After they were finished, he’d gone out and gotten them something to eat while Haven worked on evaluating the tests. She’d taken a break to eat with him, then gone back to the evaluation, while he’d watched some TV, but he wasn’t really concentrating. He probably wouldn’t until he’d gotten the verdict.
Though he already knew the verdict, didn’t he? He was a failure. He was stupid.
Nothing he didn’t already know, right?
And the two of them still hadn’t reconnected on a personal level, so there was a wall between them that needed to be scaled. He hadn’t figured out how he was going to start that conversation.
One thing at a time, right?
“Trevor.”
He turned off the TV and came over to the dining room. “Yeah.”
“Sit down.”
He swallowed, hard, and took a seat, feeling as nervous as he always had every time he’d taken a test.
“I’ve gone over your tests, and I’m going to tell you again I don’t do this for a living, so it’s not a professional evaluation.”
“Okay. Just tell me.”
“This is going to be somewhat detailed, so bear with me. It’s important to give you a comprehensive overview, so you understand what you’re dealing with.”
“Okay.”
She went over every test with him, showing him where he’d done well and where he hadn’t. She was thorough and took her time, making sure he understood what she was talking about. She didn’t speed through it, and he made sure he stopped her if something didn’t make sense. She was also honest—brutally so—and he appreciated it. This was what he’d dreaded for so many years, but also what he’d desperately needed.
Someone to help him.
“You have very good verbal abilities and a good grasp of vocabulary. Which is why you’re so well-spoken, and likely why you’ve managed to fly under the radar so well all these years.” She gave him an encouraging smile.
“Where you struggle is with reading comprehension and spelling. Though honestly, Trevor, it’s not as dire as you might think. You have good memory skills, and I think with some professional assistance, you could work through the reading comprehension issues.”
He waited, and when she didn’t say anything else, he asked, “That’s it?”
“It’s a lot more complex than that. It sounds to me like your father was dyslexic, a trait that’s been known to be inherited.”
“I have dyslexia.” Just saying the word made his stomach clench.
“It would appear so. Again, I’m not a professional, but I did train for this and did some diagnostic work with learning-disabled adults. But yes, based on these test results, you’re dyslexic. It’s not a severe form, but because you’ve hidden it all these years and haven’t sought help, it just seems worse to you. It’s something you can learn to work with. The problem is, you’ve been so frustrated with your inability to read and write well that you just stopped, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And other people have been doing it for you all these years.”
“Yeah. My agent and my lawyer.”
“You need to stop that. And do you realize what a beacon of hope you could be for struggling youth, especially those who look up to you? If you come out publicly and say you have dyslexia, that it’s something you’ve struggled with your entire life, and that you’re working on getting help, you could help so many others.”
He shook his head. “It’s not something I want to discuss publicly.”
“Why not? It’s not something to be ashamed of, Trevor. This isn’t your father’s generation any longer. Hell, it hasn’t been for some time. Do you know how many brilliant people are dyslexic? Albert Einstein had dyslexia. And he was by no means stupid. So did Alexander Graham Bell. Thomas Edison. Nolan Ryan, famous baseball player. George Washington, for God’s sake. And Steven freaking Spielberg.”
He leaned back in the chair. “No shit.”
“Yes. And scores of others. Dyslexia challenges you, but it won’t defeat you. Not if you don’t let it.” She grasped his hand. “You’re smart, Trevor. You were never stupid. Ever.”
He suddenly felt ashamed for hiding it all these years. “And I can help people—I can help kids—by talking about it.”
She reached for his hand. “Yes. Definitely yes. Any time someone of your caliber talks about it, you help someone who—like you—is ashamed and not seeking help.”