dyslexia : joshler

sixty-seven

ignore any mistakes please.

🌿💌🌿

with shaky hands josh walked onto the stage in front of the rather large audience.

the crowd grew silent as josh reached the microphone, taking the mic off the stand.

"i was in fourth grade when my teachers realized i didn't read quite as well of the other kids" josh started off, nerves calming as he began to tell his story.

"they have these reading groups and ironic enough they had three reading groups; mocking birds, humming birds and dodo birds" he said looking out into the crowd, smiling softly as he saw tyler.

"well as you can guess i was in the dodo birds" he said with a slightly bitter chuckle. "and i never really cared to be honest, when i heard dodo birds all i thought was ; dang i'm pretty cool" he said smiling a bit wider as people laughed quietly.

"the thing was , they never did tell you what these groups meant exactly. all we knew was we were supposed to read a book everyday for thirty minutes and my group was barely finishing our first book while the other two were halfway through their fourth one" josh said pausing for a brief moment before continuing.

"but in fourth grade you begin to write essays and stories that are supposed to benefit us in life but no ,putting me in a dead quiet room and expect me to write a twenty six lined essay on what was my favorite season was seemed so difficult for an ten year old who couldn't even write his name properly" josh said, voice getting tense and stiff but continued on.

"so here i am, thinking i did great. i walk up to my teacher for her to proof read , and she reads it and i can see the disappointed look in her eyes as she read it and she looks up at me slowly and she shakes her head as if she wants to say something but she can't so she just says "read over your work" and i do, i read it over and see nothing wrong so i return back to her desk and again i see that frown sit upon her face as she tells me to read it over again" josh said , grabbing his water bottle and taking a sip before continuing.

"so it's my fifth time coming up and she just shakes her head and takes my paper and tells me to go sit down" he says, eyes scanning the crowd until they landed on mrs. black, mr. way, and mr. iero

"throughout my fifth grade, middle school years and early high school years, no one really cared they just saw me as the kid who didn't try, so they didn't either" he said.

"i've had teachers who tell me i'm gonna end up on the streets selling dope but if you think about the difference between the two aren't very different " he said.

"instead of slinging dope you're flinging around education we probably use ever" he said.  "when am i going to need oh! the transcript of dna is mrna to t trna to amino acids !" he said in a high , joking tone.

"until i met mr. way and mrs. black" he said with a grateful smile. "they didn't give up on me, they pushed me to my breaking point but was always there to rebuild me up" he said with a grin. "and then mr. way introduced me to mr. iero, a man who made me feel completely and utterly stupid but at the same time showed me that these thoughts, the thoughts that told me i was dumb and stupid , he helped me stop all those, so for you three i'm incredibly thankful"

taking another deep breath and continued.

"another part of this disorder is the kids who don't understand" he said closing his eyes briefly then continued.

"i can't tell you the amount of humiliation, name calling, bruises and pains, breakdowns, panic attacks, and utter embarrassment i've received because some close minded kids" he huffed. "i'm sure you all recall the photo of me that was shared around the school"

"through all this i was in a really bad mind set...a set where... i just honestly wish i wouldn't wake up in the morning"

"but there's always good in a dark situation"

"as i'm growing through this period of self hatred and constant break downs, there is one person who always stayed by my side" he said, eyes meeting a familiar brunettes ones.

"his name is tyler joseph"

"now tyler here has seen me at my lowest and highest points" he started smiling softly.

''and although we've only been dating for a few months, he's made me the happiest guy alive and i'm extremely grateful, so thank you tyler. love you , and everything you've done for me" he said .

"so for all you in the crowd, whether students or teachers, don't hold back who you are, because as i learned throughout this period of my life is that you can't give up . no matter what you may be dealing with...you can't give up"

he said taking and deep breath.

"i'm josh dun, and this is my story"

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855 words,
are you proud?

sorry i'm not good at speeches aha