Work in progress

Michelle Walker

Basic Writing

I Hated Writing

 

    In fourth grade, I remember the state test that ended up taking forever to write. The test requirements are to write a story on a single piece of paper. I really wanted to tell the complicated story inside my head. I was so frustrated because I could not write it down. Writing was difficult because of my dysgraphia and dyslexia. Even though the teacher explained how to write the assignment, I was so frustrated that I could not write, I did not pay attention to the instructions. I did not finish the assignment within the allotted time. Therefore, everyone in the class was able to go do the fun class projects and I worked on the paper everyday for a week. I had to sit at my desk all alone in the dark hallway with a teacher standing over me making sure I was 'on task'.

The paper I wrote was "tink the fairy". It did not have the plot I planned. Halfway through the story I ran out of room because my handwriting was so bad. I wrote "The End" without any real conclusion to the story. It took me hours to complete that meager one page story. Being frustrated and angry that I could not make it the story I wanted to be, I was Resentful that I lost break time and class time. I could not complete my work because my own incompetence made me angry. I wasted all that time only to get a poor score it was disappointing. All of my writing followed in this pattern for several years. Teachers continued to teach me English that I only found incomprehensible and frustrating. I did gain an elementary grasp of the principals eventually and my writing improved but I was still unable to express what I wanted to write.

My ability to write was blocked by my
dysgraphia. Dysgraphia is a learning disorder that does not have anything to do with the persons I Q or their ability to read . The physical act of writing is difficult for anyone with dysgraphia. Handwriting is illegible, copying is laborious and frustrating, spelling, and spacing capitalization and script are confused and jumbled. No one actually understands the cause of dysgraphia because there has not been much research or studies conducted on it. It is very common to have both Dysgraphia and dyslexia but they often exist without the other. I have both plus attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Dyslexia is misunderstood as a disability that makes people see things backwards. It is actually more complicated than that but backwards works for a basic explanation. The simplified version most people can understand is dyslexia is about input and dysgraphia is about output. This is not correct exactly but it does make sense to people. There is not a cure to dyslexia or dysgraphia. The only solution is to practice a lot. There are alterative teaching methods that work better for dyslexics and dysgraphics. It is important to start theses as early as possible because. The older a child gets the harder it is to change.

The stories in my head did not turn out the way I wanted them too. I had a difficult time grasping a thesis or grammar. My spelling was atrocious and the physical act of writing was still difficult. I made more attempts and made my stories and ideas shorter but the whole idea was completely frustrating.

Sister Gee's English class at freshman academy brought me back to basics I could understand. In class essays with a prompt that focused the themes from the reading. My tutor Leana helped me to learn what a thesis was and how to write a paper with a structured thesis one. This basic writing class taught me more about grammar than I possibly ever noticed before. This class has also helped me developed a little more complex ideas in my papers. One thing that has helped more than I could have believed is the blog. I love writing on my blog and since there is no pressure, I can write about whatever I want. I worry every time I write for school that I will struggle in vain never compleat the asssigment and get a poor score anyway. It is deppersing that I have always hated writing I cant go hating writing it will only hold me back.

 

One pharagraph- explain the difference between dysgraphia, dyslexia, how to overcome both