I remember clearly the day they told me that I had a learning disability. I had a speech problem, I stuttered. It made people think that I was stupid because I didn't speak correctly. The schools assistant principal sat my mother and I down at the beginning of the school year at explained that I was being placed into a remedial program for the children that needed just a little help. I was ashamed and angry to be sitting there with my Mother who held her head low and readily agreed with this man who labeled me as some type of broken toy to placed in a box with other broken toys.
"I'll show you!", I thought as I held my words close to me not wanting to give him any of my halted words to use against me. I wasn't some learning disabled kid that was willing to be happy with the back of the little yellow school bus. I was just as good as anybody else. I held on to that thought and that night before I was to report to that room of less the average kids, I cried. I wanted to be average, why couldn't I be just like everyone else? If I could only speak without my tongue tripping on the words. I knew what I wanted to say but my mouth got in the way. My tears soaked my pillow that night before I finally fell to sleep.
The next morning when I walked into that class, I didn't say a word. I only spoke when spoken to and I tried to become invisible. I would sit in the back of the room and pretend I was in the library. The class had a Library and I would sit in the back of the class and read every day for a month before the teacher finally asked me a what was I doing in her class. I looked at her questioningly and in a mono syllable manner gave a grunting "what?". The teacher said that for the past month she had watch me read at least two books a day, One in the morning and another after lunch. She asked if I was reading them all or just browsing through them and trying them out one after the other?
I smiled and said that I read them both, then when I got home I read even more. I was smiling and I was calm so my speech came easy and with out the halting stutter that got me put in that class to begin with. I told the teacher that I had a problem speaking so I got picked on a lot. I stayed in my room most of the time and read books to keep me company. That teacher could not believe it when I told her that I read War And Peace over a weekend period. Then she asked me what was I doing in her class if I could read so well? I told her " I don't know" " All I wanted was to go back to normal school with all the other kids" " I just wanna be average, like every body else, I just wanna fit in"
