There was an Associated Press story by Collin Binkley that appeared over the last weekend that stirred a lot of childhood trauma.<\/p>\n
The story reported how one Lauryn Mueller was scrolling through social media when she saw a clip of President Donald Trump belittling California Gov. Gavin Newsom for having dyslexia. For Muller, who is 18, it brought back memories of her own \u201cstruggles learning to read and the times she felt something was wrong with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump called Newsom \u201cstupid,\u201d \u201clow IQ,\u201d \u201cmentally disabled,\u201d and unfit to become president for having dyslexia. Regardless of how one feels about Newsom, he should be commended for overcoming his condition.<\/p>\n
Newsom has for years discussed his dyslexia, including in a children\u2019s book he wrote in 2021, as well as a new memoir. On his recent book tour, he talked about memorizing speeches because he is unable to read them, according to Binkley.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d forgotten my own childhood struggles with reading until I read and re-read the story. Then the memories flooded back.<\/p>\n
I was in the first grade, attending Whittier Elementary School in Pocatello, Idaho. My teacher had trouble teaching me my \u201cA, B, C\u2019s,\u201d and had contacted my parents because the letters and words just weren\u2019t getting through.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until late in the year we all discovered that it wasn\u2019t dyslexia. My teacher thought I was \u2013 to use the word at the time \u2013 \u201cslow.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mom and dad discovered my vision was so bad I couldn\u2019t see the chalkboard.<\/p>\n
By that time, it was nearly too late. I lost almost an entire year, something my second-grade teacher, Mrs. Borrowman, learned and set out to correct. She spent hours through the summer months tutoring me. I\u2019ve always credited her with helping me develop a love of reading and writing.<\/p>\n
By fourth grade, I was reading books beyond my years. My first-ever \u201csolo\u201d book was \u201cSwiss Family Robinson,\u201d by Jean Rudolph Wyss. I still have the copy in my \u201cTreasure Chest.\u201d The 250-page book is musty and lacks a hardcover spine, but it\u2019s important to me.<\/p>\n
A junior high school classmate wasn\u2019t so fortunate. I had a major crush on her in the eighth and ninth grades and into high school, but lost track when I went off to college. It wasn\u2019t until our 2014 high school reunion we reconnected.<\/p>\n
I interviewed her for a book I was thinking about writing. The project never came together but she and I had a good conversation. I learned she had dyslexia but was never diagnosed. She went on to become an interior designer.<\/p>\n
Often misunderstood, dyslexia affects the link between the brain and printed language, making it difficult for people to read. Dyslexia often emerges in childhood, according to Binkley\u2019s story. It is estimated to affect up to 20% of the world population.<\/p>\n
Binkley wrote that a learning disability is often misunderstood and \u201cTrump\u2019s comments clash with research findings that dyslexia and IQ are unrelated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden, you\u2019re not doing so well in school, and then people will tell you, \u2018 Oh, you\u2019re not trying, you\u2019re not smart, or whatever, and none of that\u2019s accurate. You just have this difference in that bridge from language to print,\u201d John Gabrieli, a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Binkley.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s words to Newsom are appalling, but they also affect those like Muller, who have the same condition.<\/p>\n
My admonition to parents is to have their children tested if they see their kids have trouble reading. Don\u2019t wait a minute.<\/p>\n
-Jim Smith is the former editor of The Daily Democrat, retiring in 2021 after a 27-year career at the paper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was an Associated Press story by Collin Binkley that appeared over the last weekend that stirred a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[10682,2570,542,2182,1960,50,4060,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-44873","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gavin-newsom","8":"tag-columnists","9":"tag-community","10":"tag-gavin-newsom","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-newsletter","15":"tag-opinion"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116471818618511737","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}