Overcoming Barriers
Del Kennedy's elementary school report cards showed clearly
that something was wrong. But it wasn't until well after Kennedy's
graduation that an eye doctor solved part of the mystery-Kennedy
had dyslexia, the type that made the words on a page look
as though they moved in wavy lines and zoomed on and off the
paper.
But little was known about dyslexia then, so Kennedy continued
on, leaving good jobs when promotions required him to read
more or do paperwork. Finally, tired of lying about his poor
reading skill, Kennedy took a pay cut to become an elementary
school janitor.
"Most of the kids in the school could read better than I
could," he noted.
The night the school held a literacy fair, Kennedy met two
women who told him he could find help at the local adult literacy
program. Tests showed that he suffered from "scotopic sensitivity
syndrome," caused by a nerve that affects how the brain processes
what the eye sees in print.
A series of colored plastic sheets placed over the paper
helped, but Kennedy didn't make real improvement until he
received a special pair of glasses.
"They put the lenses on a pillow and you keep picking up
lenses and holding them in front of your eyes," Kennedy explained.
"When I had five lenses, (the tester) asked me to read a line,
then a paragraph. It was the first time I've done that. It
blew me away." Kennedy was in his early 50's.
Now 59, Kennedy has made steady progress, jumping an entire
reading level in less than five months. He was named Student
of the Year by the Oklahoma Literacy Council, and has raised
money so another student with the same condition he has can
get the special glasses he needs to be able to read.
"If I can help one other person, then I'll feel I've really
accomplished something," Kennedy said.
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