This kid has learning disabilities, asked for help and didn't get it, and did everything she could to work around her problems. Seems to me she made a whole lot of effort.

hide it so she wouldn't have to read? I don't know, something about this person seems to not ring true w/ me, IMHO.

so she has a login and password that she knows how to enter.

She knows how to initiate a speech to text application that generates and displays the words as she speaks.

I find her claim of illiteracy dubious as best and possibly she's just someone who is looking for attention.

Is it possible there are details you don't know?

For instance, unlike many others I don't take as gospel what is reported in these human interest stories; I have reservations about the unbiased accuracy and completeness of such articles -- there are too many occurrences of sympathetic accounts of someone who in reality is an actual dirtbag.

It just seems very curious to me that someone apparently computer literate claims to be illiterate.

Zorro -“It's not my fault I never made the effort to learn to read while attending school for 12 years.”

- as evidenced by the determination and ingenuity she showed to complete her education - had anyone taken her special needs into consideration. People learn in different ways. A child with a learning disability needs lessons adjusted to their needs. One size does not fit all.

She was written off.

But she took the initiative to graduate and to do so with honors when her teachers and the school wouldn't help her.

Children with learning disorders will act out. That doesn't make them bad children. It all too often means their needs aren't being addressed. That's not their fault.

She doesn't do internet?
She doesn't text?
She doesn't work?

What about her first 9 years of school? I don't have access to the article, but did the reporter actually investigate her claims with other sources? How are her parents not responsible for much of this?

So where were her parents in all of this? Where were the medical professionals to lobby for her? I presume she got an official diagnosis at some point?

Yeah, she's got a winner of a lawsuit from what I can tell

volunteer one-on-one help to minority kids who had trouble reading and writing in inner city NYC schools. I was assigned a 5th grader who still did not know all the letters of the alphabet. When I talked to him about it, he told me that if you didn't know the work and caused trouble in your class, you were left back. If you didn't know your work but sat quietly, you graduated to the next grade.

I spent a semester trying to help him but he still did not know all the letters although he was doing better. As an engineering student, I was probably too techy to figure out how to motivate him and approach his problems in a different way. I see now that teachers who know how to deal with such kids can be really successful if they have the backing of the schools. I still feel my failure to recognize that and try to get some help for how best to help him.

If a school doesn't care, the kids suffer. When my oldest was in school, we really pushed them to provide the help he needed (he was a gifted underachiever) and threatened them with filing a complaint with the state education department. Unfortunately many poor parents didn't want to "cause trouble" or don't know how.

Usually reading issues are identified in elementary school and this is most often where a Special Ed referral is made. Schools do a lot of testing and if she had very low reading scores that would have gotten attention. If the school did not refer for Special Ed. assessment the parents could have requested it. However, low reading scores do not automatically mean a child has a reading disability that qualifies for Special Ed. services. You have to meet state criteria.

There are also criteria that has to be met for non-Special Ed. reading support programs.

The fact that this girl had significant behavioral issues suggests she may have had other reasons why she didn't make progress in her reading skills. I taught high school Special Ed. for 30 years and even with students receiving direct support they have to be cooperative and motivated to work with their Sped teacher to improve their skills. It can be very challenging even with students who don't have any disruptive behavior issues.

They’re even blamed by that kid’s parents, despite being the cause of the kid’s problems themselves, and, the school administration takes the parents’ side.

If the kids are in charge of the school and have no meaningful punishment for not putting any effort in, no wonder the system sucks.

unknown by most.
We have become increasingly reliant on others to pick up from our shortcomings. The system has become a representation of what we accept. Only when it touches home does it ring a bell.
A reality on our education system is the teaching to read ends in the third or fourth grade. From then on a student is expected to be able to read.
Lots of cracks to fall through.
Interestingly, we are visiting our grandchildren in a quite wealthy SoCal city.
My son coaches a 5 and 6 year old basketball team. I watched his training last evening.
It was evident these youngsters were eager to learn, but they lacked focus. Seemed normal to me.
After showing the drill, the students emulated as best they could. As it was a first time experience for all, the dribblers had varied success.
The coach stayed on the students, but individual attention was a must for some. I suggested to my son this morning, that the assistant coach should practice the assignment with the more needy.
This is what happens in the school system when all systems are go.
Unfortunately, the interruptions of individual needs often disrupt the countdown to launch.
We are in the midst of societal change that is ongoing with few speed bumps to slow it down.
I remember being driven around Cairo, Egypt with no traffic lights, no attention to the dotted lines and mere mayhem on the roads.
There were rotaries at intersections, but to cross a major road, you took your life in your hands.
Some minister decided to put speed bumps in strategic places to allow for the daring to enter the traffic flow.
Pedestrians crossed at high risk. When I was there some ten to twelve years ago, 18,000 street crossers died per year.
Speed bumps are not enough to save so many of our students from falling into the cracks.
This message is not getting through to our citizenry following the excitement of trumpian entertainment.
I'm anxious to see if any wake up calls have influence.
Doesn't seem that back to back hurricanes in Florida are slowing down people wanting to move here. There are those escaping because economics is a driver, but some aren't reading the fine print until it is too late.

Meanwhile, the school is legally obligated to provide access to support and education services.

https://www.washington.edu/doit/what-us-federal-legislation-protects-rights-students-disabilities