Category Archives: Personal Stories

Sometimes you just feel like a mango

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Have you ever felt like the mango in a line of lovebirds? Sure, you look like you fit in—same general shape, same red, yellow and green coloring—but, well, you’re a mango and everyone else is a bird.

That’s how Ruby Emmerson feels at Benton Academy, where she’s starting sixth grade with her twin brother, Bryce. But while Bryce is an academic high achiever who likely will excel at the competitive charter school, Ruby’s diagnoses of dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia mean that reading, writing and math are tough for her.

And when she fails her first test at Benton, wow, does she feel like a mango. She even writes a brief blog post about it: “I dont belong at Benton Acadamy. I’m an imposter. I walk beside you in the halls every day. But I’m not smart enuff to stay much longer. Theres so much work. Im failing.”

Nathan Pieplow and Katheryn Lumsden

Nathan Pieplow (left) and Katheryn Lumsden (right) are the authors of Confessions of a Mango, a new mid-grade novel that explores questions of belonging.

Except . . . so many of her classmates relate. Just as readers likely will.

Ruby’s are the confessions in Confessions of a Mango, a mid-grade novel published this week and written by Katheryn Lumsden, a University of Colorado Boulder molecular, cellular and developmental biology alumna, and Nathan Pieplow, an associate teaching professor in the Program for Writing and Rhetoric.

My Dyscalculia Story: Jane McNeice

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I was the child who did really well academically, who became the adult who continued to do really well academically. I am currently undertaking my MA in Autism, distinctions at PGCert and a first class honours degree. However, when I reached the age of 7 and we were being taught to tell the time I struggled incredibly. I could not tell the time properly till I was well into my teens. I went from an automatic set 1 maths student (judged by others by my other academic abilities) to a set 3 maths student in 5 years. This resulted in a GCSE grade E maths in 1991, which was and remains a significant outlier to my other qualifications.

I am now a company owner. I get by on the numbers front, but struggle sometimes with creating quotes, and not under-charging or miscounting financial figures. I know I will have done at some point and it will have cost me. I rely heavily on a calculator, and hand as many numbers-based tasks to others that I can. I am a mental health trainer, so managing timings in the training room and putting people into groups can be difficult for me too. Such a basic numbers task but I still struggle.

Read the full story HERE

How Dyscalculia Impacts Music

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This is a short interview clip with a friend who is dyscalculic about how dyscalculia impacts her ability to read and play music. Watch the full interview about dyscalculia in adulthood, “You mean, how I found out I wasn’t stupid?” in my library.

See it HERE

How autism, ADHD and dyscalculia shape my social work practice

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A social worker with autism, ADHD, and dyscalculia reflects on the challenges of disclosure, how her neurodivergence shapes practice with families and colleagues, and why social work education must change how it views difference

Read more HERE