The booklet was prepared in a very simple language, despite the difficulty translating some technical terms into Amharic. Very well done!!

I knew that I wasn’t stupid, but I couldn’t explain to anyone—not even to myself why I wasn’t able to read. I was made to feel stupid at school, and I was eventually forced to leave only because I am dyslexic. Consequently, I was clinically depressed and have been on medication for the past 2 years. One day, I typed “why can’t I read?” On YouTube ; I clicked on one of the video captioned: “you have difficulty reading? Maybe you are dyslexic.” Then, I started watching the description about reading disability called dyslexia, a word which I heard for the first time . Having learnt a bit more about it, I went straight home crying. I said to my father: Dad, my problem has a name—it’s called dyslexia, and I am not the only one—many famous people have it too! See, I told you, I wasn’t stupid! Everyone at home was shocked—but also relieved! The next day, I kept googling (with my fragmented spelling) looking for support in Ethiopia and found FANA’s website (www.fanaethio.org). My parents didn’t waste anymore time—they right away called FANA and booked an appointment to have me tested for any specific learning difficult. Yeah-it was conformed—I am dyslexic, but otherwise bright, with high cognitive abilities. Hearing this was more than enough to make me want to live—be hopeful. It was obviously overwhelming—way

ልጃችን አንተ ጋር ከመጣ በኋላ ላየናቸው አስገራሚ መሻሻሎችና ለውጦች ልናመሰግንህ እንፈልጋለን። ቀደም ሲል በነበሩት ጊዜያት እጅግ በጣም ተስፋ ቆርጦና መኖሩን ጠልቶ ነበር። ምክንያቱም እኛም ሆንን የትምህርት ቤቱ ማኅበረሰብ ሊረዳው አልቻለም ነበር። ያለውን የተለየ ባህርይ እንዲቀይር ተገቢ ባልሆነ መንገድ ከባድ ጫና እናደርግበት ነበር። በትምህርት ቤትም ቢሆን እንደ ረባሽ፣ የማይታዘዝና ሕግ እንደማያክብር ተማሪ ነው የሚታየው። ይህም ልጃችን ከባድ ጭንቀት እንዲይዘው ምክንያት ሆኗል። ትምህርትም የመማር ፍላጎቱ ጠፍቶ ነበር። ትምህርት ቤት የሚሄደው እኛ ስለምናስገድደው ብቻ ነበር። የራሱ ባህርይ ለራሱም ግራ የሚያጋባ ሆኖበት ነበር። የሚያስቀጣውን እና ሌሎችን ሊያበሳጭ የሚችል ነገር ለምን እንደሚያደርግ አይረዳም ነበር። አንተን ካገኘን በኋለ ግን እርሱም ሆነ እኛ የተሰማንን እፎይታ እና ሰላም በቃላት ለመግለፅ ይከብዳል። ከዚያ በኋላ ለራሱ ማሰብና ከሚጎዱት ነገሮች መቆጠብ ጀምሯል። ጉዳዩ የሚመለከተንን የቤተሰቡን አባላት ሁሉ ማናገርህ ደግሞ ትልቅ ውጤት አስገኝቷል። ምክንያቱም የልጁን የተለየ ባህርይ በሚመለከት ሁላችንም አንድ ዓይነት ግንዛቤ እንድንይዝና ተመሳሳይ ድጋፍ እንድንሰጠው አስችሎናል። ወደፊትም ድጋፍ ማድረግህን እንደምትቀጥል ሙሉ እምነት አለን። ለተደረገልን ሁሉ እጅግ በጣም እናመሰግናለን።

I can’t believe we expelled so many bright boys and girls because we thought they were lazy, trouble makers, or stupid. The Bible says: ‘my people perish for lack of knowledge’. I believe that I have just been transformed.

I am crying because I am so happy that I found you guys before it is too late for my child. You wouldn’t see him this happy if it wasn’t for you guys.