I just finished reading an article titled ‘Don’t write off
children with dyslexia’, and many thoughts came to my mind. I wish to share some of them.
The article stated that there is no good data to figure out
who has dyslexia. One reason they
believe is that many who have been diagnosed with autism, could actually have
dyslexia instead. With reading scores in
the USA of so many children reading below grade level, to me, this alone is a
huge sign that the child should be tested for dyslexia.
They did throw out numbers that between 5 to 17 percent of
the children have some form of dyslexia.
That is about 20 percent of our children have some form of
dyslexia. I say form, as I believe it
could be mild, and one can learn quickly what needs to be done to overcome the
challenge with little effort, to severe, where one has to put forth a huge
amount of effort, over a long period of time to get to the same point. I believe in either case, dyslexia can be
treated, but it requires that persons desire to get and accept help to deal
with it, as well as much effort.
The article, by Sara Sabry, pulled out things I have
mentioned in my post before. These
children are not stupid. The center
where she went to get information, has an initiative that states ‘I learn
differently.’ As parents and teachers,
we must not forget that is so true, we learn differently.
To quote a paragraph there ‘Signs of dyslexia in a child can be picked up by parents. “There are
several warning signs of dyslexia. They tend to mispronounce words, experience
short attention, have difficulty naming colors, counting numbers, memorizing
math facts, and have a weak memory for directions, lists, facts. They need to
hear and see concepts many times over in order to learn them,”
The article also stated
that dyslexia can only be diagnosed by a psychologist with experience. I have to wonder if that is part of the
reason dyslexia is not spotted earlier in life.
I don’t know why ‘psychologist’ is a negative word in our society, and I
am even guilty of that to some extent.
And as parents, we certainly don’t want the ‘word’ to get out that my
child saw, or is seeing, a psychologist.
However, as
parents, we have a choice. If we see our
children struggling with signs of dyslexia, which I have mentioned in an
earlier posting, and which this article did mention a few of them, we can
ignore it, or search for a way to have them tested. I highly recommend the latter. As I look back on my struggles in life for
now over 55 years, something clicked in my mind to start searching, and then
take action. How I wish this desire
would have happened so much earlier in my life.
Finding out that
I have the gift of dyslexia, I know now how to turn it on and off, to use it to
my advantage. Whereas before, I had no choice. I was stuck in my world, thinking I was
stupid!
As I had
mentioned before, I have intended this blog to be aimed towards those who are
older, who have completed school and are working, and think, or know they have
some form of dyslexia. Whether young,
middle age, or older, I would urge you to do some searching. Perhaps some will see a psychologist. Perhaps some will do what I did, and search
the internet to see what is available in your area. In any case, dyslexia will not go away, but
you can learn how to live with this gift.
I would say in all cases, we can receive help if we chose to, which will
improve our life in so many ways. But it
will require much effort on the part of the person who has dyslexia. After all, you can lead a horse to water, but
you can’t make the horse drink the water.
’
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