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From: JohnBKennedy <jack_b_kennedy@consultant.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-LD:3064] RE: Question: LIFE, God can bless us
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------Original Message------
From: "Behroozi, Jaleh" <Jaleh_Behroozi@nifl.gov>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov>
Sent: August 7, 2000 9:09:48 PM GMT
Subject: [NIFL-LD:3063] Question
The following message was sent to me by one of the LINCS
users. With his permission, I am posting his message to the
list. Please
share your thoughts with him and other subscribers on the
list.
Thanks.
Jaleh Behroozi Soroui
LINCS Director
National Institute for Literacy
1775 I Street, Suite 730
Washington, DC. 20006
Phone 202/233-2039
FAX 202/233-2050
I would like to tell whomever this may concern. As a kid I
grew up poor, and in a house of 8 with a single parent. At
one point, my
mother drank and fought with her boyfriends all the time. In
addition, my
mother had a 6th grade education. well as a kid, I was
placed in a SLD class
from 3rd grade to sixth grade. The only way that I was able
to prove that I
really had know serious learning disability is because my
junior high
teacher saw that I had talent and placed me in the regular
classes. I was
even taken geometry in the seventh grade. My mother told me
that she didn't
want to be bothered with the teachers at school so she never
showed interest
in my education; nevertheless, she let the faculty dictate
what was needed
in order to help me. most parents will try to investigate
these issues of
there kids being placed in a SLD program. Also, I have
learned that in the
public schools and maybe in other organizations that these
programs are
receiving special fundings from the !
government to run these programs which reminds me about
situation that I went through. One day I told the teacher
that I am smart
enough to be in regular classes, and the teacher said yes
you are, but we
are not going to release you because our program has to have
enough students
enrolled to keep it running. I believe what she was telling
me was that she
needed job security. Also, some of the kids and students who
are in these
classes may be losing out on there true education because
alot of these
programs aren't teacher the students what they need to know,
and when they
faced with an academic problem, they have no clue as to what
means what
because they haven't been thought that. I experienced this
first hand.
Becuase I strongly believed in myself, I finished high
school with a regular
high school diploma , and went on to college graduating with
a degree in
computer science. when I was in high school, I had a very
bad experince with
a faculty member. The guidence counselor !
who was my counselor and football coach was always recommand
that I be placed back into the SLD program and to make
matters worst. He
thought this would be better for me so that I could keep up
with my grade
point so that I could play football. I think that some
people make life very
difficult for others and when you have a parent who says
that they care but
never showing any interest then life can be turned upside
down for the kid
and individual. Nevertheless, my mother use to call me
stupid and would make
fun of me and my hand writings. I believe she did these
things because she
had a problem with herself. She only had a sixth grade
education. My
conclusion, is that I would like to know if a person who has
been through
something like this, could you say that this person has a
learning
disability or could it be that this person was never given a
fair chance at
the beginning. And last but this also plays a big factor,
but what if the
kid is a Afro American kid like me, and b!
orn in the south during the earily seventys when the
majority of the teachers were white and a lot of the black
students were
though of having a learning disability when they didn't
perform well and not
realizing that this person maybe dealing with other
problems. let me ask you
something? If you had a son or daughter would you call them
stupid would you
not talk to there teacher or show concern about your kid
progress. Let me
know what do you think.
>>>>> Dear young man, I am looking for your name, but am
very tired from working a long hard day. I like to let all
people know that I like blacks, because there is almost no
better way of finding out how decent a person really is. It
was easier when I was a boy, because I would look at all of
the musical color the person would use. In some cases, in
less than 5 seconds I knew that this person was not worth
the time I
would give him/her. No one knew that I sort of adopted a
truly great man as a kind of step father, because my parents
had a German background and every one hated GERMANS! You
not only seem to be a bright young man, you may not realize
it but God has blessed you with experiences and wisdom that
a great many doctors never had. Yes, I would say that you
are "remedial" - a fancy word that says you are not
perfectly
educated. With my own children (now ages ~26 & 28) I had
them go back to every grade and keep studying it until they
knew it perfectly. {My daughter was mistreated too - by an
inadequate teacher or two. But let me tell you about a very
smart but very lonely young man who knew 19 languages when
he went to prison, and when he came out, he had taught
himself
braille - so he could help a blind prisoner (he was almost
blind himself). In 3 months he taught himself to be a
certified
X-RAY technician, and before he left prison he was a medical
doctor and knew 29 languages. He got out of prison and did
medical research until he died. I cannot recall his name,
yet his partner was hated so much that they killed him in
prison with
a hand made knife. Yet this good man (either Leopold or
Loeb,) and I think it was Loeb, learned in the dark with the
braille
he taught himself. I am not so sure that most of us are not
born that
smart and wise, but circumstances of one sort or another
take and cause us to hide a lot of it. I feel sorry for your
mother, but you must be careful not to let the illnesses of
her body effect you. Some of my ancesters were alcoholics,
and I never knew it - It did not seem to affect me. And
maybe
very small amounts are good for us if we use it right, to
help break down fats in a marianade before cooking, but very
little (about 3 or 4 thimbles full) with a full meal, might
help our health and digestion, but and more than that will
begin to take important nutrients from a person's body.
So, yes, I have great hope for you, but you need to
learn how to detect the good people from the bad ones. It
all depends upon where you are whether any one group of
people
are better and healthier for us than any others. To me no
color makes a difference, and even a few atheists can be
just
as - no - almost as good. God turned me around, so pray for
your mother with powerful prayers said in humility. With
strong faith, your mother will change - and you might even
give her the love and understanding she needed when she was
a little girl. She drinks to cover the pain, but it just
makes it worse. I know, because I forgot to keep the amount
small about 2 times in the Army, and the pain it caused
was worse than the one I was trying to adjust to. If I had
it to do again, I would go to the library and find some
poetry
etc. like "IF" by RUDYARD KIPLING, and if you find the right
one, "A Fool's Prayer" - by an anonymous writer, it just
might give you
the deep chuckles it gave me. Best of luck to you. You
will
be in MY prayers every day of my life, and so will your
mother and family. May God always give you the wisdom to
take the right road, and may HE always hold you in the palm
of HIS
HAND that no harm may come to you or those you bless.
- Jack /JBK/ {Yes, we are related, and to Duke Ellington
too.}
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