My Story ~ Audra

My name is Audra White and I live in a tiny town in north Alabama with my husband and three children. I have a 10 year old daughter and two sons who are 8 and 5. Someday, I would love to tell you all about how each of my kids are awesome in their own ways. For now though, I want to share with you the story of my 8 year old, Kade, and our journey with his dyslexia. 

Me and Kade being silly

As a baby, Kade didn't reach his milestones at the same age most babies do. He was a late crawler and didn't crawl the "normal" way once he started. He was also a late talker. He said "mama" and "dada" and other simple sounds on time, but he didn't start to make full sentences until around the time he turned 3. Then one morning he woke up and just started talking like he had known how to all along. He had a lot of speech problems though. He started Pre-K when he was 4 years old and he started speech therapy that year too. He made it through Pre-K and Kindergarten without really having any obvious problems besides his speech issues. He had not learned to read by the end of Kindergarten, but I was hopeful that he would catch up soon. He was doing great when he started first grade, but soon it became obvious that there was a problem. He just wasn't getting it no matter what what we tried. There were lots and lots of tears that year, from him and from me. I felt like a failure as a mother. Here was this sweet, intelligent little boy who depended on me. I was supposed to be able to teach him to read and I had failed him. I spoke with his teacher about dyslexia and told her that I thought this might be his problem. She agreed that it could be a possibility, but told me that the school didn't test for it and that I would have to go through an outside source to have him tested. I got to work are called every place I could find that tests for dylexia. Unfortunately, we just couldn't afford to pay their prices. I didn't know where else to turn. So I did what I could to help him at home and hoped for the best. Then one night, toward the end of first grade, something happened. He was doing his homework when he called me over and pointed to an "e" on his paper and asked me what letter it was. I told him that I wasn't going to tell him what letter it was because I knew that he knew his letters. He bursted into tears immediately and said, "I can't tell what it is!" Once I calmed him down, he explained to me that it kept changing from an "e" to a "u" and back again. That was my wake up call. Something had to be done. The next morning, I started making phone calls. I called everyone from his pediatrician to the board of education. I had no intention of stopping until I found an answer. By the end of the day, I had found one. I found out that the Scottish Rite does dyslexia testing for free and placed him on their waiting list. He had already started second grade when his name came up on the list in October, 2013. We finally had an answer. Kade is dyslexic. I didn't know how he would react to the news, but he was thrilled when I told him! That little boy lit up inside when he found out and I knew that he felt the same relief that I did. I finally knew WHY he was struggling and he finally realized that he really wasn't stupid. That day changed our lives and began the happier part of our journey! His school has been truly amazing. They immediately put an IEP into action and made the accommodations he needed to succeed. 

My sweet boy

Kade is now in the third grade and is making great progress. I am happy to say that his first progress report for this year showed all Bs. He still has his struggles, of course, and he has to work hard to keep his grades up. But he seems to be adapting quite well these days. He has gained confidence in his abilities and he never gives up trying to improve. My tears are still around. Though, they have now changed into tears of happiness and pride in my son's accomplishments! I worry about what the future holds for him and can only pray that he continues to do well as the work gets harder. Either way, there's one thing I know for sure - My little boy will go far in life no matter what road he has to take to get there!