“Overcoming is worth the struggle and the work,” says sixteen-year-old Kennedy*. Those bold words are spoken by a young woman who fought a health challenge, that in turn, impacted her learning.

* Her real name is used with permission.

It is a great joy to interview overcomers who are young as I know the grit and perseverance they’ve developed will serve them well in life. Adults, myself included, have much to learn from young people who have fought and overcome life’s tough challenges.

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Kennedy’s mom, Heather, knew a four-year-old shouldn’t fall asleep in the car and not be easily woken up. Combine that with frequently being cold, running a fever often, and having leg pain. A call to the local children’s Emergency Department revealed the combination of running a fever and leg pain were symptoms that required immediate attention.

Tests revealed Kennedy had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), a type of leukemia that, if left untreated, would end her life in six months. No way would Kennedy’s parents allow that to happen. Treatment began immediately with an 80% survival rate. Her journey to fight childhood cancer would last two and a half years.

Kennedy remembers some of the treatments, specifically the waiting room and the doctors. “They put stickers on my chest, and I would fall asleep.”

Remembers Being Bald

Her oncologist shared a warning that these treatments might impact Kennedy’s processing skills. In addition to that side effect, her parents noticed the muscles in her eyes made it hard for her to track movement and words on the page.

Kennedy doesn’t remember much about her interactions with her peers in her preschool class, but she remembers being bald.

When she lost the last of her hair, her dad, Kenn, remarked, “I want your haircut! And I want you to give it to me.” As you can see in the sweet picture to the right, Kennedy shaved her dad’s hair. “I wanted her to know I was with her in her struggle.”

Path to Remission Was Not Smooth

Kennedy’s dad took her to her treatments, while her mom cared for her brothers. Accessing the port to put in the chemo upset Kennedy each and every time. A meal at “Waffles House” afterwards was always in order to end the tough experience on a good note.

Her path to remission was not smooth: ten to fifteen trips to the ER every month to address fevers and twice going into septic shock. The septic shock meant her body couldn’t take any more chemo. Her oncologist knew Kennedy’s tiny body was no longer responding to the chemo, so he changed her to a new protocol that saved her life.

Kennedy’s brothers, Graham and Kody, loved their little sister and were proud of how hard she fought cancer.

Diagnosed with Dyslexia

Kennedy was in Kindergarten when she finished her treatments. Because her mom was working at Kennedy’s school, she would stop by and chat with Kennedy’s teacher. She consistently said, “Kennedy is struggling with every reading, writing, and math task I ask her to do.”

Kennedy continued to struggle to track words and read in first grade. Testing revealed she had processing issues (how her brain processed visual information, as well as the speed at which information in her brain is processed). Not only was she struggling with reading, but her math and writing skills were also delayed.

When Kennedy was seven, she was diagnosed with dyslexia. A move to public school for second and third grades opened the door to special education services. While Kennedy did receive reading support during those years, some students’ behavioral issues in her class prevented her from making adequate reading gains. Kennedy proudly shared, “I received an award at the end of the year for being the hardest working student in third grade.”

This graphic above shows the areas that are not activated in a person with dyslexia, making it much more challenging to learn how to read.

Strengthen Reading Abilities

Through one of his speaking events, Kenn learned about GRACEPOINT School, a school dedicated to teaching dyslexic children through multi-sensory instruction to strengthen their reading abilities.

Kenn and Heather believed GRACEPOINT would offer a better environment for Kennedy to strengthen her reading skills. During fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, the methods used at GRACEPOINT targeted her struggles and helped her learn and use strategies that greatly improved Kennedy’s reading abilities.

“It was challenging to learn those new ways to read. Trying as hard as I could was a decision I made. I learned I was better at some things than others. I worked hard, because I wanted to learn to read.”

Wonderful Work Ethic and Sense of Positivity

A move to a private school that offered academic support when Kennedy was in seventh grade offered opportunities for her to put the skills she learned at GRACEPOINT into practice.

During our interview, Kennedy’s mom shared, “God has given Kennedy a wonderful work ethic and sense of positivity.”

Kennedy did what she does best: leaning hard on her foundation of positivity and kicking her work ethic into action. It didn’t take long before she discovered the assignments and tests at her new school were more challenging. She admitted, “When I’m learning something new and I don’t get it right away, I feel frustrated.”

Quitting wasn’t an option. Kennedy knew, “God made me who I am. And it’s a comfort to know God won’t give me more than I can handle. He will help me through it. He has the best plan for my life.” Kennedy did well academically, but she’s most proud of earning a leadership award while at that school.

Struggle to Process Information

In her two years of high school, Kennedy has encountered more challenges with learning, but she realized her academic goals don’t have to be the same as her peers’ goals of earning straight A’s.

“It’s a struggle to process information as quickly as my peers. It takes me longer, but that’s OK. It was difficult to see my peers do really well on a test, and even though I studied hard, I wouldn’t do as well. I decided getting a high grade on a test was not the most important thing.”

She now sets goals for her grades that are attainable, and she doesn’t compare herself with her peers. Her grades will still provide many paths of opportunity for life beyond high school.

She offers this advice to a person who has dyslexia: “I know it seems hard at first to learn to read, but you’re going to make it. It’s going to get easier. It’s worth the struggle, and it’s worth the work.”

Trust God No Matter What

Kennedy’s faith in God has helped her when she’s struggled. Her mom agrees. “The trauma we’ve faced has made our family and our faith stronger.”

A go-to verse for Kennedy is Psalm 37:5-6. It says, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.” It reminds her that she can trust God no matter what she faces in life.

Leave a reply (below): Helen Keller had incredible insight about what we gain from struggle. She said, “We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.” May we join Kennedy in learning to be brave and patient.