Mark Hall’s Song of Success

Mark Hall, singer and songwriter for the GRAMMY Award-winning band, Casting Crowns, knows his purpose in life reaches higher than just making a living. His success as a youth pastor, father and musician is the result of recognizing his gifts and strengths in the midst of trials and struggles.

Kids Enabled: What were your biggest struggles growing up? What were your toughest challenges in the classroom?

Mark Hall: The hardest thing for me was that I always finished after everyone else. It seemed like everyone else figured it out and were moving on. I found that I was way behind the herd, a lot. I didn’t know what to do. When you are a kid you don’t want to stick out, so I didn’t ask for help. I would just settle back into the room and just sort of fake it. I would just get by as best
I could.

Background noise is a real problem for me, even now. If you are trying to teach me something and someone behind me is talking, I hear them as loud as I hear you. I have a hard time trying to tear away from the people behind to hear what you’re saying. There are so many dynamics going on in a room, 30-40 kids in a room and the teacher way up front doing his thing.

Dyslexia and ADD don’t work very well together. Dyslexia means you don’t read well and ADD means that, even if you could read well, you weren’t paying attention. I would get distracted so I would check out, especially if there was a window.

KE: How old were you when you were diagnosed with a learning difference? What is your earliest memory of struggling in school?
MH: It was in the third or fourth grade that my learning issues became evident, the fact that I was working so much slower than everyone else. Around that time, I was tested for learning differences but I was too young to understand what was going on. I remember listening outside of the counselor’s office to this lady telling Mom that I wasn’t keeping up. She said they needed to put me in “something different” but it didn’t really register to me what she meant.

The school where I went called this “something different” an LD program (which was a great little egobooster for a third-grader). I didn’t know I had dyslexia. In that day, they just called you LD and stuck you in this other class to learn English and math. You didn’t know what the problem was and it took me a few years to realize that it wasn’t a good thing.

My mom never really “went there” and I used to question that. But now, parents will come up to me with their kid and say, “This is Billy. He is OCD/LD/ ADD….” And I’m like, “No, I believe he is just Billy.” My mom never made LD who I was; LD was where I went to a class. We didn’t discuss LD class, we discussed school in general and what I needed to be working on. I don’t think it was some great vision my parents had, I think they are just like us, figuring it out as they went along. And at the time, they didn’t have anyone to talk to, they didn’t have this network. It was all just a hush, hush thing – your kid is not keeping up, better keep quiet.

KE: How did your challenges change as you progressed through elementary, middle school, high school and college?
MH: It was probably sixth or seventh grade when I realized, “This is different.” They are talking down to me in the class. A reading disorder doesn’t mean you don’t get it; it means that you get it in a different way. I started not liking the class and I was realizing what it was about. I would go hang out with my friends and they would be talking about the LD kids.

The social part was the tough part. When I got into high school, in 11th grade, I was so sick of having to hide from everybody about being in these classes. I went to my parents and told them how I felt – the classes were too easy, I was tired of being talked down to and I wanted to go back into mainstream classes. I don’t know how they did it but they got me back into regular classes. I scratched and tore my way through it. In every class, my passing relied on what I scored on the final exam. It was really, really tough. As far as math goes, I never took anything beyond business math, no algebra or anything with formulas. If you teach me a formula, I got it but when you teach me another one, the first formula is gone.

KE: Did your struggles ever cause your self-esteem to suffer?
MH: I kept it a secret – that I was in “those” classes. Even to this day, I get e-mails from some of my closest friends from school and they never knew I was in “those” classes. To me, it was a source of shame. I spent a lot of energy making sure none of my friends knew my schedule. I would show up at my class late, it was at the end of the hall and if you turned right you were in “those” classes. So, I would always turn left and just get lost. I was kept small; I was a tiny person because of my shame.

When you are in school, being different is everything. When you are out of school you realize that a learning difference only affects you in school. School only taught one way – memorization and regurgitation. It wasn’t set up for me. When you get out into the real world, you start being a dad, you start doing your calling, you start living your life, you start doing things your own way.

To me, it has been a gift, more than anything else. I can see that now.

KE: Did you feel prepared to go to college after graduating from high school?
MH: I wasn’t ready for it. I kind of had to start over in college and scratch and tear my through that as well. I was going the art route. I drew. That’s what I did well. I am all right-brained. When I felt the call into ministry, I decided on music.

