This Poem By A 10-Year-Old With Dyslexia Emphasizes Power Of Perspective

by TeachThought Staff

I was reading it backwards like “life in it make can I” and was like…. this doesn’t make any sense and then I realised. Why is this child more intelligent than me

— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) February 27, 2019

Dyslexia

I am stupid.

Nobody would ever say

I have a talent for words.

I was meant to be great.

That is wrong.

I am a failure.

Nobody could ever convince me to think that

I can make it in life.

The Twist

So what’s going on here?

At first, the poem comes off as self-critical–a child lacking confidence and worrying about their place in the world. But then you read from the bottom up (as is clarified at the bottom of the poem) and you see the power of perspective and the kinds of things we take for granted as readers.

Poem From 10-Year-Old Dyslexic Student Emphasizes Power Of Perspective