It's Never Too Late to Learn

Once upon a time there was a little boy who struggled with reading. All of his friends and classmates seemed to breeze through books while making his way through even the shortest of reading assignments was an excruciating chore.

Try as he might, whenever he would pick up a book and try to read, his eyes glazed over and the words blurred on the page. No matter how interesting the subject might be, the task of reading made him tired, bored and unable to comprehend what he needed to know from the material.

Despite grades that went up and down more than the stock market, educators had never diagnosed the young man with any kind of visual processing disorder or learning disability. His school just assumed that his low grades could be attributed to one of two things - he didn't want to do the work or he wasn't smart enough to do the work.

Since no one ever really figured out that he had a problem with reading and comprehension, he found his own ways to deal with the situation. He would read in small chunks, but even that was agonizingly slow.

He also discovered that he was an auditory learner and could remember virtually everything he heard. When study material was difficult to wade through, he would simply read his class notes into a tape recorder and play them back several times until he could recite the material verbatim. Once out of high school, the young man went on college and then out into the workforce where he continued his unique ways of dealing with his reading problems.

In something of an ironic twist, a great deal of his adult life has been spent reading large amounts of material as a writer and editor. Of course, by now you have probably guessed I am talking about me.

I was in my late 30's before I figured out that I actually had some type of learning disability. I had learned to adapt, but it was never easy. With technology, however, came options and a great deal has changed since the days of reading my work into a tape recorder. Today I "read" in a couple of different ways using both audio and visual techniques.

Since I travel so much I use books on tape to digest several novels per month - my favorites are mystery series by David Baldacci and Lawrence Block. Now, these programs are available in compact disc and MP3 formats as well.

For visual reading, I generally use software like eReader on my smart phone or computer. I seem to read more easily by using a dark background with light colored text. The software allows me to reverse the background and text colors.

I have on occasion been mocked for using these techniques, particularly by some snooty academic traditionalists who believe that if your nose isn't buried in a regular hard-bound book you really aren't reading. I always wonder if they would have the impudence to diminish the reading accomplishments of someone who is blind and reads by touch.

Actually, I find my multiple reading techniques to be a great advantage. For example, I can read a couple of different books at once because I can listen to one book while visually reading another and remember everything about both stories. In addition, my ability to read normal black ink on white paper books has improved dramatically both in speed and comprehension.

Now that I know what works best for me, I have become an avid reader. Better reading comprehension has improved my vocabulary and writing skills and over the years I have written hundreds of articles, show scripts, software manuals, short stories and manuscripts. I have sold my work to dozens of publications and even been nominated for awards in journalism.

So I guess if there is a moral to this story, it is that you are never too old to meet the challenges that life brings you. If you have the will, there is always a way and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Just for the record, I visually read my very first novel at the age of 42 using the reversed color technology. It was "Burglars Can't Be Choosers," by Lawrence Block. Mr. Block, if by some miracle you are reading this, thank you. I read every word you put down on the page with my own eyes, and I'll never forget them.

Gery L. Deer is an independent journalist based in Jamestown, Ohio. Read more at www.gerydeer.com