From the
Dallas Morning News. In the picture, Robyn Flatt (right) of Dallas Children's Theater said she was devastated by daughter Kristi Cardwell's diagnosis of dyslexia.
When Kristi Cardwell was found to have dyslexia back in the early 1970s, her parents told the second-grader to let her teachers know so they could make accommodations for the extra help she might need.
"I remember one teacher telling me, 'I didn't know you were retarded,' " recalls Cardwell, now 42. "And I thought, 'If that's her understanding of what dyslexia is, I'm not telling anyone. I'm just going to do what I need to get the job done.' I put in extraordinary hours and worked really, really hard to get C's."
Times have changed for those with dyslexia, says Gladys Kolenovsky, the administrative director of the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. More than 1,600 children from across Texas come to the center for evaluations annually.
"The number one difference in our understanding is that 20 years ago the term 'dyslexia' was often applied to a broad range of reading difficulties," Kolenovsky says, noting that diagnoses are now much more specific. "There are also so many more teachers that know more about dyslexia today."
The Waites Center has been part of the advisory committee for the Dallas Children's Theater's world premiere of hard to spel dad, a play about teens struggling with dyslexia, which runs through April 25. Directed by Cardwell's mother, Robyn Flatt, and aimed at ages 12 and above, the play examines a subject that Flatt, 72, says she has wanted to address onstage for more than a dozen years.
"When they told me Kristi had dyslexia, I felt like someone had run over me with a large truck," Flatt recalls.
When Cardwell's therapists had trouble making progress, Flatt came up with her own methods that involved breaking down academic tasks such as multiplication tables into manageable pieces. She introduced her daughter to theater, where she enjoyed performing. Flatt tried to address the emotional fallout as her child struggled to maintain friendships and her belief in herself.
"My main objective was that I did not want my child to lose her curiosity," Flatt says. "So I would say to the teachers, 'Please keep her enthusiasm for learning alive. I don't care if she doesn't get all her work done.' "
That's why one of her main objectives for the play is to send home the message that all children can learn.
"I want kids to have faith in themselves. I want teachers and other kids to understand that there are many ways to learn. You can't just say, 'This is how you have to learn, and if you don't learn this way, then you are a throwaway.' "
Michelle Bufkin, a nationally recognized instructor from the Southern Methodist University Learning Therapy Center, is organizing audience discussions to follow each performance.
DCT resident playwright Linda Daugherty and co-playwright Mary Rohde Scudday of San Antonio are also working with the Baker Idea Institute. The nonprofit group, founded by Flatt, will be kicking off its spring symposium with a post-show discussion after the Friday performance.
A full day of workshops and panel discussions on learning differences and creative work will follow on April 24.
With the help of her parents and a lot of struggling, Cardwell was able to graduate from college with honors and today is chairwoman of fine arts at the Episcopal School of Dallas.
What a difference a generation makes. Kimberly Kottwitz, 16, of Dallas, who alternates as the dyslexic teen in hard 2 spel dad, received tutoring shortly after her dyslexia was diagnosed at 8. She coped well until about seventh grade, then transferred to the Shelton School, which specializes in teaching children with learning differences.
Kimberly's teachers there gave her the skills and confidence to make her next leap – to Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where she is pursuing her dreams of becoming a professional actress and singer.
Still, it's been an emotional journey. Kimberly burst into tears during a December reading of the play because her character's frustrations hit so close to home.
"My mom is always talking to my teachers, helping me out, trying to help me get extra time for the SAT," she says. "I thank God I have a mom and dad who fight for me day and night."
Technical advances also can make it easier for dyslexic children and adults. Media stars are raising awareness by talking about dyslexia. Rick Riordan, the San Antonio author of the best-selling Percy Jackson series, made Percy dyslexic in a nod to his own dyslexic son. Harry Potter director Chris Columbus, who directed the Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief movie, says it was his daughter, who is dyslexic, who brought the books to his attention.
"I think we've grown into a better place where we recognize there are more students that process things differently," Cardwell says. "We're not completely there yet. There are still families that don't request the extended time for tests that could help their child. But what I'm starting to see here and there are more who don't look at dyslexia as a negative, but as part of the whole picture of a beautiful child."
From the Dallas Morning News. In the picture, Robyn Flatt (right) of Dallas Children's Theater said she was devastated by daughter Kristi Cardwell's diagnosis of dyslexia.
