[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16736-16737]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]





                        DYSLEXIA AWARENESS MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Farr) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. It is 
part of the broader Learning Disabilities Month. This is the time we 
focus on learning disabilities, particularly in our students and our 
own children and many who suffer from learning disabilities.
  I am emphasizing Dyslexia Awareness Month because I have dyslexia. 
Growing up, it was very hard being a student that couldn't read well, 
couldn't spell, couldn't write. I was very ashamed of that. I was shy. 
I didn't know how to ask for help, but I had a lot of support in my 
home.
  My mother and father didn't really know how to treat it. We didn't 
even know how to diagnose it in the early ages. I became withdrawn and 
embarrassed to go to class, particularly to

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get up and to have to read in front of the class and to spell in front 
of the class. I still have trouble doing that. Thanks to loving parents 
and to supportive teachers, I am here.
  I share my story because we need to remove the stigma attached to 
learning disabilities. No student should have to sit in silence being 
ashamed, being afraid to ask for help.
  I had a high school biology teacher, Enid Larson, a person whom I 
actually wanted to grow up and be like and be a high school biology 
teacher, who taught me I could accomplish anything. I think I studied 
sciences because so much of science was memorization and not having to 
write a lot of papers and not having to read in front of the class.
  I pass that same message along because one in five children with 
learning disabilities or attention issues has to know that it is not 
because they have a low IQ. They don't. In fact, some of the brightest 
people in history have had these learning disabilities. It isn't 
because you are different. It means that you are unique. It means that, 
with the right help, support, and love, you can accomplish many things. 
You can cope with your disability.
  Many Members of Congress are dyslexic or have children who are 
dyslexic, and so many that we have actually formed a Congressional 
Dyslexic Caucus. I am urging you to ask your Member of Congress, if 
they have not been a member of that caucus, to join it.
  I ask for you to ask your school districts what help they are 
bringing to kids with disabilities and particularly for dyslexic 
students.
  I encourage the students to speak out. You may be shy about reading, 
but that shouldn't be affecting your speaking. You should speak out 
about what you feel and what you want.
  Dyslexia is a reading and spelling disorder, but you can develop 
coping skills. With that, you can overcome your shame and your shyness. 
After all, many of us in Congress have done that, and that is why I am 
speaking today and not reading.

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