Introduction
At one of our order of St. Luke's meetings (a healing order), I heard the witness of Shirleen Waite. This was a beautiful story of God healing the biochemistry of the brain, and enabling a woman born with a disability to help others with the same disability. I asked her to write up her story, which she did. Her story follows.
Magnificent Surprises
by
Shirleen S. Wait, Ph.D.
It was the summer of 1982 that I received a magnificent surprise in my life. I was to spend the day with two prayer partners in Orlando, Florida, where I was visiting with my husband Pete. Just as I started the car I heard a voice say to me, "Shirleen! You're going to get your dyslexia prayed for today!"
I was stunned! First of all, I don't hear God speaking to me in a voice. And though I had experienced physical healing, it never occurred to me to ask God to heal my dyslexia! I could hardly wait to get to my friend's home.
As my two friends laid hands on me, one of them had this word from the Lord: "I have removed the walls that you put up when you were in your mother's womb and you will preach and teach about it." Immediately I had the knowledge that I had put up those walls because I was to be the only child in a very restless household. My parents, who were not believers at the time, didn't seem to be very happy with themselves, with each other, or with me. The environment was often hostile.
In the midst of that environment God sent a miracle surprise named Goldie a wonderful nanny who loved Jesus. She talked and sang to Him all day and I can't remember a time when I wasn't singing and talking to him. In fact, I had a play language I used when I talked to my dolls as an adult I realized that was my prayer language the one I use today. Goldie had always wanted a daughter and she delighted in me as if I were her own. She went with us on our vacations and when she was on vacation she got on the streetcar and came over for a visit. I thank Jesus for the influence she had on our home I'm sure she had all her friends praying for us.
One thing Goldie couldn't change was the trouble I had in school. I didn't read very well and my math was a total disaster. In fact, I felt dumb. But a learning disabled child is not usually dumb. Instead, they have trouble processing material. I had trouble remembering words on the page, (visual memory) or words I heard (auditory memory) and math problems were especially difficult because the numbers have to line up a certain way and for me, spatial relationships and sequencing were a mystery.
As an adult I couldn't look at or hear a telephone number and dial it (visual/auditory memory and sequencing) so I would hold the phone to my ear with my shoulder and point to each number as I dialed. I was not able to pass a car on a two lane road at night because I had no idea where the oncoming traffic was (spatial relationship). I couldn't program a microwave oven (sequencing). The one thing I did learn to do was to memorize everything so I knew all my math facts, spelling words, states/capitals, books of the Bible, etc. My memory never failed me, thank Heavens! It was my vehicle for learning.
In seventh grade I joined a school chorus which turned out to be a magnificent surprise. Through a creative teacher, we learned a wide variety of religious and popular music which greatly expanded my limited vocabulary. Using multiple senses voice, eyes, ears helped me easily learn the new words which caused me to become a better reader in my subject areas. Latin was a fun way to use my excellent memory and by some hook or crook I passed the first year of algebra.
My high school years were spent studying, achieving, and memorizing by now I could memorize all the pertinent points in a textbook in order to be ready for a test. Every afternoon a friend came over and taught me every problem that had been presented by our algebra teacher that day. I memorized all the equations which helped me pass each test. My memory served me well in Latin and English and I was eventually tapped into the National Honor Society, a magnificent surprise indeed!
In college I was failing algebra, but a math major friend spent a week teaching me how do every textbook problem so that I passed both the exam and the course another magnificent surprise! I spent college years studying hard, mainly because I had to read everything two or three times. I avoided what I didn't do well, made the dean's list, graduated with B. S. in Education, and married my college sweetheart, Pete Wait.
Another magnificent surprise came during the second year of our marriage. We were stationed in Gander, Newfoundland, a small town with no paved roads, no TV and no radio. Our basement apartment windows were covered with snow much of the year and I was home all day with our baby daughter. Pete began to borrow books from the lending library at his Air Force communications site. I started with Reader's Digest Condensed Books. I was. reading books for pleasure, simply because I was lonely and bored. Before the year was over, I was reading several books a week and surprising myself at how reading was opening up to me. I wasn't having to read everything several times and I was really enjoying myself! This was a miracle.
In my teaching career, I was always great with children who had a difficult time learning because I could show them ways I had succeeded as a youngster. And, of course, mt husband Pete tutored me in algebra before I took the National Teacher's Exam (I scored in the 90th percentile on math.)
Remarkable events happened in mid life beginning with my enrollment in a master's program for reading educators at FSU. Of course, Pete tutored me in algebra (so what's new!) so that I could pass the Graduate Record Exam (GRE.) I needed reading glasses and the eye examination revealed that my eyes weren't working together we began to pray for my eyes. As I gained knowledge in the area of reading education I realized that my problem wasn't just my eyes I was dyslexic.
During that time, Francis and Judith MacNutt came to Tallahassee and Judith spoke about the healing of mental hospital patients through prayer. I was familiar with physical healing but Judith's testimony talked about healing of the mind. Shortly after hearing Judith I had that marvelous and very surprising encounter with God in Orlando. Indeed, my mind was healed. I began to "walk out" my healing as I studied about learning disabilities what a privilege! Surely God was going to use my healing for others and I was excited about that. I knew that I would be able to pray for healing, talk to parents of dyslexic children, and show them how to pray. But so much more than that was about to happen many more magnificent surprises!
I entered the FSU Doctoral Program in Reading Education, so that I could prepare myself to work with those who would not be healed. I studied many areas so I could teach or do clinical work with both children and adults. During Analysis of Variance, a statistics course, we used a lot of algebra plus a special calculator which required programming in sequences of numbers I could do both (two magnificent surprises!) I graduated with a 3.97 average and was invited to join the Pi Kappa Phi Honor Society. I often wondered why God waited until my forties to heal me. I finally realized that I would never forget how it felt to be learning disabled a real gift to the people I would work with.
Shortly after graduation a job advertisement caught my eye. FSU was looking for a reading specialist who had five years experience using classroom computers and who also had a Ph. D. I was astounded! During my five year stint in graduate school I had been an elementary school reading specialist using computers in my classroom for children with reading disabilities. I knew first hand what children at every grade level could do using computers. God was giving me the privilege of writing a State of Florida kindergarten through fifth grade reading curriculum to integrate computers into the classroom. Another magnificent surprise I got the job!
While I was working on the state project, Instructor magazine contacted FSU asking for a "reading/computer specialist" to write an article for their May issue. The article was to be about using computers as part of the reading curriculum. I was assigned the article and a week after it was published Prentice Hall contacted me asking me to write a book on the same subject! My book Reading Learning Centers for the Primary Grades (a book of reading games) was an enormous miracle surprise it has been on the market since 1991 and is still going strong! My prayer is that it is helping many children learn.
When the FSU project ended I joined a Simon and Schuster educational software company and worked as a national curriculum specialist and company spokesperson. The Federal Government provided Title One funding which could buy computers for disabled readers. I worked closely with school superintendents and technology directors God was giving me influence in a broader way than I had ever envisioned. The company provided time for me to write hundreds of pages of curriculum so I still had direct influence on children.
After I retired, and a former colleague moved to a new company, I got a surprising call could I write some curriculum for her new company? I realized that God still wanted me to stay in touch with disabled readers so I established Atlantic Beach Connections, (it's really God's company) and when a call comes that keeps me in touch with children, I know the call is from Him!
