This is my story

by Mick Casey

This story is about what going back to school to do English did for me.

 

When I was 2 & half I got meningitis which left me with a learning disability & a speech problem, I went to a special school in Limerick city from the age of 9 to 18. I liked going & enjoyed it, I had my share of been bully over the way I spoke but apart from that - I liked school. I was brought up on a farm with all kinds of animals & loved it, being out in the open with big green fields & wide open spaces to walk with my dog Rover. I love to learn new things but learning was not easy for me at all as I needed some things explained or read out loud to me - I can read & write but it would take me that bit longer then others to get my point across, I can also speak up for myself with the help of speech therapy while I was at school but again - it would take a while to get my point across. During this time nobody believed in me at all because of my disability & they thought that I would never make anything of myself but I did - I proved them all wrong. Before I left school - I had two goals & they were, to be a gardener & a writer - now I'm both.

Moved from Co. Limerick to Dublin in September 1992 & my English was great, I have a learning disability so I went to a special school in Limerick, I got on ok there & had friends - not many but a few. Now I’m a published writer/poetry & below was the first poem that I published

Green fingers!

Green fingers are green like tomorrow’s lawn
They are like a green plant waiting to be potting up!

If they touch a plant – it comes alive!
If they look at a lawn – it turns green!

Where every green fingers walk – they leave a green path after them!