DISABILITIES

By Daniel J. Vance

When Debbie Macomber began first grade in 1952, her teachers didn't have a word for dyslexia. “They just told my mom I had word blindness,” said 59-year-old Macomber, an author whose books have sold more than 100 million copies, in a telephone interview. “My third grade teacher said I was a nice girl, but I wasn't going to do well in school.”

Eventually, in fifth grade, Macomber learned to read. Years later, after two of her children were diagnosed, she realized she had dyslexia.

The International Dyslexia Association defines dyslexia as a lifelong, neurological “language-based learning disability” affecting reading, spelling and writing. For people with dyslexia, words in a sentence may run together, and printed words or individual letters may appear reversed. It affects, to some degree, perhaps ten percent of Americans.

“Because my disability didn't have a name (in 1952), I just thought I was stupid,” she said. “I learned coping skills. To this day, I'm a slow, thoughtful reader. My writing must be proofread. Certain words in my mind are interchangeable, such as just, such and much. I'll often write sentences with key words missing, sometimes a whole phrase. Words on a page tend to run together.”

She recalled a painful incident from third grade in which her teacher assigned everyone a part in a play, except for her, because of her poor reading ability.

Two things, in particular, kept her emotionally steady early in life. The first was becoming a knitter at age 12, which gave her a talent no one else in school had. Knitting taught her patience, hand skills, even mathematics, she said.

The other was discovering books. “When I was about five, my mom took me to the library for the first time,” she said. “From the moment I put a book in my hand, I pressed it right to my heart. That is how I have felt about books since.”

Amazingly, the Yakima, Washington, librarian handing Macomber that first book was Beverly Cleary, who also would become a well-known author.

“I always held the dream of writing books,” she said. “I struggled to read, yet I loved books and stories. Every time I thought about writing, I was filled with joy, anticipation, and happiness. Even now sitting at the computer, I have to pinch myself. I really am writing books.”

Learn how she did it next column.

Contact danieljvance.com [Blue Valley Sod and All American Foods grants made this column possible.]