My Take
DiVoran Lites
I’ve always liked kids, reading, and books. That was the reason I took on a once a week job with reading challenged kids. It was fun. I learned a bit about ADHD, Dyslexia, and people who can read, but don’t comprehend what they read. We had young man stuck in the sixth grade because although he could mentally photograph a page, he could not explain what the words meant.
Several people I know have severe dyslexia. One is on welfare for it; the other is a brilliant doctor who gets books for the blind from the library so he can enjoy adventure books in his spare time like anybody else.
That’s one side of the coin. The other side is a friend who could go through ten romance novels a day and still take good care of her husband, children, and home. She ended up going to adult classes to get her college degree and supporting her children when her husband left them.
I know a couple of people who have turned reading into a fine art. One is Albert, a tall brown fellow about ten years old who is a wonderful natural athlete, especially as a basketball player. The first time I heard Albert read aloud in Sunday school I was thrilled and amazed. He had inflection; depth, tone, rhythm. I asked whether they recognize his skills at school, and he confirmed that they do. He reads the announcements over the intercom every morning. When asked, his mother said she had read to him with those same embellishments since he was a baby and he had picked it up from there.
The other artistic reader who was an English teacher, taught her children to read before they went to school. Now she is frail and cared for by a daughter and a son who is a policeman. I never have heard one word of complaint from this dear lady. She’s always telling other people how wonderful they are.
She tells me that, frequently, her daughter calls her on the phone and reads to her from Jane Austen. They just finished, “Northanger Abby.” Every night her son reads a chapter from a James Herriot novel. “I get a bedtime story,” she says, happily.
Does that thrill you as much it does me? I’m not going to say reading aloud is a lost art. Obviously, it is not and someday perhaps someone will read to me in just that way, but for now, I’m thoroughly enjoying my IPod, http://www.audible.com, and my all time favorite author whose books are recorded for a new generation: D. E. Stevenson.
The best book to read, aloud or silently is, of course, the Bible, which can change your life for the better forever.
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Old Things R New 
what a great post. thank you for sharing Onisha!
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Great article! Dyslexia is such a difficult thing for people to overcome! I have worked with dyslexics, and it is not an easy battle for them. I feel so fortunate to be able to read without an issue!
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Excellent post, Onisha, and I think it is a lost, and extremely beneficial, experience, due to electronics and our demanding, fast-pace lives, for the most part.
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Thanks, Elise.
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Wow that is great. My new daughter in law is a speech therapist and works with autistic children all the time. The latest thing is working with an I Pad. Mike got it for her for Christmas. There is software on there that the kids can use themselves, and I guess it is a wonderful tool for them.
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Loved the picture. I remember my grade school librarian Pauline Hall. She read to us every week and what a joy it was to listen to her. She held us in the palm of her hand. Sadly reading aloud is becoming a lost art. I took a class in it when I was in middle school and loved it.
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See the end of this for a surprise picture.
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