Could you imagine going through life as a youngster, going to college and then becoming a teacher, lacking a basis skill for this profession - you were not literate. Yes, you've heard right. Mr. John Corcoran faced such a dilemma.
It's easy for most of us to be startled by this story and ask a number of serious questions. How is that even possible? What were the Education Authorities doing? And many other such thoughts could be making us dizzy. Wait; just pause as we examine this conundrum. John attended school in the 1950s and he suffered from a reading disability.. he constantly failed his exams . Like most parents in those days, his poor performance was viewed as lack of application to his school work. Today the word dyslexia is something most of us are aware of
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By fifth grade the youth became more conscious of his parents' disappointment so, he decided to fake it and cheat. His other skills started to come to the fore. He became a star athlete and he got his friends to help him with his school work. He at one time became so desperate that he went into a teacher's room undetected and handed out a test through a window to a friend. He graduated that time.
There were many other instances of faking , especially when Mr. Corcoran was appointed a social studies teacher for 17 years. He also became a husband and a father and kept up his charade. When he couldn't do it any longer, he came clean to his wife She advised him to sign up for the adult class at the public library.he eventually left teaching and became a real estate agent.
Mr. Corcoran wrote a book on his experience of suffering from a reading disability. He hopes his story would be an inspiration to those who suffer in this area of their lives. It is estimated that between 7 - 17% of our population are functionally illiterate.
Most of the story was sourced from HUFFPOST.
It's easy for most of us to be startled by this story and ask a number of serious questions. How is that even possible? What were the Education Authorities doing? And many other such thoughts could be making us dizzy. Wait; just pause as we examine this conundrum. John attended school in the 1950s and he suffered from a reading disability.. he constantly failed his exams . Like most parents in those days, his poor performance was viewed as lack of application to his school work. Today the word dyslexia is something most of us are aware of
.
By fifth grade the youth became more conscious of his parents' disappointment so, he decided to fake it and cheat. His other skills started to come to the fore. He became a star athlete and he got his friends to help him with his school work. He at one time became so desperate that he went into a teacher's room undetected and handed out a test through a window to a friend. He graduated that time.
There were many other instances of faking , especially when Mr. Corcoran was appointed a social studies teacher for 17 years. He also became a husband and a father and kept up his charade. When he couldn't do it any longer, he came clean to his wife She advised him to sign up for the adult class at the public library.he eventually left teaching and became a real estate agent.
Mr. Corcoran wrote a book on his experience of suffering from a reading disability. He hopes his story would be an inspiration to those who suffer in this area of their lives. It is estimated that between 7 - 17% of our population are functionally illiterate.
Most of the story was sourced from HUFFPOST.