Changing the Culture of Learning Disabilities and Education

From low expectations to advocating for a hidden population

NEW YORK—Marcus Soutra vividly remembers reading the popular adventure novel “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson with his father when he was 8 years old and continuously getting stuck on the same word.

His teachers began to notice something too; he was identified as dyslexic and diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when he was in the 3rd grade.

Learning disabilities can be frustrating and overwhelming for children and adults. They also come with a stigma.

And it’s not an uncommon problem. Roughly one out of five students in the United States has a learning disability. According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, only 68 percent of children with a learning disability graduate from high school.

However, these statistics didn’t deter Soutra. In college, he learned about successful, creative people like Whoopi Goldberg, Steven Spielberg, and Steve Jobs who had learning disabilities. He looked up to them as role models.

He surrounded himself with people who had similar experiences yet pursued prosperous careers. He gained confidence. Soutra, 34, has now dedicated his life to helping others who assimilate information differently.

Stigma and Education

During Soutra’s childhood, learning disabilities were not a subject that was openly discussed because they were looked down upon. This stigma made it difficult for Soutra to understand and deal with dyslexia and ADHD.

Anytime he told someone about his situation, they assumed he was less intelligent or would be unsuccessful in life.

Soutra was a child at the time of his diagnosis, and he struggled to understand what his learning disabilities meant and how they were perceived by others.

“It was very much something that was thought of as, ’this is a negative; this is an issue. It’s best not to talk about it if you can,'” Soutra told The Epoch Times.

A young Marcus Soutra with his dog. (Courtesy of Eye to Eye)

Soutra was seen as the kid who was in the principal’s office frequently, as the student who couldn’t read or spell, and the one who couldn’t sit still at his desk.

However, the biggest obstacle he had to overcome was the hurdle of lowered expectations. Teachers told him to not take honors classes and suggested he not run for student council because of his learning disabilities.

“There was a real message that students with learning disabilities aren’t meant to go to college, aren’t the leaders, aren’t the ones that are going to be successful,” Soutra said. “That was the message that was hard to overcome and that I felt I was fighting against on a daily basis.”

The College Experience

Despite these low expectations, Soutra attended Keene State College in New Hampshire with the desire to become a teacher. Initially, he thought he wouldn’t have to talk about or contend with his learning disabilities. However, he quickly realized that wouldn’t be the best path to success.

Soutra began embracing accommodations he was entitled to and technology like audio books to stay on top of his work. As a result, he became a much more successful student and took his education more seriously.

Despite what people thought about Soutra when he was in grade school, he ended up finishing college.

A young Marcus Soutra on his bicycle. (Courtesy of Eye to Eye)

“Graduating from college was a wild moment,” Soutra recalled. “I was excited just like every other student, but I also had this kind of lingering question of like ‘I wonder how many other people who graduated today have learning differences?’”

No Child Left Behind

Soutra became a special education teacher after he graduated from college and sharing his personal experience with students had an impact in the classroom.

Students became comfortable telling their stories about their own learning disabilities to the class. He had already worked for a student organization called Eye to Eye, founded by David Flink at Brown University. Soutra ran the chapter at Keene State College when he was an undergraduate student.

Eye to Eye empowers students and teaches them skills and strategies to be successful in both the classroom and in life. When Soutra encounters these students, he immediately identifies with them.

“It’s amazing because you have this extra level of empathy, and I think that’s something that our mentors at Eye to Eye have ... an understanding of what they’re going through that most other people, even if they try to, really can’t completely relate to because they haven’t been in their shoes,” Soutra said.

Marcus Soutra working with students. (Courtesy of Eye to Eye)

In 2005, Eye to Eye became a nonprofit organization that empowered and mentored students with learning disabilities. Soutra moved to New York in 2007 and started working for Eye to Eye full-time after sending his application directly to Flink. Soutra wanted to transform the culture of learning in the school system.

Soutra began developing the training, curriculum, and strategy for fundraising in Flink’s apartment in Brooklyn before they established an office in the Financial District in Manhattan. Eye to Eye also has an annual, week-long program called Young Leaders Organizing Institute at Brown University.

Throughout the week, Soutra and his colleagues guide and train 200 students from across the country on how to mentor and empower students with learning disabilities in their own communities.

“Finding someone who understood how I learned really made me see that I can be successful, even in the subjects that are hard for me,” said Joseph, a former Eye to Eye student.

The comprehensive work they do has an impact outside the classroom too, since one out of five children has a learning disability. Soutra strongly believes they need the right role models, skills, and strategies to succeed.

“This is a huge population, a huge minority in our country who’s going underserved, that’s dropping out of school at higher rates, that have higher rates of suicide, higher rates of unemployment,” Soutra explained.

Soutra is grateful to now work on addressing these issues as the president of Eye to Eye.

“It means the world to me to be able to do this job. I feel so privileged and lucky to be able to be a voice for an often very voiceless population,” Soutra said.

If you have a human interest story you'd like to share, write to Andrew Thomas at [email protected]