Something about
this link on Facebook caught my eye. Maybe it was the crisp logo, maybe it was the "D" word in the accompanying text: "Dyslexia." All I know is, I clicked on the ad, which is something I never do, and that led me down a very pleasant trail which I'm happy to share with you.
As I posted about the book, several friends commented about the spelling in the title, that is, "Plad," instead of "Plaid." We couldn't figure out why a book written especially for those who tangle with words would contain a misspell on the cover.
So you know me. I live for the word, "Why."
I emailed the author, Sean Plasse, the following message:
Hello. I was intrigued by your ad on Facebook and shared it with friends. We have a collective question: Why "plad" instead of "plaid?
And then came this great response, which I will now share with you with the author's permission:
Hi Linda,
Thank you for the email. We love to get questions from around the country. We appreciate you sharing our website with your friends.
I am dyslexic. 80% of dyslexics struggle with "phonemes", which are the sounds that letters make. For example, the word "cart", is one syllable, and four letters, but it is amazingly three phonemes: K - RRR - T. Three sounds. The human brain is remarkable, in that normal readers can simply glance at a one syllable, four letter word, cart, and automatically "hear" the three sounds in their head: K-R-T. It is really amazing that people can decode words like this, and they use the left, left-back, and way-back of the brain to do it. Dyslexics never achieve this automatic skill. Brain imaging shows that a dyslexic uses the left, left-back, and right-front of their brains. Imagine trying to listen to a book on compact disc, say "Huckleberry Fin", but somebody has scratched the CD surface, and it keeps sticking, skipping, and sounding terrible. That's what it is like for a dyslexic when they try to read and sound out words. Thus, the struggle with sounds, leads to a struggle with words, sentences, paragraphs, and of course the story overall.
The good news is that dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence. There are many successful dyslexics, like Charles Schwab, Richard Branson, and others. I was diagnosed later in life, after robust testing at the Stern Center for Language and Learning,
www.sterncenter.org. Apparently my ability to decode words is in the 14th percentile, but my IQ is in the 99th percentile! It was a great day for this dyslexic carpenter. I received a few years of reading instruction at the Stern Center, and went on to serve 6 years on the board of directors, making speeches for the Governor of Vermont, NPR, local news, and most importantly, raising financial donations to help youth literacy. It was a great time. The one thing I heard over and over again, was that teachers and parents were struggling with dyslexic boys, especially in rural areas.
My friend was a teacher in Vermont, and one day she called me. She had a dyslexic boy as a student, and who she couldn't find books for him. I asked her what he liked to do. She said, "Fish, hunt, camp." I told her I loved those activities too, and to get books on those topics. She said there weren't any. I was amazed/horrified! I had been writing for 18 years, but had never attempted a children's story. I started writing The Brothers Plaid that day, but t just didn't look right. My dyslexic brain skipped each time I read my own title, Plaid. I changed it to The Brothers Plad, and it felt right. It made phonetic sense to me, and I wanted dyslexic kids to feel invited by the title, not intimidated. So, my friend read the story out loud to the class one day, and they loved it. The dyslexic boy took it home that night, and my friend went to his trailer, and watched him read it out loud to his Dad and stepmother. It meant the world to me. So, that year I wrote eight short stories of The Brothers Plad, and the class had a huge plad party at the end of the year...and everybody wore plad and ate watermelon. I spent the next three years writing the novel, with my brother Matt as business partner and editor. The novel is based on a true fishing story from when we were kids. The original Brothers Plad.
The whole book was designed from the beginning with dyslexics in mind. The font is easy to read. Paragraphs are short, with ample spacing. There are visual icons which follow the story, and summarize at the end of chapters. There are words purposefully misspelled in each chapter. One of the brothers, Tommy, is dyslexic, and struggles to read throughout the book. And of course, there is plenty of action, worms, dirt, blood, sweat and fishing.
I hope that this is a decent explanation of the spelling! Here are a few more links for fun:
1. Book Tour - This is a facebook link which gives you a visual tour of the book. You can see the graphic icons which summarize the story for dyslexics. If you start on the image in the top left, and simply scroll through, it is a good tour. There are explanations written below each image.
2. NPR Interview - Here is a link to an NPR interview I did a few years ago, which explains some of my coping mechanisms for dyslexia.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6425164
3. Television Show - Here is a link to a television show, when I was struggling as a dyslexic author to write a book. It was much more difficult than I ever expected, but with my brother's help, we got it done. Now we're shipping around the world!
One of the things my new son-in-law said about this link was,"
I wish that was the first book I ever read. Maybe I would have liked reading."
If this book tweaks your interest, I encourage you to check out the links and consider a purchase.
I believe it is a new day for those who learn differently from the norm. We have to keep pushing forward.
Thank you, Sean Plasse, for taking on this challenge and for caring about other people. Best of luck to you in whatever endeavor you put your heart, mind and hands to.
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