Saturday 13 June 2009

living "lexi" A Walk in the Life of a Dyslexic by: Shelly Tammell

living "lexi"
A Walk in the Life of a Dyslexic

Shelley Trammell

Book Surge

ISBN 9781439204931


This is the story of a family struggling and learning to overcome Dyslexia. Written by Shelly and her daughter Isabella, it chronicles their journey to learn about the disease and everything they can to help overcome. At just under 50 pages it is an intense little book. It is also a great resource for other families struggling with this affliction.

It is published in a font that looks like a hand-written script. It also has a strange mix of formatting, often missing caps or punctuation, or with words and phrases in bold type or emphasized in other ways. It is written to explain how some with dyslexia experience the world. It does a great job of capturing some of the frustration and difficulties of a person with a learning disability who is constantly being told they do not live up to their potential, yet struggling to do everything they can.

This mother and daughter team are open and vulnerable in a way that is both moving and encouraging. As someone who had his dyslexia diagnosed in the mid 70's I wish there had been more resources like this around then. The whole last section of the book is four pages full of links to help you learn more about this and other conditions.

Chances are you know someone with a learning disability. In reality, many of the people you know might have disabilities that you do or do not know about. This book will give you a glimpse into their lives, their struggles and hopes. It is written as a success story, but also to emphasize that all of us want to succeed, no matter what might be hindering us or holding us back. This book can provide some encouragement to keep pushing on and striving for those goals and dreams that we have. Well done Shelly and Isabella. As the old joke goes, dyslexics of the world 'untie'!

(First Published in Imprint 2009-06-12.)

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