Kathleen M. Dwyer

In my opinion, “What Do You Mean I Have a Learning Disability” is a wonderful book. First, I loved the main message of this book. It is to show children with disabilities can achieve great things and learn with hard work, perseverance, and an encouraging support system. The writing of this book flowed and developed very well. The story goes through Jimmy's daily routines and slowly reveals the little “mistakes” Jimmy does in a natural way. For example, “How can he be smart when he is always losing things? Mornings seem to be hurrying time because no matter how early he gets up, he always loses time looking for something.” The progression of the book helps readers clearly know what Jimmy is going through, and understand that he has a learning disability. There are also picture in this book that shows exactly what Jimmy goes through. One example is how Jimmy has to go through testing, and there are pictures of Jimmy actually taking the test. A big reason why I like this book is because it pushes readers to think about an issue that may not be relevant to them, and helps them broaden their perspectives in a smooth way. Perhaps my favorite line in this book is, “You really can learn, but you have to be taught in a different way.” The one thing I would change about this book is to have colored pictures, rather than black and white pictures. Colorful pictures help children to become engaged.… (more)