Graduation.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! He did it. Payne decided to keep pushing through high school and grab his diploma in June. He’s had some harrowing experiences in school because he’s dyslexic and was misunderstood all through his school career, but he did it, he finished. Hearing his name called was like music to my ears and after the ceremony he came up, grabbed me in a bear hug and just started sobbing and saying, “I did it, I can’t believe it, I did it.” I think he was a little surprised at the strength of his emotion, not one of us had dry eyes as he set off to go take pictures with his friends, his friends who understood why his emotions were so raw. We always knew he had the strength to do it, but he’s the one who had to decide to stick with it and get it done. It was an exciting and nerve racking day and we’re so glad that chapter of his life is now behind him.
In July, not too long after graduation, HB 149, a bill that would help dyslexic students in public schools, passed the senate and was signed into law by Governor Cooper. Back in April Payne made public comment to the House Education Committee and gave me permission to post what he shared with them.
www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/politics/dyslexic-triad-teen-inspires-proposed-law/453758586
We also found a few articles about the bill:
Here’s one:
http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/three-bills-with-triad-ties-clear-general-assembly/article_6416cd63-533c-538d-ac3d-50a5ce6ae8ac.html
Here’s another:
https://www.ednc.org/2017/06/14/bills-flow-senate-education-committee/
In August, Payne finally decided to apply to the local community college. He had been apologizing to me all through his senior year because many of his friends were applying to universities and bringing acceptance letters into school, but not him. He said he felt like a loser and was pretty sure that’s the way I felt about him also. I told him I understood his frustration because I had to witness his journey through school, I didn’t think he was a loser and understood that going back to school was the last thing he wanted to do, but he needed to start somewhere. He wouldn’t know what he was capable of doing until he mustered his courage and gave it a try.
He was accepted into the community college and then had to decide if he was going to apply for accommodations through the disabilities office. Extra time is imperative for him because of the issues he has with reading. He finally decided to contact the disabilities office because he knew he had to have that important accommodation and he let me know when our meeting was scheduled. I had to let him know that the meeting was his, not ours. All the school IEP Meetings he had attended, had prepared him to go it alone. He was angry with me for what he perceived as me turning my back on him when he needed support. What he didn’t realize, I wasn’t turning my back on him, I was watching him morph into an adult who knows how to advocate for himself as I watched him walk out the door for his meeting alone, with my fingers crossed. He went in and got the accommodations he needed.
On To The Next Chapter…