I watched a movie called, “In Her Shoes” with Cameron Diaz as a character that drinks and can’t keep a job. The movie implies that this may be the result of poor reading abilities. She tries to hide her reading impairment from family and friends. Due to lack of self-esteem she feels her only value is in getting men to give her things. Cameron Diaz’s character, takes a job in a retirement home and an older gentle man asks her to read a book and she does reluctantly and with great difficulty. She reluctantly reads, and over time this becomes a ritual between them. At one point he calls her a “smart girl,” and she beams.
We want to believe that after school learning disabilities just take care of themselves, but they don’t. Reading impairments and other learning disabilities not only impact school performance, but if left untreated lead to self-esteem issues which can result in a host of other problems like alcohol and drug abuse, and even criminal behavior.