Eighth-grader Neelley Jordan was recognized as Darlington's Optimist Club Student of the Semester on Dec. 10.
"[Neelley] has a sweet spirit and a happy attitude towards everything she does," said Spanish Department Head Christy Baldwin, who introduced Jordan at the awards presentation. "She will always greet you with a smile when you see her in the hallways, lunchroom, in or out of school. As her Spanish teacher, I can say that Neelley works harder than most students and perseveres even when things are difficult. In spite of her dyslexia, she has read 3 books in Spanish this semester and she has taken on the challenge to participate in class even when she is not 100% sure that she is right."
At Darlington, Jordan is involved in cheerleading, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the National Junior Honor Society.
Read the full text of her speech below:
Hi, My name is Neelley Jordan. I am an eighth-grader at Darlington School. I am joined today by my parents, Jason and Molly Jordan.
School has always been fun but hard. I am dyslexic, dysgraphic and have a diagnosis of dyscalculia. This means I have difficulty reading, writing and completing math problems. School is hard. However, I do not allow these diagnoses to be an excuse. It’s a family thing! Did you know dyslexia is genetic? If your parents are dyslexic you have a higher chance of being dyslexic. Many parents discover their own diagnoses after receiving their child’s diagnosis. My dad is that person. The admission of this is not an excuse but rather an explanation - an explanation for grammatical errors, missed words and multiple readings. I do not 'suffer' from dyslexia but live with it and work with it.
Dyslexia is a learning difference that mainly involves difficulty with reading. Dyslexia can affect writing and spelling, too. It can also impact math. Dyslexia is not a 'reading problem.' It is a learning difference that affects so much more than just reading. If anything, it makes me work harder. I was diagnosed in the first grade and joined a program at Darlington called the Accelerated Learning Program, a program designed to help students like me for two to three years. This program and my teachers have taught me that dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia are part of who I am but they do not define me. I have learned to advocate for myself and talk to teachers about my learning differences and my accommodations. Although the accommodations do not make any of my learning differences go away, they help ease the pressure in the areas which I struggle in. Dyslexia does not go away and cannot be cured therefore I have to learn how to see the world differently – in the classroom and life.
Like United States Gold Medalist Olympian Noah Lyles said, "I have asthma, allergies, dyslexia, ADD, anxiety and depression. But I will tell you that what you have does not define what you can become." I can become anything. My goal is to graduate from Darlington and attend Auburn University, majoring in Communication Disorders and eventually getting my doctorate degree in Audiology. My brother has a hearing loss and after tagging along to audiology visits with him and my mom, I realized my passion for helping other children like him. School is hard, earning multiple degrees will be hard, but like Noah Lyles said, what you have does not define what you can become.
Thank you for having me today.
