#still reeling from that person saying if you dont want wylan to learn to read you are ableist

[barrel-crow-n]

The "Wylan should learn how to read" thing irks me because a huge part of his arc was learning to accept that this was just something that he couldn't do, and that it can't be fixed and that he shouldn't live in shame over it.

Wylan just can't read. Van Eck tried everything. And true, at one point it would get stressful but Van Eck was a kind father at first. It's not about getting a new teacher, it's just something Wylan can't do.

A big part of his growth was learning to accept that. And Kaz is a big part of this.

Kaz is the first person not to scorn Wylan for his dyslexia. Kaz is the first person to just genuinely not care.

Kaz was the one that told Wylan that his weakness was never his disability but his shame surrounding it. He normalised the disability for Wylan, made it a small deal. It's still a part of Wylan, but not as life shattering as his father had always made it out to be.

It can be inconvenient (taking double the time to read the papers at Smeet's office) but it can be worked around. In fact, I believe taking Wylan to Smeets office was for Wylan's benefit. "I knew how long this was going to take" - dismissing Wylan's shame that Wylan is slowing him down. Reassuring him, in his own way, that it's okay. That it's not that big of a deal. It's not even really a problem.

"I didn't hire you to read." Wylan doesn't need to have the ability to read to get on well in life, despite Van Eck's opinions, and Kaz decides to show Wylan that. He decides so because that's what people said about his limp. That a disabled boy with a bad leg will die in the Barrel.

Kaz could get a healer for his leg, hell, Genya offered. But he declined. Why? Because he refuses to be ashamed. Because this is what he is and he won't change that. "It had become a declaration. There was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong, and there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken."

He becomes a boy to be dreaded despite the limp, no, with it. His cane is his weapon. It's not a weakness, it's also a strength. It's not fear the boy despite the limp it's fear the boy with the limp.

And I believe Kaz was truly one of the most important people in Wylan's life because he did that. He showed Wylan not to be ashamed. That he can be powerful not despite the disability, but with it. That what Wylan can do is more important than what he can't and I don't think Wylan will ever forget that.