Kara Ball always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She even practiced with pretend classes attended by her family.
It was an above-average ambition for the girl who was diagnosed with dyslexia in third grade, dyscalculia in sixth grade and dismissed by a teacher in 10th grade as “stupid.”
“School was always a challenge. I had to work twice as hard. I had a lot of anxiety,” Ball says. “I don’t think I understood it. Dad understood it. He was dyslexic, too.”
She credits her supportive family with helping her achieve her dream. Her grandmother taught her to read, and her godfather, a math teacher, tutored her in math.
As an adult, she was diagnosed with autism and ADHD.
“I felt both relief and regret,” Ball says. “How different would my life have been if I had been diagnosed early on. I realized I was part of a big community. Now I get why everything was hard.”
Lauren Sanchez Bezos gets it, too. She has shared her story of what it was like growing up with dyslexia and feeling “dumb.” Her experience informed the latest Bezos Courage and Civility Awards, which she and her husband, Jeff Bezos, give annually. The recipients of this award received $5 million to work with a non-profit of their choice.
Ball is sharing her award with Understood.org, which supports families and educators navigating learning differences.
The other recipients are Dave Flink, Neurodiversity Alliance founder and CEO; Richard Rusczyk, the founder and CEO of Art of Problem Solving and a longtime champion of MATHCOUNTS; Ilana Walder-Biesanz, National Math Stars founder and CEO; and a fifth recipient who was not publicly announced.
In college, Ball decided to become a special education teacher.
“There are so many people like me,” Ball says. “We have to change that experience.”
As a teacher, Ball focuses on STEM after discovering that “divergent thinking is an asset.”
So often, STEM is seen as a career path, Ball says.
“I don’t see it as a pipeline. For me, it’s an essential experience like art, music or PE. I don’t expect them to become professionals, but to experience it, to learn to think critically and creatively, and to share with others.
“I want them to wonder about the world they live in, to stay curious and see themselves as creators of the world they want to live in.”
Part of the challenge is convincing students to try out STEM classes.
She remembers one student, a little girl who loved fashion.
“She asked me, ‘Why am I here? I don’t want to build robots.’ I told her I really loved her light-up sneakers and that they had been engineered. Fashion and art collide in STEM.”
Ball is the author of “50 Strategies for Teaching STEAM Skills.” In 2018, she was named State Teacher of the Year by the Department of Defense Education Activity and a finalist for National Teacher of the Year.
She has been working as an advisor for Understood since 2019, one of the experts who vet digital resources and tools for and by people who learn and think differently. More than 20 million parents, educators, and neurodivergent individuals visit the site and platforms each year.
Among the many resources Understood offers is a platform called Through My Eyes, which provides an insider perspective on ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia.
Though they are still working out how to use the funding, Ball says she wants to help Understood develop platforms that will reach 100 million students, parents and teachers by 2030.
“Much of my work happens quietly,” Ball says. “I’m not sure how I got on the Bezos’ radar. To be recognized on this scale is overwhelming in the best way.”