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Comment by Davis W. Graham on December 12, 2011 at 8:26am

The key to unlocking the Gift of Dyslexia is to create an environment which enables me or the person with dyslexia the ability to read.

If any one has dyslexia they are living in a technical dream come true world which can equip the 10-20% of those who have the Gift of Dyslexia with tools such as Balabolka, Readplease, Xmind (note taking tool), Bookshare.org and a new Bookshare app. Read2Go which will change the landscape of their future outlook. It is my hope nobody has to go through what I went through in high school, grade and middle school, but the word needs to get out to the public. 

Today I read with not boarders or hurdles to the written word at speeds of 340 to 510 words per minute with 90+% comprehension. Bookshare has changed my life and Bookshare® is free for all U.S. students with qualifying disabilities, thanks to an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Bookshare has 150,000 digital books and textbooks of which are awaiting access to those who struggle with the printed word. 

Read:OutLoud  (from Don Johnson) is the text to speech software which comes with the membership (free for students or $50 for non-students who qualify) and can take any textbook and turn it into a virtual book. For instance when I read if I come to a person, place or thing, I don't know who, where or what the subject is all I have to do is with one click of the mouse I can surf the net to find out who it is with a picture, or where it is on the map and then read on.. If I was in the class room without this and other tools I would never had raised my hand nor would I have ever gotten to the point where I would look up a subject as I do today. 

Recently, I finished reading The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, when I came to the "Dust Bowl", I knew a tiny bit of what the Dust Bowl was but with a few clicks of the mouse I found out the facts. 

Below is my testimony and my life travels with the gift of dyslexia but I know it would be encouraging to many millions of students and then parents or adults, to know the tools are here and ready to use. 

As a point of insight we (dyslectics) are way ahead of the dawn of the "digital textbook" era, and we have a great chance of being the navigators of how it can change the life of a student and family, if not a nation.

My Blog: http://www.mygiftofdyslexia.blogspot.com/ About my Travels; http://www.manateediagnostic.com/davisgraham.aspx