Fifth grader writes book to empower others with dyslexia
Cecilia Santagata says dyslexia doesn't define her; she calls it her superpower, because it's taken her to new heights.
Creekside Elementary School in suburban Plainfield hosted a grand opening of a section with books dedicated to understanding dyslexia. One of the authors featured is Creekside's very own fifth grader, Cecilia Santagata.
She loves a good story so much so that she tells her own story in her book "Cecilia's Journey Embracing Dyslexia."
The keyword in her book is "embracing."
"My thing is that all brains are beautiful," she said.
District 202 reading specialist Denise Wilson has been working with Santagata for years and says dyslexia is often misunderstood.
"People always think of the flipping letters, and that's part of it," Wilson said. "Some of those letters can look like others. They get jumbled because the brain isn't connecting to what the letter is, or in a sentence, they might have all the words but mix them up in a different order."
Santagata says looking at words is fine for her, but actually reading is a different story.
"The words aren't connecting, kind of like bouncing on the page," she said.
Her parents knew at an early age that something wasn't quite right.
Santagata says when she finally got her diagnosis, it was a huge relief just to know what was going on. It was empowering.
That power made Santagata want to write the book.
"I realized there had to be other kids in my school who had dyslexia," She said. "I didn't want them to have a hard time in the library."
Satagata wrote the book with the help of her grandma Linda Cortez, who has written other children's books.
"It really was her idea. She said since you've already published books, can you help me with this one," Cortez said. "We originally started with a manuscript. We went through the illustrations and she made quite a few changes."
It developed into Santagata's book.
"Ceci wanted the book to be part of the school library, not just for kids with dyslexia but for all the students and teachers," Wilson said. "Everyone at school has been like she's so great. It opened a conversation we might not have had otherwise."
Ceci and her friend Julian have formed the lunch bunch, a recess activity where all kids can learn more about dyslexia.
"The more we talk about it, the better we will understand," Santagata said.
Wilson says now that Santagata understands dyslexia, she's learning to decode troublesome words, and her test scores are taking off.
"She's unstoppable. I love it. She's going full force," Wilson said.
Wilson said people with dyslexia have the skills to show what they know, we just have to give them the tools to unlock the words.