I went to the Baptist College of Florida. There was an adjunct English professor named Bruce White. He had us do creative writing and I hadn’t ever really done that before because it was something I figured I just couldn’t do. When he read my first paper, he called me aside and said, “You’re dyslexic, aren’t you?” And I said, “No. I don’t know what you are talking about.” He went through a whole list of dyslexic traits and I saw that he was describing me. Then I went to a psychology class and we were discussing signs of ADD, and it was basically my resume of life.

I called my mom and she confirmed what I was beginning to see as my diagnosis. I know that God uses what and who you are and I am thankful. As an “art guy,” I realized that I could draw pictures with words. I could write even though I never thought so before. So, Bruce White is the guy who encouraged me to write and I saw that I liked doing it. About that time I started singing songs I made up in my head, sort of out of the blue. Then things started changing.

KE: What advice would you give to parents of children who struggle with learning challenges?
MH: I think it is a good thing to identify what the challenges are, but I think how we identify is very important. I think children need to understand that it is a difference. There needs to be an emphasis on the gifts and strengths of a child’s particular learning difference. For someone with dyslexia these gifts are being a big thinker and multi-tasker, and the ability to think outside the box. I think identifying early on is hugely important. While teaching a child about his issues, the challenges and the strengths, it is important to stress that this is not a crutch to lean on. This is where it is unhealthy, when the child pulls back and doesn’t try because he has an excuse.

You must first learn how your child learns, find his learning language and speak it. Meet him there. Many parents teach the way they like to be taught, but your child may have a different style of learning. You will get frustrated because they don’t understand how you are teaching. It is imperative to teach in their learning language, whether it is auditory, visual or kinesthetic. Home schooling is a wonderful approach to teaching a child with a learning difference. If you can’t home school, make sure his school understands how he learns.

KE: What advice would you give a child who is struggling in school?
MH: Learn who you are and how you learn. You need to understand yourself and not count on the school counselor to know you better.

KE: How do you define success at this point in your life?
MH: Success is blooming where you are planted, using the gifts God has given you. My purpose in life is not to be a youth leader or to be a singer, that is just the journey I am going on. You have to know that your purpose in life is more than what you are doing.

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January 9, 2010 | In Success Stories | 3 Comments

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I’m amazed at finding this article, the timing can only be providential. I am a homeschool mom of four children. My second son is 7 1/2 and struggling to learn how to read. He told his Sunday School teacher last week that he couldn’t read. When my husband heard that he immediatley thought of Mark Hall. After contacting a specialist, we were told yesterday that he may be dyslexic. I was shocked! In order to know for sure would require a very expensive test, so for now we’re just going to commit him to our Father and see what happens. I’m praying that God will guide us to the correct teaching solution for him. He’s the most loving child I’ve ever met and he’s the hardest worker I’ve ever seen. If anyone can work hard and over come, it’s him. I just have to figure out how to help him.
Thanks for sharing!
Marie

Comment by Marie — January 14, 2010 #
Hello Marie,
I am sure learning that your child may have a learning disability may be very difficult at the moment. In this case, knowledge is power. There are certainly other ways that you can find out if your child is dyslexic and other tests that can be completed, have you looked at other avenues?

There are many strategies and teaching techniques that can be utilized to help a child that has dyslexia. The first step is diagnosing or rather figuring out the problem; once this is completed, there are different avenues that can help your son.

Sincerely,
Shahnoor Dharamsi MS, OTR/L
Pediatric Occupational Therapist

Comment by Shahnoor Dharamsi MS, OTR/L — January 24, 2010 #
Hi Shahnoor,
No, the only options I’ve found are testing. I’ve read alot and looked closely at the symptoms, but other than testing by a dyslexia specialist or a complete evaluation by the Child Developmental Clinic in my area, I have not found another option. Could you explain the other avenues you’re referring to? I know the Scottish Rite will perform a test, but I don’t have one in my area.

Thanks for your words of encouragement, I definitely feel better about the situation, but at first it was a bit overwhelming. I’m sure there will be other times that I’ll feel overwhelmed, but for the sake of my 7 year old AND my 4 year old, whom I suspect may also be dyslexic, I’m going to get thru this and we WILL succeed because I won’t give up until they’re able to read.

Marie

Comment by Marie — February 3, 2010 #

Mark Hall’s Song of Success

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