Julia Feldman, 12, of McKinney is a young lady with a wide variety of interests.
"Soccer, draw and play with my puppy," Julia Feldman said.
She loves soccer for the action.
"I do forward left wing," Julia said. "You're on the front line, so you mainly go after the ball."
She loves to draw because of the attention to detail.
"I don't know, I just like doing the hair on the girls and the clothes," she said.
When it comes to school, her favorite subjects are writing and reading. But as much as she enjoys reading it doesn't come easy -- Julia has dyslexia.
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"It is a disability that it impairs your reading, your writing, your spelling," said her mother Chontae Feldman.
Julia explained how that affects her.
"Sometimes it will switch around the letters a little in words and I'll lose my place in a book sometimes," Julia said. "So I like read ahead and not fully get the book."
But she doesn't let that stop her from reading. It also doesn’t stop her from being an advocate to raise awareness about dyslexia.
"I went to this one disability fair and I talked about it a little in front of people," Julia said.
Her braveness amazes her mother.
"I'm in awe of her," Chontae said. "That's not something I would have done at that age."
Julia said this is an important message she must share.
"I tell them it's not a disease or disability kind of," Julia said. "It's just a learning difference. It makes you read different and see things differently."
Julia also makes sure he little sister Carly understands being different is OK. Her little sister also has a similar learning disability called dysgraphia, a learning disability that affects writing. So Julia is a role model for her.
"She is, they have a lot of sister talks, which I love," Chontae said. "Then Julia will help (Carly) with her homework."
Julia's love of reading helps her overcome dyslexia. When she started this novel series the first book took nearly a year to complete. The final book only took a few weeks.
Her mom said she sees a bright future for her daughter.
"I think she has potential to do a lot of change," Chontae said. "Not quite sure what field yet, but I see her making a difference in people's lives."
At 12 years old, Julia doesn't know yet what she wants to be when she grows up. But she knows what she wants people to see in this Courageous Kid.
"I want people to see me as just like a regular person, any other person who's smart," Julia said. "Just see me as normal and not weird for being dyslexic because that doesn't make you weird."
Julia's mother, who is also dyslexic, started a nonprofit organization called The Dyslexia Initiative to help support other parents and their children coping with dyslexia.
