Dyslexia Does Not Hold Her Back
Junior racer works harder than her peers to overcome learning disability
By Mike Perry IHRA.com
-Dyslexia causes difficulties in learning to read, write and spell. Short-term memory, mathematics, concentration, personal organization and sequencing may also be affected.-Dyslexia usually arises from a weakness in the processing of language-based information. Biological in origin, it tends to run in families, but environmental factors also contribute.-Dyslexia can occur at any level of intellectual ability. It is not the result of poor motivation, emotional disturbance, sensory impairment or lack of opportunities, but it may occur alongside any of these.-The effects of dyslexia can be largely overcome by skilled specialist teaching and the use of compensatory strategies.*The Dyslexia Institute 2002
Racing has always come somewhat easy for Alesi Gerthe. The 15 year-old Junior Dragster driver finished second in Division 4 last season in just her third year of competition, highlighted by winning the 2004 Division 4 Bracket Finals. When she gets behind the wheel of her Harden dragster she is a natural.It is a different story in the classroom where she is forced to deal with Dyslexia.Dyslexia, when broken down, tells you what Gerthe is forced to deal with on a daily basis. “Dys” means “difficulty” and “lexia” means “words.” Simply put, Alesi has a difficult time comprehending what the words she is trying to read mean when she is doing reading assignments or taking tests in school. Sometimes “d’s” look like “b’s” or “p’s.” Just imagine if the word “deer” appeared to you as “peer” or “beer” and you had to check the context in which the word was used to figure out which word it actually was. That is just one word, one example.When a child is born Dyslexic it can be hard on a family. First it takes time for the family to figure out what is wrong. Then the child must face, at a young age, the fact that they will have to put out maximum effort for results comparable to his or her peers who might not be working very hard at all. For parents, watching the child struggle and knowing he or she has been dealt an unfair hand can be frustrating. It can also be a learning experience for the parents as well as the child.Lisa Gerthe, Alesi’s mother, noticed her daughter had difficulties comprehending basic information and learning techniques when she was in kindergarten. Though Alesi’s teachers assured Lisa Gerthe there was not a problem, by the end of Alesi’s first grade year she wanted answers.“I stayed home with the kids when they were very young and around the time she was in kindergarten we noticed that there was something not right,” she said. “I asked her teachers and they would tell me there was nothing wrong, that she was doing great. First grade it was the same thing…something just didn’t seem right so we started going through the testing. Second grade was when they really got into gear as far as pulling her out of class and doing more one on one. And she went to a lot of extra tutoring after school. When they found out she was Dyslexic it was a big relief to know there was something because we all could see it, but we just couldn’t put our fingers on it. She knew the sounds of the letters, she just couldn’t put it all together.”Lisa was not the only one relieved. After wondering why she could not pick up on things as well as her classmates, Alesi wanted to know why.“It was first noticed when I was in second grade. I was having trouble reading and the school called my mom to come in and have a meeting about it. I was tested pretty soon after that and they found out I was Dyslexic,” Alesi said. “It was a big relief for all of us. We had no idea what was wrong and it made us feel a lot better to know there was a name to what was going on.”Despite the fact that there was a name for what her daughter was going through it didn’t make it any easier for her mother to watch her struggles.“It is extremely hard. It’s indescribable and unless you have a child and go through it yourself you can’t understand what it is like,” Lisa said. “Someone can tell you about but unless it is a part of your life you really can’t appreciate the challenges you face. When she gets it it’s like you can see the light come on in her. You can see it in her face when she’s learning and when that light bulb comes on you know she has it.”Alesi not only had to work harder than her classmates, she had to live with a younger brother who made school seem easy. Ayrton, two years younger that Alesi, is an honor student.“My brother is up for National Honor Society which means he has an ‘A’ average,” Alesi said. “He’s really smart. I’m very proud of my brother but I guess I’m a little bit jealous because school comes a lot easier for him.”Which is one reason she was happy to find out there actually was something causing her to struggle in school…that she wasn’t unintelligent. When she knew what the problem was, Alesi had to learn how to cope with it.“Dyslexia makes things harder for me to learn. Math and reading especially have been very hard for me,” she said. “After school every day I go to math tutorials and it takes me longer than other kids to understand things. If I am studying for a history test or something like that I have to go over the material several times before I can remember it.”She also needed an escape. During the school week, Alesi gets mentally and physically exhausted. She has to take her core classes early in the day, before lunch, so she will be able to concentrate and at night it takes her quite awhile to get through her homework. Her release comes during the weekend at the drag strip.“During the week when I’m in school I have to work really hard,” she said. “On the weekends we go and race and I consider everyone at the track my family. I’ve made a lot of friends there and it is a stress relief for me to go to the track and enjoy my time.”Her mother thinks drag racing has been a Godsend.“When she was in the first or second grade I had a lady tell me the best thing to do was find something that she’s good at,” Lisa said. “We tried BMX bike racing, piano, softball…we tried it all. My son actually got into drag racing first and we kept telling her we would buy her a car, too. She wasn’t quite sure but after watching him race for about two months she told us she wanted a car. After that it didn’t take her too long to catch on to it. Although the weekends can be stressful at the track, it is a release for her. Racing is something that comes naturally to her and she’s good at it.”Drag racing also provides a place for Alesi to go where she is just one of the crowd…no labels, no misconceptions. At the track she is just another racer, one everyone has high expectations for during the race.“It really makes me upset when people label me,” she said. “Just because I have Dyslexia does not mean that I’m a stupid person, it just means it takes me longer to understand things. Some people don’t understand what Dyslexia is and they just assume I’m stupid. But it is not that at all. I love showing people I can do things when they tell me I can’t.”And racing has paid dividends. Where Alesi was once a quiet child who lacked self-confidence, now she has a peer group whom she feels comfortable with and who treats her as “one of the gang.”“We knew we were going to get over the hurdle but it started affecting her self-esteem,” Lisa Gerthe said. “Not only have we been working on building her up educationally, it was an emotional thing as well. As she was able to actually feel like she was making progress, probably mid junior high when she started racing, she started to change socially. She gained confidence and I felt like I had my daughter back again.”Seeing her daughter in this light warms her mother’s heart. Lisa Gerthe knows her child has loads of potential and is trying not to push her too hard.“We’re just taking things at her pace. We know she’s capable of doing anything but she can’t be overloaded,” Lisa Gerthe said. “She can do whatever she wants if she puts her mind to it. She is great and I am very proud of her. As a daughter she has helped me grow and learn as a person. Our family is a team and that’s how we approach things. None of us stand alone and none of us would be where we are today without the help of somebody. Dealing with her Dyslexia has made us stronger as a family. Sometimes the things you work the hardest at, when you are successful it makes everything so much better.”
