Ain't No Mountain High Enough!

Disclaimer:  Okay, so I have to do a little bragging about about one of my kiddos--so here is your chance to click on the little X in the corner and get on out of here if you don't want to read it.

This Sunday my son Hayden climbed a HUGE Mountain!  I can see you now asking yourself --what's in her Koolaid or maybe she has gone off her rocker!  Let me explain:  In this world of up and downs, mountains and valleys, he was all the way on the top of the peak!

Let me give a little background about Hayden.  Hayden was diagnosed with dyslexia in May and his whole world changed.  It meant changing from the school he attended with his big sister and going to a new school that offered a dyslexia program.  Pretty scary for a 7 yr old, having to make new friends, not having your big sister around to show you the ropes.  It also meant going to a tutoring class all summer.  For us, as his parents, it meant the puzzle pieces suddenly fit together.  We knew why he made A's & B's on math & science but struggled with Reading and Language.  Why he would struggle with words like "dog" if were on the page of a story more than once.  (dog, god, pod, gob, etc....)  He sees things in three dimension , so he will be good at things like sports and music.  Some other things that you might not know about dyslexia:  Children with dyslexia are usually bed wetters and have a slight hearing loss (we found out about his hearing loss through the school nurse way before we found out about his dyslexia)  It is hereditary and passed down through a parent, if one parent has it, then your children have a 50/50 chance of getting it.  (if you have 2, one will have it, if you have 4, two will have it)  Most children are not diagnosed or tested until 2nd or 3rd grade.  They will be able to do blood tests on babies in the future and tell you if they have it.  There are different levels, Hayden has both, numeric and letters as well.  I had asked his kindergarten, his 1st grade and his 2nd grade teachers if he had it, they said it was too early to tell.  Another interesting thing, not all states recognize dyslexia.  Thanks to the great state of Texas, not only do they recognize it, but several colleges offer students scholarships.  If you feel like your child may have it, there is a department in the school administration building that you can call and schedule your child to be tested.  (This is what we did)  These tests revealed that Hayden has a very high IQ, that he does better with verbal testing and does not do well with timed activities, and that he has a problem with short term memory.  Now we knew all that, it was time to learn how he best learns.

Now back to that Mountain, knowing his background you can see why I was a little apprehensive when he came home and said he got the lead in a Christmas Musical our church was planning to do.  How many acts?  How many lines?  How long do you have to learn it?  The musical was called, "The First Leon."   Here is a description of it:

 The First Leon. In this charming new musical you will see the Christmas story through the eyes of Leon. You see, Leon is... special. Ever since he discovered that his name spelled backwards is Noel, he's felt called to tell the world the true meaning of Christmas. But when he tries out for every role in the annual pageant, he finds that he's the only one who doesn't get a part. Rejected. Now Leon understands better than anyone how Mary and Joseph must have felt when they heard the words, "No room" that night in Bethlehem. Without really trying to, however, Leon does uncover the true meaning of Christmas when he identifies the real Star of Bethlehem. 

The fact that "Leon" could see his name spelled backwards was "Noel" was not lost on me....maybe it was the part that Hayden was just right for.  After hours and hours of practice and rehearsing, He did it!  He hit all his marks, sang all his songs, knew all his lines and even got laughs at all the right places.  He even got a little write up in the newspaper.  Talk about a Mountain!   I know as he continues to work through the years of school ahead that he will have valleys that will challenge him, but with a Mountain for him to stand on and shout out every now and again--He will soar!