Reversals: A Personal Account of Victory over Dyslexia

By Eileen Simpson

Book Overview

There was something wrong with my brain. What had previously been a shadowy suspicion that hovered on the edge of consciousness became certain knowledge the year I was nine and entered fourth grade. I seemed to be like other children, but I was not like them; I could not learn to read or spell. In this first account of what it is like to grow up dyslexic, Eileen Simpson vividly recreates the frightening world of a child living in the limbo of illiteracy. Simpson's lack of reading skills so exasperated her teachers and relatives that they began to think she was mentally retarded. She could get lost walking to the grocery store; at times she felt as if she had no control over her speech. It was not until she was twenty-two that her future husband, the poet John Berryman, finally named her mysterious ailment. Simpson intersperses her narrative with nontechnical explanations of dyslexia and what is being done to treat it. But despite growing public awareness and advances in research, dyslexia remains a frustrating and frightening disorder.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374523169
• ISBN13: 9780374523169
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A marvelous autobiography!

REVERSALS is the story of a woman who, though quite bright, had an impossible time learning to read and spell. She didn't find out till she was in her 20s that she had dyslexia. In my opinion, Eileen Simpson was--and is--one courageous and resilient lady. Because she grew up during an era when dyslexia, and LD in general, was unheard of, she was the victim of repeated misunderstandings. She was repeatedly accused of being lazy, careless, unmotivated, etc. In fact, her 4th-grade year was the worst school year she ever endured, due to a strict, authoritarian teacher and an equally strict aunt. That she never gave up, and was able to learn to read and spell in the end, is tribute to both her strength AND her intelligence. For finding the courage to disclose her dyslexia for the benefit of others when it would have been so much easier to keep trying to hide it, I applaud her. To anyone who wants to learn about LD and its effect on those who have it, I highly recommend her book!