Faking It: A Look into the Mind of a Creative Learner

Faking It is Chris Lee's story of almost two decades of frustration in school matched by remarkable persistence, resilience, and ingenuity. The title is bluntly fitting; if Chris hadn't faked it through school, he wouldn't have made it through school. But he also knew that he couldn't fake it through life. The story Chris tells of what happened to him when he wound up in the University of Georgia Learning Disabilities Adult Clinic, where he met Rosemary Jackson, is both a moving account of how people with his problems can be helped to overcome them and, at the same time, a powerful indictment of the system--and it is nationwide--that leaves people like Chris feeling incompetent and stupid. Chris was considered "disabled" because he could not see or hear letters correctly; his processing of written language interfered with his ability to use both written and spoken English, and for this reason the system labeled him handicapped. He labeled himself stupid. Fearing every encounter with the English language, he devised his methods of faking his way through school sufficiently well to be admitted as a special student to the University of Georgia. There he found his faking wouldn't work--he had to recognize and deal with his problem. But he also found support and encouragement from people who not only understood his problem, they understood him. After five years of intensive work with Rosemary Jackson at the Clinic, he graduated from the University. He lost the need to fake it. And he wrote this book.

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If Chris hadn't faked it through school, concealing his dyslexia, he wouldn't have made it through school. This is his story.

CHRISTOPHER LEE is a creative learner who graduated from the University of Georgia in 1990. He is currently Director of the Georgia Assistive Technology Project, Tools for Life, and devotes extra time to public speaking and writing on self-advocacy and assistive technology issues. Lee also serves as president of LD Adults of Georgia as well as president of the Learning Disabilities Association of Georgia. He is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program at Union Institute. Christopher is a nationally renowned consultant in the field of learning disabilities. He has spoken to numerous groups on the topics that include consumer empowerment, living with learning disabilities, and assistive technology. His most recent book, What About Me? Strategies for Teaching Misunderstood Learners, he and co-author Rosemary Jackson provide specifics to help teachers and parents of misunderstoon learners. He also published a book in 1992, Faking It: A Look Into the Mind of a CreatROSEMARY JACKSON, Ed.D., is a teacher educator in the Department of Special Education and Administration at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia. She serves as a mentor leader for undergraduate students majoring in special education and also teaches graduate classes in learning disabilities.