10–9–14

Michael Joseph

Dysgraphia

In fifth grade I was “diagnosed”, if you can even call it that, with a fine motor disorder called dysgraphia. Dysgraphia basically means my fine motor skills aren’t up to par, so I have bad handwriting. This had lead to many luxuries and a few hardships in my life. I am choosing to write about the hardships. One difficult thing I have had to deal with is the embarrassment of having to sit in the “special” section during finals because I get extra time. The authorities, Mom and Dad, want me to slow down and write neatly. This is why I get extended time. Another hard thing I have to deal with is every two years I have to go to get re-tested for Dysgraphia. The way I see it, if my fingers weren’t strong back then, they aren’t any stronger now. So this summer I went back to this shack of a place on the side of Bee Caves and had an eight hour long test. So along with a whole summer day being shot, I am stuck in a place where the instructors are trying to convince me that I am not there because I am dumb. I know that’s not why I am there, but the amount of effort the instructor puts into making that known to me, makes me feel like I am there because I am dumb. The last hardship is having to tell people I have Dysraphia. This is hard because the word sounds like a horrible, deathly disease. This causes many overreactions. Though these hardships are a bit annoying, I consider myself very lucky that this is the syndrome I have because of how harmless it is.