to be there according to webMD. “It helps me to a certain extent, but it’s always something that is there. It’s like glasses if you have bad eyesight. Glasses will correct it to a certain extent, but it’s not going to totally fix the problem. It’s the same thing with my Dyslexia — the strategies correct it to a certain extent, but it still takes me longer on tests. I still have Dyslexia errors — I just have to laugh about it and move on because that’s part of being Dyslexic,” Simmons said. This does not mean that they are not smart. According to PBS Dyslexic people have better test score averages than people without Dyslexia. But many Dyslexics have trouble in different areas, meaning some have more trouble in math than reading or visa versa according to PBS. “Reading and math are a problem for me. It affects how I want to word things, read things or spell things because my brain interprets differently. I learned to read differently — it affects my English and grammar,” Simmons said. Simmons said,this also leads to everyday tasks giving them trouble in the classroom. She said many people use these strategies to help cope with the issues Dyslexia gives them. “As far as learning, I know how my brain likes to interpret things, so I put my notes in a specific way — color coding, spacing and different indentations. I know where I tend to mess up, so I work with that and have strategies in place. That way, I’m not making as many errors,” Simmons said. Korri said dyslexia makes it harder to do everyday tasks in class. “The big thing is how I take notes, because I have to take notes differently. In a lot of classes they have stuff up on the board and you’re expected to write that down, and on top of that, they expect you to listen to what they are saying and write that down, too. But the time it takes me to read what’s up on the board and put my strategies in place and then put that in my own words on my notes and listen and write down what they are saying takes a ton of time, and I can’t do it that fast.” simmons said. Simmons said what she does to take notes is have the teacher print out the notes and write her own notes on the side of that, or she has a tablet that she can take audio, write notes, and draw pictures. “Some teachers aren’t expecting to [do] that or having to print out notes because they like to grade their notes in their notebooks, and if you go outside of that, it throws them for a loop, and they don’t like to adjust to my learning style a little bit or how I learn best.” Simmons said. She said Something they could help her with is maybe work with her or find another way to grade notes. “I have everything the other kids have in my tablet. Instead of having me transfer that into a notebook, why not grade the tablet? I wouldn’t even have to send them the notes, I could just show them the tablet like everyone just shows [the teachers] the notebook.” Simmons said things in school could be made easier to learn if teachers were more accepting of new learning strategies and more flexible. She said it’s understandable they need to grade in a timeline and grade a certain way, but “being less rigid” on ways of learning would help lots of people, not just Dyslexics. “An example probably everyone can relate to is Cornell notes. Some students [say] Cornell notes really help, others [say] it doesn’t. Some teachers make you take Cornell notes [even] when it’s very hard for some to learn that way,” Simmons said.

ADD Approximately 4 percent to 6 percent of the United States population has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). According to Attention Deficit Disorder Association This makes it hard for them to focus. “Most of my friends have [ADD],” freshman Kameron McKenzie said. “They can either be really funny, bouncing off the walls or staring off into space.” ADDis a combination of problems and can be dealt with many ways. Some people even grow out of ADD as an adult according to Attention Deficit Disorder Association. Peter Jaksa. “I take pills to help — you can’t even tell I have it anymore,” McKenzie said. Adderall and many other doctor-prescribed medication help many people. Others go to a counselor, others try more home-style remedies such as exercise and having a regular routine. According to McKenzie being off these pills, many people are over hyper and cannot focus. This does not mean they are unable to learn — it’s just hard for them to focus. according to Early Medication May Help Grades in Kids With ADHD.” WebMD.The study revealed kids who were medicated or on some sort of treatment for ADD had averaged to above average test scores compared to the average person. Help In Classrooms “The teacher could help by slowing down and explaining more,” McKenzie said. “Some teachers don’t explain and just keep going.” She said this is a problem because students get behind, and this affects them educationally. “[Slowing down] would help me understand more than them just rushing through stuff,” Mckenzie said. Both McKenzie and Simmons said they wish teachers would be more accepting of new learning styles and techniques. also they both said educational wise they think it’s one of the best and that most teachers truly try to help you understand what you are learning. Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. David M. Burns