The journey with dyslexia

Growing up with severe dyslexia, I was often told what I couldn’t do. In middle school, when I said I wanted to be a veterinarian, I was told “science is too hard, you shouldn’t pursue it.” By high school, a math teacher even told me to drop out at 16 because college would be “too hard.”

But I did not let those voices decide my future. Around that time, I began attending the Dyslexia Institute of Southern New Mexico.  Those classes gave me the tools I needed to move forward.

When I made it to college, I discovered my true passion—wildlife biology. With the encouragement of professors who saw my potential, I pushed through the challenges and earned opportunities I never thought possible. I was awarded a Student Temporary Employment Program position with the federal government, which became my first big step into the professional world.

Later, I turned my energy toward building my own business. My professors, mentors, and community stood behind me, and that support helped me grow into the career I have today as a professional photographer.

What I once thought was my biggest limitation—dyslexia—turned out to be a source of resilience, creativity, and drive.

This is the first-person account of Tabitha Rossman, the proprietor of Tabitha Rossman Photography, LLC on her journey with dyslexia.

It provides a glimpse into the struggles that come with an often-misunderstood learning condition that affects, by some accounts, as many as one in five students.

Dyslexia ranges from occasional memory lapse to a severe inability to recognize words or use written symbols. In its mildest form, accommodations in the classroom can be enough, and in more severe cases, its impact can be greatly diminished with therapy. As with so many things with which the human body struggles, the earlier it is diagnosed, the greater the chance the therapy will deliver success.

When she was teaching elementary school, Ellen Saige trained with Judy Carter with the Scottish Rite program, a Masonic charitable organization that has developed programs to help children with dyslexia.

“I was just always looking for the best way to teach my kids reading so I started using it,” Saige said. “I had a third grader, his brother was in the gifted program and I'm sure that this child is gifted also. In third grade, he could not read anything. He couldn't even read ‘cat.’

“Within a month with the program, he was starting to read. He is now the IT specialist for a large mission organization. He sets up all their audio and their video and coordinates their communications, things that I could never do. He said he could never be doing what he’s doing if I hadn't talked to him and so I was hooked, absolutely.”

That enlightenment led to the founding of the Dyslexia Institute of Southern New Mexico. It started as a collaboration between Saige and her friend, Kelly Covert, who were trained in the field and frustrated with the difficulty working within the confines of public education.

“Almost without exception, dyslexic students can learn to read and will thrive, but many are not doing so,” Saige said. “If a child is not reading on grade level by third grade, chances of graduating from high school are small, leading to far higher rates of crime, incarceration, and homelessness.”

One of the biggest issues that came up as Saige and Covert started their business was the difficulty for parents in paying for such services. Their solution, with much help from many in the Las Cruces community, was to convert their organization into a non-profit.

Their first application for 501(c)(3) status was rejected.

“We just pulled ourselves up by our own bootstraps,” Saige said. “We had no legal help. We just read the application, tried to follow it.”

That was in 2010.

In what she considers a miracle, Saige was able to connect with the woman who reviewed their application. It turns out the woman’s husband was dyslexic. A year later, the institute had its non-profit status.

Over the years, as the institute continues to grow, stories like the one shared by Tabitha Rossman have been plentiful.

Contrary to so many myths about people with dyslexia, such as that dyslexics see backwards or that they are lazy, it is a treatable condition and students can be screened and get the assistance they need to thrive just like some of the more famous dyslexics in history: Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Whoopi Goldberg, Leonardo da Vinci, and Tom Cruise.

“They can see it just fine, but they can't sort out the left and the right, and the up and the down,” Saige said in describing how letters and numbers appear to someone with dyslexia. “Most of them are left to right reversers, but a few of them are top to bottom reversers, and some of them do both. They just can't remember which way that darn letter goes.”

The Dyslexia Institute of Southern New Mexico wants to educate those who have dyslexia, but also to inform the rest of us so we know the facts and can support those who need assistance. The institute has grown from those early days and now has eight therapists on staff.

“This is our vision, that people with dyslexia take their places as responsible and productive citizens,” Saige said. “We've had such great success stories. It's just really gratifying to be able to do that. I'm sure I'm probably as dyslexic as the kids I teach, but I had an excellent first and second grade teacher that I think saved me.”

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. To learn more about dyslexia, visit the institute online at DISNM.org.