Author: Kelly Williams (Proud Mom) [ Edit | View ]
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Date Posted: 12:54:13 12/01/06 Fri
Hello, my name is Kelly Williams and my son's name is Michael. Michael is severely dyslexic. Despite his problems in reading writing and math, he attends Dulles High School and is doing very well. I recently was reading some information about children with dyslexia and was sadden to learn that they are more likely to be bullied. I just wanted to let some of the parents know that I was very concerned about this. Michael is a very sweet young man and does not like to fight at all. Knowing him, he'd would rather get beat up then risk hurting someone else. When I met my husband 4 years ago, we enrolled Michael into the martial arts. His step father is a Martial arts Instructor and cuts Michael no slack in class. He gets treated just like the other students and receives the full benefits of learning the martial art, just like the rest of the students. I have noticed a great growth in Michael since starting martial arts. He no longer lets other children effect him in a negative way. He looks them in the eyes and tries to talk to them about what is going on instead of letting them bully him. Michael had a good friend. One day my son came to me and said that he did not want to talk to the friend any more. I asked why and Michael said that this friend was starting to do drugs. Before telling me this, I had noticed that Michael brought him to Karate class a few times, trying to help him. When I asked why his friend was not coming any more, Michael honestly told me that his friend was doing drugs and Michael tried to help him but since his friend did not want to stop, Michael had no other choice but not to talk to him any more. Michael has excelled in school, he is much more confident and is not embarrassed to be in the special need classes. He used to be afraid that kids would make fun of him, this does not happen anymore. Michael's best friend is handicapped. Where as some kids might be ashamed of this, Michael just does not care about other people's opinions. Michael sees that there are much more important things in life now. Martial Arts has helped Michael with school work, friendships, and given him the strength to stand up against bullies. Michael has gained this confident through his accomplishments in martial arts and is still growing daily. Dyslexic children need a solid foundation so that hurdles feel within their jump. Achieving goals and receiving praise works wonders. I truly know that I owe Michael's accomplishments to martial arts, and I am very proud of him, I remember going to an ARD meeting one time and being told that Michael would be a construction worker. There is nothing wrong with that but how dare they put limitations on my son. That hurt me and I thought Michael will prove them wrong. He will show them. Now things have been gradual changing, Michael keeps moving up and up. I have such a wonderful son and thought that this is very interesting story. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and I hope that there are many more stories with happy endings out there.
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