Richard Watson's "Farewell" Address
Hi Mrs. Milis,
I really appreciate your help. We
have been working together for the
past four years and we have covered
a lot. I don't think you and I would
have predicted that we would have
been together four years later. When
I found out that education is very
important, it was a little too late.
I immediately started looking for
help. I tried a few places but was
unsuccessful. One day I was
listening to the radio when I heard
an advertisement about helping kids
who are having difficulty with
reading. I wrote the number down and
called it. The person on the other
line said it's not for adults but
she can give me a number to call. I
took the number and called right
away and scheduled an appointment. I
met with the director who asked me
what my goals were. A placement test
was given to me, part of which was
to write an essay. I chose to write
about my mom. After the meeting she
told me she'd contact me when she
found someone to work with me. I am
not quite sure but I think I waited
a few months. The good thing about
the wait is that she talked to me
several times letting me know that
she was still looking for someone to
work with me and if I was still
interested.
Finally one night I got a call. The
person on the other line identified
herself. That person happened to be
Mrs. Milis. She told me she'll be
working with me and what was my
availability. I said in the evening.
Her reply was I am sorry I won't be
able to help you then. We were able
to work out something and here we
are four years later. My plan was
always to work one on one with a
tutor. So there's no way I was going
to give up an opportunity like that.
I was in desperate need for help. I
even started tutoring myself. You
gave me what I didn't acquire during
my years of schooling. You taught me
a little bit of everything. English,
math, history, geography, Spanish
and French. The things I admire
about you are your patience and
dedication to make a difference in
my life. Through the most difficult
times of teaching me you remained
poised. Not a sign of exasperation
was ever exhibited to me. This is
not something you do for a living or
you were compelled to do, this was
your choice to make a difference in
someone's life and I am happy to be
that one. I even remember the time
when you got dragged down by your
dog on your neighbor's step and
ended up with a black eye. In spite
of what happened you still made time
to come out and teach me. The same
thing with your knee surgery.
What I have achieved is not just for
me but also for Beonce, my little
girl. I came to you with a finite
amount of reading and writing skills
and I leave with an infinite amount,
thanks to you. I'll use what I learn
to make my path to a brighter
tomorrow. My plan for the future is
to become a chef so I am looking
forward to taking a course in
culinary arts. You will still hear
from me and I will update you on
what's going on. You're not just my
teacher, you're also my friend.
You're also very supportive of my
career to become a chef. We shared a
lot over the years, you even invited
me into your home. I am really
grateful for that. Unfortunately,
all good things must come to an end
but what I learned and the things we
shared together will always be with
me.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Richard Watson
Hi,
Happy New Year to you and your son!
(Taking a deep breath) I've just
read your article in the Outlook
section of the Post. And I must
begin by telling you that I am very
proud of you and of your son! This
letter is for you both. I may not
identify to whom I am speaking.
Nonetheless, you will find that some
of my thoughts are for you both
while others are directed to him.
Feel free to keep whatever I say
that maybe of use to you and toss
the rest with my blessings. (smile)
I was diagnosed with Dyslexia when I
was about 6 years old. That's was in
1964 when few people had heard of
the term let alone new what it was.
I didn't begin to read until I was
13. I still can't spell worth a darn
though I currently work on a
national level in communications on
behalf of over 1.3 million people.
Often but not always I rely on
editors.
My maternal grandmother, a
non-driving fourth grade teacher,
hopped a bus to Johns Hopkins in
Baltimore to attend a seminar about
dyslexia. She subsequently broke the
news to my parents that their gut
instincts about my ability to learn
were on point. Many of my early
teachers and school administrators
had informed my folks that I would
never learn. They had resisted that
theory but were concerned about me
and open to discovering how my needs
might best be met. And upon
receiving my grandmother’s news they
soon sought where to get support
that I needed. I attended the Lab
School of Washington. Ours was their
first class.
One of the most important gifts that
my family and school gave to me was
teaching me to compete ONLY against
my own last best effort. Later, I
would come to appreciate that there
would be occasions when my best
efforts -- with support -- may
produce any number of outcomes.
Sometimes I flat out failed. I
repeated courses several times
before passing them. Sometimes I
aced them on the first go-round.
Sometimes the results landed
somewhere between these two. But the
standard for measuring my success
was never the grade I earned but
rather the effort I put forth. (It
is not the destination but rather
the journey that counts.) And as a
dyslexic student and now as a
44-year old mother of a dyslexic
14-year old son, I still firmly
believe that this approach helped
keep me and now keeps my son
balanced, striving, faithful and
healthy.
Another lesson that I have learned
over the years is that it takes far
more energy and intentionality to
overcome the psychological
fragmentation that of having felt
the shame of alleged stupidity than
it does the dyslexia itself. This
insidious post diagnosis
after-effect often shows itself much
later our relationships with others
(professional, personal, and
communal) via various degrees of
unexplained and too often unexamined
frustration. My son and I have
benefited from therapy and spiritual
counseling along these lines and
suggest that you too consider it. In
this instance, seeking this kind of
support is not for folks who are
crazy or depressed but rather for
folks who refuse to be, seek to know
themselves well, and wish to deepen
the quality of their lives and
relationships in the process.
Three other things to share and then
I'll quit.
Dyslexia has provided me with gifts
and attributes that are
extraordinary. I have keen depth
perception, spatial relationship
abilities, and an ability to
contextualize events (seeing both
the larger and smaller pieces and
their relative placement to fluid
events for example.) And I draw on
these strengths and use them often
in my work: first in theater, later
in TV engineering and production,
and more recently in divinity school
and in a second masters program in
journalism! Yes, journalism!!! In
fact, I first learned to spin a
decent yarn because my inability to
read helped sharpen my ability to
observe life in other ways. Now when
I write I see each story play in my
minds-eye much like a movie. I then
write about what I'm viewing. Your
son too will learn what his unique
gifts are and will learn to use them
well.
Never let anyone else define or stop
you. You can accomplish ANYTHING
that you desire and work to achieve.
PERIOD. It may take you years, days,
hours, decades, a lifetime or
seconds. But it is yours to do and
yours to choose. Nobody has the
right or even the insight to suggest
otherwise.
Last Point.
I don't mean to suggest that you can
do these things alone. You can't.
You will build relationships,
alliances with institutions, and
learn how to navigate your way with
charm, Hudspeth and polish through
administrative, bureaucratic and
academic systems. Far more than you
dreamt of or wished for. And even
that won’t be enough! You will
befriend teachers, professors, and
many others. But that will not be
enough either.....
Ultimately, the only thing that you
will be able to rely on to help you
will be your belief in that which
has created you -- call it whatever
you may. Practice you belief as you
see fit. But cling to it and draw
all of your strength from it. Build
an ever invincible and deepening
connection there. That is where your
success may be measured and
compounded. That is from where your
strength, ability and courage shall
come. Moreover, your faith will
point you to the use of your gifts
in ways that will help keep you
humble in your hard earned
achievements while helping all
humankind in ways that only you can.
Unique? Yes. You bet. And I pray
that you will be unapologetically
so.
Disabled? No way my friend. I think
not.
Many blessings and peace,
Diane Ford Jones
