This is really OUT OF THIS WORLD work!

My clients create amazing things right before my eyes. Daily.  But it struck me the other day just what a true gift my clients are; their creations, their ideas, and their absolutely ingenious skills.  So just to be clear, I'm not talking about the 'Gift of Dyslexia' as in Ron Davis' book, I'm talking about the unique potential of my clients themselves.

When the idea came to me how these gifts unfold before my eyes I have to admit that a few tears welled up in my eyes. For you see I have been privileged to be front and center stage to witness talented and out of this world creative people performing!

Out of this world. Yes, that leads me to what I found sitting before me the other day.

See this? May I explain this model a little :)










We were working on the uppercase letters of the alphabet and here's what they looked like:

My client, Jeremiah, is a 5 year old kindergartner who has known the letters of the alphabet for quite sometime; he created these clay letters independently, and now we're going to touch and say these letters that are right before us. We call that Alphabet Mastery

As he went from Z back to A, touching each letter, he called letter V a U [you].  Without hesitating or explaining his next move he picked up some extra clay and began earnestly creating clay balls...from there our Solar System came to life! [See photo on the top, left]

From the left side of the picture you see the planet Mercury (first clay ball). Next, though its a bit hard to see, is the planet Venus with a letter V around it, a  /_ of sorts.  So he'd taken that 'trigger' of letter V and connected it to something important and of interest to him.  Venus.

He went on to create the planets, adding a ring around the planet Jupiter. At the end of the Solar System (between the A and M in the right side of the top picture) you see a star. That's because I was explaining to Jeremiah how we used to call the smallest 'planet' Pluto, though it's no longer considered a planet.  He said then it was a star, and a star is what he added to the end of the Solar System.

So back to the alphabet.... The letters of his alphabet were still in the correct sequence from A to Z and we'd worked on them a bit. My young client touched each letter A-Z, then Z-A.  Then he processed the letters without touching them going from A-Z; then from Z-A. He named them as he visually tracked them... but as he tracked them from Z back to A, as he came to the letter J he called the letter U [you].

I allowed him to finish the alphabet mastery, to name all the letters back to A and asked, "Did you notice anything?"

"No," he replied.

I motioned over the right end of the upper row of letters and asked if he noticed anything there.  He said no, at first, but then, looked at L, then K and finally the J.  And here's what happened next:

It took all his energy to process through those letters and to hit upon the trigger in the letter J...J for Jeremiah.  Somehow there's a  connection between the letter U and letter V and J. It really doesn't matter where or what that trigger is because we're simply going to erase it.

He slept for over an hour, right there in the chair.  He's not a napper or a big sleeper, either!

Processing. So much energy.

One more tidbit. We were not alone in the room; there were two others with us because the Columbia Missourian newspaper had a reporter and a photographer following the work that Jeremiah was doing that day. So he slept before an audience!

How tough are you?

This summer, while a severe drought and record breaking high temperatures prevailed, I noted the kinds of trees that were surviving.  Almost everything that had once been green and growing in the great outdoors was on a burnt-out continuum; we didn't need thermometers we needed scorch-o-meters!

Not all 'wounds' from the summer drought can be healed by the cooler temperatures and rain storms that we've received over the past few weeks. But the plants that did survive, they've moved on.  Just like the calendar has, because here in North America it's autumn.

So what happened to all of those plants that were seemingly on their last leg? Some are no more - as in gone for good [dead]; others took a time-out [dormant] and some are thriving [beautiful].

So you're probably wondering what the survival rate for trees has to do with dyslexia? Give my dad a call.  He's wondered about my odd mixture of horticulture degree and dyslexia expertise for a long time, he'd love to talk to you!

But seriously, here's the scoop: We're like the trees. We survive the trials of living dyslexic [living through droughts that seem endless, that threaten to leave us wounded for life] in this world where some say: "There's no such thing as dyslexia!"

We can let them take us out with their endless drought of *we must do it the way things have always been done*.  Or we can continue on, surviving and ---> blooming!

Now, if you can find a beautiful tree outside your window, a tree that's showing some lovely fall foliage tell it: "There's no such thing as drought!"

I know, that doesn't really make sense! But it makes about as much sense as denying the fact that dyslexia exists.

Yes, the trees are turning lovely versions of bronze, yellow and red colors. Obviously, there wasn't a drought this summer. Right?

Drought or no drought sometimes we just continue on. Now, go forth and SHINE!