Chapter 4: Learning his B's and Q's

Bea opened her door at 10:04 to find a flustered George. “I’m glad to see you, please come in. Would you like some coffee? No? Come into the sitting room and be comfortable.”

“Let me explain why I asked you here. I believe you have a disorder called dyslexia. It shows particularly in your case as difficulty in reading. We will do some testing to confirm my first impression. With me so far?” George nodded.

“I have been successful coaching several people through these problems. Later I may be able to introduce you to some of my ‘graduates.’ I’m going to charge you $12 an hour, four hours per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now let’s get your particulars: Name, Address, Birthdate, Phone Numbers? You live with your parents? Had any girlfriends/boyfriends? Any jobs besides the Pig?”

“All right, let’s begin with the testing. Some of it will be easy, some hard. Try not to stress, just do what you can. Here we go, begin!”

An hour later: “Thank you, George, that will be it. Come back Thursday at 10 and we can go over your results.”

At their next session, George was anxious. “Tell me straight, ‘B’, do I need a brain transplant?”

“On the contrary, you have a powerful brain. There’s just a mixup in your communications.” Bea went into detail describing the causes, symptoms, and therapies she planned for the rest of the summer.

“But first, some harder questions. The tests show you have little difficulty speaking and having conversations on a variety of subjects. But concerning yourself, you are timid, even withdrawn. Why do you think that is?”

“It’s embarrassing and frustrating to be out with... “ “a date?” “yes, and be unable to read properly. I have never had a second date with a girl, they’re all ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ And now that I work at a convenience store, women are definitely not interested.”

“But you speak confidently with me. If we were on a date, we would have relaxed conversations.”

“Since I started at the Peppy Pig, I have been on the internet all the time. It gives me examples and information I can use without needing to read. I watch movies, tube clips, news, and so on. That wasn’t available to me in high school when girls still tried to talk to me, like on first dates.”

“I see, we’ll come back to that. Now, I want to show you a different way to read. Look at this text and tell me what you think.”

“It looks funny to me, B, but it is easier on my eyes. What can I do with it?” “Your assignment for next time is to bring your computer over here. Don’t bother bringing the display or keyboard, we will use mine. Now scoot!”

At their next session, George brought his battered mini-tower as instructed. Bea produced a flash drive containing the fonts from OpenDyslexic.org and waited for him to connect the pieces and boot up.

“George, I’m not going to install this for you. If I do it, you won’t learn.” He looked nervous; his mother had set up the PC for him.

“We’re going to add the fonts to your system first. Click open your File Explorer, yes, and then click on...”

“Now that the fonts are installed, let’s restart the PC and I will take back the thumb drive. Now, what do you use to see the web? Internet Explorer!? Not any more, you don’t. Let’s get you a copy of Firefox.”

Soon, he not only had the new browser, he also had installed the OD fonts as primary for reading website text. And, his word processor application had OD fonts defaulted.

“Your homework for next time is to write me a story, on any subject. It has to be a whole page without fiddling with any of the settings. Now let’s practice writing, and how to copy your document to a flash drive. Don’t fret, just type what I tell you: ‘Patchy morning fog and low clouds, extending inland nights and mornings.’ And again: ‘Patchy morning fog and low clouds, extending inland nights and mornings.’ One more time: ‘Patchy morning fog and low clouds, extending inland nights and mornings.’ Good, now let’s save it. Call it, ‘fog.’ Here’s another flash drive, now we’re going to save it again.”

George packed away his tower and flash drive f0r home; then his shift at the Peppy Pig started.