New Recording 15

Abigail Fidel shares her journey of overcoming learning differences, including dyslexia, auditory processing disorder, and ADHD. She faced struggles in school, but with the support of her parents and advocating for herself, she received the assistance she needed. Through tutoring and extra help, Abigail was able to overcome her disabilities and excel academically. She emphasizes the importance of resources such as medication, education, skill training, and therapy for children with learning disabilities. Abigail's artistic talents blossomed as she learned and looked at things differently. Despite initial doubts, she found confidence in her ability to create beautiful art. Abigail's story demonstrates the importance of believing in oneself and having a support system. She has achieved success in her artwork and academic pursuits, thanks to her mother's unwavering belief in her abilities. Hello, I'm Abigail Fidel, and this is my story, with my lovely mother and biggest supporter, Julie Fidel. School was never really my thing, and I think my parents and teachers caught that early on. Julie was a kid who would completely zone out during class discussion, who would mirror her writings, who couldn't seem to comprehend basic learning skills. Abigail is our second child, and she's awesome and artistic, and I think early on in first grade, even, we knew something, you know, she had some learning differences. In first grade, I was privately tested and diagnosed with Dyslexia, APD, also known as Auditory Processing Disorder, and ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. We worked really closely with her first grade teacher to document all of that and see if it was something that she could get assistance for. She just learned differently than the other kids, and even her teacher at the time recognized that and was a really good advocate for her in first grade. I was very fortunate to have wonderful teachers to support me, but it wasn't enough, and I needed extra help. I think my parents realized that. And it was all through second grade, she continued to struggle, and we still went through the process. The public schools have to do all these intervention steps, where if you're struggling, then they try something different, and if that doesn't work, then they go to a different step. And all that, by the teachers, has to be documented. The process was long, and not just hard on me, but also hard on my parents. It took almost two years to get me the help I needed, because the school wasn't stepping up and helping me. But my parents were resilient, and demanded I receive extra assistance. So we were able to send emails to the school psychologist, to the educators, and state some Kentucky statutes, and really said we were going to go to a different private school if she wasn't tested and got services at the public schools. The school did step up, and by the beginning of third grade, I was placed into a resource room. And with the help of my parents, the school helped create a learning plan for me. To put a whole plan together, Abby had an individual education plan, or it's known as an IEP, all through third, fourth, and fifth grade. And then that transitioned into going into middle school. Middle school was a brutal period of time for me, mostly because I realized early on that middle schoolers aren't the nicest kids. I was still stuck in the resource room, and often my peers would refer to the resource room as the dumb kid class, which, of course, did wonders for my self-esteem. I later found out that she was, did feel kind of singled out and a little upset that she, I didn't want her to feel different, but because she was placed in those resource rooms. It took me up until eighth grade to finally tell my mom how much I hated the resource room. So she talked to my counselors and found out I didn't need the extra help anymore. Through my six years of tutoring and extra assistance, they told her I really had overcome my disabilities. People with dyslexia, auditory processing, learning differences, they don't, it doesn't suddenly go away. It's just that they learn differently. And we had given Abby enough tools through school and private tutoring that she could overcome it and still, it took her longer to get things done as far as her education goes, but she was able to compensate and overcome that and get good grades. While I was fortunate to have my mom as my biggest supporter, not everyone has that person in their lives. There are so many children like me who don't receive help they need at an early age. However, it is never too late to get help. There are tons of resources such as medication, education, skill training, and therapy. While these are not cures for learning disabilities, they do help and it's important to advocate for yourself. Now, I honestly believe, you know, Abby learns differently than maybe the traditional path. So that doesn't mean, you know, she's any less smarter than her peer group. In fact, I think the fact that she does learn and look at things differently has made her, has made her artistic talents, you know, expand. I think maybe she wouldn't be as artistic as she was if she didn't look and learn things differently. And she never believed me when I had said those things through school. It took me a while to actually believe my mom when she would tell me that I'm not dumb, I just learn differently. I think what really helped me believe it was art. Having art really helped me because even though I couldn't spell my own name up until fourth grade, I knew I could draw the most beautiful flower, which might sound silly or stupid, but at least I have something I could be proud of. Maybe the path with, you know, certain kids is, you know, there's, the majority of kids learn a certain way and that's how our education system focuses in on, this is how those kids learn. But there's a lot of kids out there that still, you know, learn differently. Abby's IQ is high or is high and so that obviously means there's a disconnect because she's not grasping the way that they were teaching her, but she's overcome it. I have made big strides since my time in elementary and middle. I have sold tons of artwork, exhibited in local galleries, participated in fashion shows and applied to GSA, also known as Governor's Scholars for the Arts, and got in. I don't know if I would be where I am today without my mother. She believed in me when I needed it most and I hope that everyone has someone like that in their lives. I think Abigail has turned out to be a terrific young woman and we are so proud of her for all of her accomplishments and everything that she's overcome. She's worked really, really hard and we couldn't, we really couldn't be more proud. Thank you.