As a pupil Erna Solberg (43) experienced what many children fear. There were thick red lines under many of the words she wrote.

By FRANK ERTESVÅG and JAN PETTER LYNAU (photo), VG (Verdens Gang - http://www.vg.no/)

Many a corrected school assignment became a very heavy burden for the newly appointed leader of the Norwegian Conservative Party (and Minister of Local Government and Regional Development – Translator’s note).

The minister points out that it is high time a sense of shame be substituted by openness about reading and writing difficulties. Therefore she willingly speaks about her own dyslexia which was only discovered when she was 16 years old.

Erna tells VG for the first time about her disability to transfer words she sees and hears into correct written language.

- I suffer from dyslexia, says Erna when her colleagues in the Ministry wonder about her written Norwegian.

Then there is often silence.

The school doctor from her home in Bergen in the 70’s only had one word of advice to give to the orally proficient primary school pupil so that she could improve upon her writing skills.

She would have to pull herself together.

Erna’s mother could not accept this. She wanted to find out more about what caused all the spelling mistakes.

Only during the first year at secondary school did Erna receive the diagnosis “visually conditioned dyslexia”.

It led to her being given written assignments intended for nine year old pupils in their third school year. That was certainly no good medicine.

Erna received low marks on written exams designed for pupils in classes lower than her own. In her first year of secondary studies, her written performance was estimated to be at the same level as the weakest pupils in their sixth year of primary.

I had a feeling of getting worse and worse while my classmates were getting better. Openheartedly Erna tells us that she got quite fed up with all the red lines under the misspelled words.

The future leader of a party which calls itself “the school party” is convinced that measures can be taken to give school children with reading and writing difficulties the feeling that they can master situations as well as their peers.

- I myself cannot spell. Have never been able to. I do not pay attention to spelling and mix letters. But I have never experienced any reading problems. I probably read faster than most others, says Erna Solberg, who used to read two books a week as an eight year old girl.

She is reluctant to present her dyslexia problems as greater than they are.

At the same time she does not hide the fact that it is really difficult for her to write good texts even as an adult, especially in English.

I would probably not have applied for a job where I would have to write a great deal in a foreign language, says Solberg, who is full of praise for the spell-check program on the PC. She is concerned that enough resources be given the many people who strive with words.

- Correct reading and writing abilities are becoming increasingly important. Erna stresses the fact that in order not to be disqualified you simply have to be able to read and write.

She believes that our awareness of the importance of knowledge will grow.

The ministers are of the opinion that she has become better at spelling.

- I was a bit proud over myself recently when I discovered in the editor’s comments in Dagens Næringsliv that the word ”trussel” (=threat) was only spelt with one ”r”.

- You probably mean with only one ”s”?

- Yes, of course, Erna clarifies smiling.

PS: According to a Norwegian dictionary the word ”trussel” can be spelt both with one and two ”s’s”.

(VG - 3 March, 2004 at 6:02 a.m.)

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