For Scott McCleskey, champion whitewater paddler, success is achieved one day at a time by each small improvement realized and each goal met.
KE: What were your biggest struggles growing up? What were your toughest challenges in the classroom?
SM: My biggest struggle was staying on track for more than a couple of seconds, which made most learning hard. My toughest challenges in the classroom were reading, writing and spoken language. I spent from kindergarten to 7th grade in speech therapy. I had a very hard time with reading and writing.
KE: How old were you when you were diagnosed with a learning disability? What is your earliest memory of struggling in school?
SM: My mom was on the ball, but it took until 4th grade before the education system would allow a test to diagnose me with ADHD and dyslexia. My earliest memory of struggling in school is the first day of school when no one spoke my “language.”
KE: How did your challenges change as you progressed through elementary, middle school, high school and beyond?
SM: Through speech therapy, my speech was understandable by most people by 7th grade. The reading was very difficult in 5th grade and I moved to the Howard School. Their teaching style for basic studies was to al- low for the info to be learned on tape, and tests were given verbally. There were also specialty classes for reading and writing, with basic skills taught in memorization. My grades were fair when using this system. I now have basic life coping skills. I read a few easy books a year. I can read magazine articles. For job related issues, I can read well enough to figure it out. For anything of importance, I have my wife read it to me, even if I already understand it a little. I will not write anything for anyone to read except my wife. I actually dictated this article to her. For my ADHD, I expend my energy as an athlete and take no medication (except way too much coffee). The ADHD definitely gives me energy over and above most people.
KE: Do you remember any particular interventions or teaching methods that helped you make gains academically?
SM: Learning and testing verbally and on tape helped. I also use memorization and set up my own system of doing things. Learning to advocate for myself to accomplish the necessary tasks also helps.
KE: Can you describe any social struggles you may have had due to your learning difference? How did you overcome them?
SM: I was a fairly tough kid and speaking out was not a problem for me, but it was a problem for everyone else in the class. I would grow bored and despondent and would respond to something that no one else was talking about. The thoughts would run through my head faster than anybody could imagine. It is the same problem with words. I am ahead of the words before they can be put on paper. I finally graduated from high school and in “real life” learned I could do great things with my thoughts and abilities.
KE: What advice would you give to parents of children who struggle with learning challenges? What advice would you give a child who is struggling in school?
SM: I believe for every learning challenge, there is an opposite greatness that can be found. I would tell the child to pay attention to as much as he can and to remember that there are only 12 mandatory grades.
KE: Is there anything that you would do differently or think should have been done differently for you during your childhood education?
SM: I think that the Howard School gave me the best education because they prepare the students to be success- ful with what God gave them. Schools should focus on what the students’ strengths are so they can excel. A “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work. Some students are hands-on and some are book smart. I have found many people in my life that are very much like me, working with their hands, owning their own businesses and making a good living.
KE: When did athletics become an important part in your life?
SM: Physical activity has always been with me thanks to my ADHD. Throughout school, I was never super-talented in any ball sport, but I was a decent runner. I started ca- noeing at age 14 and competing at 16. I made the US Junior Slalom Whitewater team in canoe singles twice in ’95 and ’96 during my junior and senior years at Howard School. I was a member of the Senior US Slalom Whitewater team from 1998 to 2004 with Dave Hepp and in 2007-2008 with Austin Crane. I was on the US Junior World Champion- ship team, (with my future wife) in 1996 in Lipno, Czech Republic and the 2001 Senior World Championships team in Bourg St. Maurice, France. I was a national champion multiple times in C-2 slalom whitewater canoeing. I also was named an alternate to the Olympics three times. In Extreme Race on Green River in 2000, I placed fourth. Lastly, I won the Silver medal at a World Cup.
KE: Are there any coaches that helped you become successful? Tell us about them.
SM: Mike Larimer was a good mentor for me. He was the National Team coach during the 1996 Olympic Games and was good enough to allow me to work-out in Senior National Team workouts. Rafel Smolen, a no-nonsense coach that pushed for a high level of performance, moved to the US from Poland in 1998 and was my coach from 1998-2000 and then again in 2007-2008. Eves Narduzzi, a former French National Team paddler who is now coaching for the French, was my coach from 2000-2004. He pushed me technically and physically to be the best.
KE: How do you defi ne success at this point in your life?
SM: Success is completing a task. I thrive on many small accomplishments, from finishing a run, to making it to the top of a mountain on a bike, to just putting myself out there and pushing myself as hard as I can and knowing I did it. In my job, success is finding a new project, finishing a frame on a house, or all the small goals along the way of building a house. It is having someone pleased with what you just made for them. It is being able to make more money each year and being able to do something better than before – year after year and project after project. Also, improving physically and technically year after year equals success.
Kids Enabled would like to thank Scott McCleskey for sharing his story with our readers.
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