Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover
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I seemed to be a normal child growing up while living with my mother, her twin sister and her son the majority of my life and lived with my mother’s oldest sister on several occasions before she died; I stayed with my grandmother during the day and sometimes on the weekends while my mother was at work. My grandmother remarried after her first husband died and to this day I spend time with her second husband although they are no longer married. He was a mentor in my life, which you will see later in this conversational book.
When I lived with my grandmother she kept me and my cousins in church and between her and my mother, they believed in not sparing the rod on my backside. I couldn’t say it then but I will say it now: I really appreciate their discipline and concern for my life. I am a great supporter of discipline because it yields great results if you learn from your mistakes. In my opinion, the government has taken this form of discipline away from parents and the school system when this is what helped to cultivate our children. A person that abuses a child is likely to abuse again, whether or not the government enforces a law against corporal punishment; the people who are really affected by laws against legitimate physical discipline are the innocent parents who desire to correct their kids to teach them the importance of right and wrong -- not to hurt them, but to teach them a lesson. If children are not disciplined, eventually the law will and judges will be forced to place them in a juvenile facility, jail, or even prison. So I’m quoting what many others before me have quoted: if you spare the rod you will definitely spoil the child. Again this is just my opinion regarding discipline; now back to my life; where was I?
Oh yes, during my earlier years I attended Pre-K school and I will never forget Miss King, who also taught me discipline using the Bible as her guide. She has since passed on but I still want to thank her for her early guidance and instruction in my life. I eventually enrolled in kindergarten and at first things were smooth sailing. However, when I transitioned to the first and second grade problems in my life began to surface. My speech was poor according to others and I seem to have problems with the way I perceived my school work.
After numerous tests, I was told that I had a condition called dyslexia. In addition to that, I had a nervous condition which caused my hands and body to shake at times. Later in life I found out that this condition was a disorder called “essential tremor.” No matter how hard I tried, I tell you, it just seemed like I could not keep up with the other children in my class. I would try to write something and my hands would shake uncontrollably. The problem with this was that teachers taught me to hold my pencil lightly so I could glide with speed across the paper, line by line. I would shake so badly that unless I held my pencil tight and pressed it down on my paper, I would write like chicken scratch, much like the writing of some doctors that you may witness today. The essential tremor led to me crushing my pencils and having many cramps in my hands from holding the pencil so tightly. As a result, I wrote about three times more slowly than the other kids in my class.
On top of that, Dyslexia complicated things for me even more. For example, when I tried to write something, the words might end up being written backwards, or one or two words might not be there at all. For example, if I tried to write the sentence The man crossed the road, I might write The mn crosseb the road or The crossed the road. Many times I would catch these types of errors and rewrite the sentences, but that process was very exhausting, as you can imagine.
I also seemed to learn things more slowly than the other kids and because of this I began to clown around in class and act out so I could vent my frustration with the reality that I just couldn’t keep up. It was tough because I was steadily falling behind, especially in my homework assignments. Some free advice that I can offer is to be careful before you say a child is “bad” or that they are not trying to learn, because you may not know about the challenges they face or whether they really need some help.
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About the Book
In and out of public schools, ESE programs, and through a stay at a psychiatric facility, Chris Moultry knew that he was meant for something bigger than the labels that were so quickly applied to him by doctors and school officials. With the help of his mother, his wife Jessica, a few outstanding teachers, and his mentors – family friend Mr. Green, his Grandfather Mr. Thomas, and his godfather Mr. Taylor – Moultry came to know something that the ESE system had tried to keep secret: that he could achieve anything he wanted to, with enough hard work, willpower, a little bit of luck, and faith in God. Here is his inspiring account of his journey from a troubled boyhood in small-town North Florida to his triumph over his challenges. Originally labeled as Learning Disabled and Emotionally and Mentally Handicapped, among other things, Moultry successfully completed two degrees and several certifications, and is now a Licensed Funeral Director, City Councilman, Bail Bondsman, and Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). He shares his story here in the hopes that it will inspire others who face challenges like his own.