PROFILE

Determination lets student hurdle barriers

* It takes her twice as long as the average student, but she is no less pleased with the outcome.

When Angela Eyre sets her eyes upon a printed page, words she has seen and heard a hundred times can seem as foreign as Esperanto.

Eyre, 18, has dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, and what has been diagnosed as a general learning disability - all of which makes reading a tortuous chore. Yet she has conquered tough classes like biology and chemistry and will graduate on time this spring from Centerville High School.

How has she done it?

`Extra work,' she says. `If I didn't do the work, I would not be able to be out of the (learning disabled) classes like I am now. I would still be at a very low level.'

High school reading teachers say the students farthest behind their peers tend to have learning disabilities - conditions that stymie their ability to process information.

Despite their problems, such teens have an advantage over poor readers without diagnosed disorders: School systems are obliged to offer them extra help.

However, it is up to students like Eyre to make the most of that help.

Every day, she spends an hour with special education teacher Kelli Henry, who goes over the worksheets and textbook assignments Eyre's teachers covered in class. Since Eyre learns best by listening, Henry will read the passages to her, explaining some of the words and concepts.

New vocabulary bedevils Eyre more than most students. Because of her learning disability, she says, `I can't see the word, know what it means, and relate it back to the story.'

She eventually figures it out, but it takes time: She estimates she needs twice as long as her peers to get through a text.

Eyre says it has been difficult to attend school in a high-achieving district like Centerville. Some teachers have told her to avoid classes such as biology because they thought she couldn't do it. She has taken great pleasure in proving them wrong.

`It does take her a little bit longer, but her drive to succeed is just remarkable,' says her mother, Bonnie Eyre. `She wants to (read), and if she wants to do it, she finds a way.'

And despite her difficulties, Eyre believes her hard work has given her an advantage many of her classmates don't share.

"I love to read," she says. "I read all the time."

Part 2 sidebars: Remedial classes at area colleges One student's success. GED: a last chance Learning a trade at the Builders' Academy.

Back to Part 1 Go to Part 3 Series index