• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

One Happy House

Children's Book Author

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • The Marvelous Maker
    • The Marvelous Mud House
  • MEDIA
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Speaking
  • Family Prayer Guides
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • The Marvelous Maker
    • The Marvelous Mud House
  • MEDIA
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Speaking
  • Family Prayer Guides

My Dyslexic Son is a Hero

February 14, 2019 //  by April Graney//  1 Comment

“I’ve never seen so much crying in football.” Taken by surprise that the helmet and pads did little to protect against the pain of learning to hit for the first time, my 10 year old son, Ezra, struggled to push back the tears as time after time his teammates hits took him to the ground. All the previous summer, he couldn’t wait to try football. He had eagerly anticipated the first week of practice. Now, the third night in, their first night in full pads, I thought he just might quit. He came over for a water break, his face wet and red, then to my surprise, turned and went back for more. All the way home that night, he sat in bruised silence. 

I thought it might be his last night of football. But it wasn’t. Ezra continued to go to practice, capitalized on his ability to run faster than anybody else, took hits, and grew to love the game. By the end of the season, when a kid knocked him down in practice, Ezra would jump up yelling, “let’s do it again!” His coach who had “never seen so much crying in football” witnessed the littlest guy on the team inspiring the rest with encouraging words, enthusiastic pats on the back, and sheer determination and grit. Football toughened up my son, because he chose not to quit. But football didn’t teach my son not to quit, his dyslexia did.

You see, every day my son is tackled by letters and words. They are a mean bunch, pushing him around and sometimes tackling him to the ground. It started in Kindergarten, when he would come home from school, head hung low mumbling, “I’m so stupid. I’m so dumb.” When the school recommended he be held back, we brought him home for school and spent the next year starting back at the beginning, working at his pace, and erasing the narrative in his head that told him he couldn’t learn anything. Though he made progress, he still battled those sneaky, b’s d’s and p’s, those tricky m, n, s, l, f, h and k’s, and all of the vowels. Letters slipped in where they weren’t supposed to be, switched places, or disappeared mid-word. And Ezra kept fighting, but he was losing the battle. We knew he needed outside help to win this game of reading.

And then came Mrs. Edwards, the little white haired lady who first screened Ezra for dyslexia. Though we had managed to erase the narrative in Ezra’s mind that he was “dumb” we hadn’t been able to convince him that he was smart….until Mrs. Edwards. She looked across the desk from him and said, “When I look at your results here, I can tell that you are extremely intelligent because you have the GIFT of dyslexia” and then she went on to list for him many of the famous scientists, inventors, war heroes, actors, and film makers who are said to have had dyslexia: George Washington, Alexander Graham Bell, Leohardo DaVinci, Galileo, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, even Stephen Spielberg, ….. My son’s face beamed, especially when she added with a twinkle, “You know, you are probably smarter than all of your brothers and sisters.” But she also explained to him that with the gift and intelligence of dyslexia comes a glitch, and because of that glitch learning to read can be very difficult. It will take a LOT of determination and perseverance, but if he would work hard all of that “smartness “and intelligence could be put to great use. Ezra finally had a name for why reading was so hard for him and it allowed him to show himself grace.

That was two years ago, and I am now convinced that my son has some of the greatest perseverance on the planet. Every day he fights to read and though he has made tremendous progress, it is never easy. Sometimes it is a rough day and he wants to quit. But the next day, he apologizes for complaining and goes right back at it. He has a wonderful, amazing tutor who works with him for an hour and half every day, patiently encouraging and instructing him. She and I both see how intelligent and bright Ezra is. He makes us laugh with his vivid stories and adventures. He can recount the life stories of Abraham Lincoln, Eric Liddell, Milton Hershey, and Jacob Deshazer: a Dolittle raider and prisoner of war, in detail. He is fascinated by history and the battles of World War II. He absolutely loves learning about rocks, planets, composers and artists. He loves listening to biographies and novels. He draws detailed airplanes and aircraft carriers. He sings constantly. He builds fascinating lego homes, roads, and planes. He is intuitive. He is the first of my children to notice if I have a headache and ask me if I am feeling okay. He prays at night that God would help him not to get frustrated when learning to read is just “frustrating and crazy and doesn’t make any sense.” He prays every night that he would become a godly man one day. I have no doubt that this struggle he faces is working in him greater glory that he or I could ever imagine. He will be used mightily in the Kingdom of God. Some day, he will be fighting some other battle and he will refuse to quit. He will be strong and he will persevere and he will inspire others to follow his lead.  And I can’t wait to watch it all play out.

Press on Ezra, my fighting hero!

Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

Category: Happy Mom, Uncategorized

Previous Post: « Keeping a Letter Journal for your Child
Next Post: 20 Tips for 20 Years of Marriage »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tom Graney

    October 9, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    Crying reading this – thanks for writing this so well, thanks for caring for Ezra so well, thanks for helping and teaching Ezra so well.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

April Graney, Author

April Graney, Author

Footer

Join our email list

aprilgraney

Yes the roads are slick. Don't go out. But we were Yes the roads are slick. Don't go out. But we were out of milk and we had to! So, Ezra and I got all thr essentials for potentially being snowed in for several days...and gaining 5 lbs. 🤣

#onehappyhouse
Drove up for the K State game against Texas Tech y Drove up for the K State game against Texas Tech yesterday! Definitely a LOT of fun and nOiSe! Loved having dinner with Micah and 3 of his friends afterward. (No pic, sadly). Totally worth the 10 hour round trip drive. Thanks to Austin Carpenter for the incredible seats. I'm spoiled now so I'll need those seats behind the team again next time. 

#emaw #epaw #kstate #basketball #gocats #wildcats #bestgameinvented #ksu @tomgraney @micah.graney #onehappyhouse
Cute little thrift shop find today! #onehappyhou Cute little thrift shop find today! 

#onehappyhouse
Instagram post 17985892255802081 Instagram post 17985892255802081
Do you know him? Not just know about him. Do you t Do you know him? Not just know about him. Do you talk to Him? Do you seek him? Do you ask him how he wants you to live? I was reading Zephaniah with my 6th grade Bible class today. One of the verses describing those who were being judged says, "those who have turned back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him." Lots of people simply go through life without ever seeking to know and understand who God is, why he made them, or how he wants them to live. I feel so blessed to know my maker intimately. I'm not always perfect in following Him, but my heart is to try. He's given me complete love and acceptance, spiritual gifts to use to help others, forgiveness when I fail, strength when I am weak. He is my reason for hope and the source of my joy.

I hope you will seek him too. Just ask. He will begin revealing himself to you. 

#themarvelousmaker #childrensbook #onehappyhouse #seekhim #Jesus #Zephaniah #christianschool #christianschoolteacher #hope #joy
Here's George at St. Paul's University in Nairobi Here's George at St. Paul's University in Nairobi Kenya! Thank you so much to everyone who gave to make this first year of school there possible! May the Lord bless you as you have been a blessing to others! His Give Send Go fund is up to $2596 of $10,000 raised! Link in bio!  #themarvelousmudhouse #Kenya #University #radiojournalism #givesendgo #childrensbook #kidsbook #bookaboutkenya #authorsofinstagram #compassion #joy #generosity #contentment #onehappyhouse
Follow on Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • MEDIA
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Speaking
  • Family Prayer Guides

Copyright © 2023 One Happy House · All Rights Reserved · Site by Design by Insight