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SUCCESS STORY:
RICK CLAY
I think back to the difficulties I had in school in West Virginia where there was no program for children with learning disabilities. I enjoyed school as a first grader but found out quickly that I was having difficulty. Each year I would be tested, and each year my family and I were informed that I was "Just Slow."
In summer while other children enjoyed their vacations I endured hours of additional instruction, only to find myself still behind and frustrated. I was not alone in suffering from this unknown disability. Sitting in the back of the classroom with me was the other "Just Slow" student, John. For years we sat next to each other in the back row and endured being the subject of our classmates' jokes and the frustration of our families.
John and I both were intelligent, motivated and imaginative, but in 1976 our lives would go in different directions. That year my mother entered nursing school where she heard a professor describe the learning disability of his son and how he would transpose letters and whole words. He described how his son could retain his lessons with greater efficiency by using audio and visual learning methods instead of the more traditional textbooks and chalk boards. For the first time, my mother and I understood the nature of my difficulty. At my mother's insistence, I was retested and diagnosed with Dyslexia.
Entering into the 6th grade, I was reading and spelling on a 2nd grade level and my math was on a 3rd grade level. A pilot program was being taught at my elementary school by two wonderful new teachers trained to deal with students with a variety of learning disabilities. Along with my mother, I owe these two women my life: Mona McCoy and Miss Roster.
My mother informed John's parents of this class but they chose to keep him in mainstream classes for fear of labeling him as being retarded. John and I went our separate ways.
I endured the insults of being a "Special Ed" kid while John was spared the insults, but as the school year progressed I realized that by using these new methods of learning I was gaining fast on my old schoolmates. Now I looked forward to school and did not want to leave at the end of the day, and hated it when the weekend approached. In that one year, I not only caught up to the educational level of my former peers but surpassed them by an entire grade level. John, on the other hand, fell further and further behind. Gradually I was mainstreamed back into regular classes, and by 10th grade, my only special education class was English. I never really achieved the desired spelling level, but I learned to adapt to my shortcoming. That is the key to having a learning disability!
On June 10, 1981, I walked down the aisle and accepted my diploma from DuPont High School. John did not walk that day and he never would, having dropped out of school. I entered West Virginia Tech on an athletic scholarship and majored in the emerging field of computer science. Seeking more direction in life, I withdrew from college to enter the United States Marine Corps and became a Combat Engineer. I excelled and learned to build bridges, roads, and fix structures. I learned explosives, leadership skills and weapons systems. I was able to excel in the USMC because their teaching techniques were similar to those used by Mrs. McCoy and Miss. Roster many years earlier.
When I detached from the USMC, I discovered Marshall University and its new HELP program headed by Dr. Barbara Guyer. She became the fourth person who influenced my life in a way I will never be able to repay. The HELP program was one of a kind in those days, bringing true equality to so many.
Still, many professors and students did not understand the hardships students faced who had learning disabilities, looking down on HELP Program students for receiving special treatment. Much to my surprise, some of the highest credited professors could not accept or understand the concept of learning disabilities and the difficulties we faced.
Once again I endured long hours in tutoring sessions and summer school just to keep up. At one point I was in ROTC, carrying 18 hours, playing football, and raising my two sons. Yet with the assistance of the HELP program staff, I was able to make the Dean's List twice in one year. Without the HELP program I would not have graduated from Marshall University with my B.S. in Political Science and Public Administration and a minor in Military Science, nor currently be working on my Master's degree.
I went on to become a legislative aide in the WV State Senate; the youngest city manager in the United States; a business owner; and executive vice president of site acquisitions in the wireless industry. Along the way, I earned my realtors' license and an insurance license, just for the fun of it, and have driven, flown, and operated many of the weapons systems in the U.S. inventory.
Today, I am the Program Manager of Public Buildings in Iraq for the CPA with 2700 projects, 32,000 employees, and a $1.9 billion dollar budget. Before that I was the Program Manager for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. I've been stationed in the Presidential Palace in Baghdad and overseen the reconstruction and new construction of all schools, hospitals, police stations, military bases, and public administration buildings throughout the Iraqi Theater of Operations. My new position will be asset development for many of the prominent Iraqi families and tribal leaders, assisting them in transitioning into the global market economy.
I learned to embrace my disability, not hide it. I use technology to work around my still present lack of ability to spell proficiently. I am proud of my achievements and grateful to those who helped me achieve them. John never achieved his full potential even though he lives a normal, happy life. I think of him often.
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