Written By: Surabhi Verma | Published : October 4, 2013 4:23 PM IST
Dyslexia is not a disease; it's a neurological disorder, often hereditary and a condition that you are born with. People with dyslexia are not stupid or lazy. Most have average or above-average intelligence, and they work very hard to overcome their learning problems. It interferes with the acquisition and processing of language. There are differences in how people think. Non-dyslexics have verbal thoughts, which are thinking in words and has a linear process that occurs with a speed of about 150 words per minute. Dyslexics have non-verbal thoughts, which are thinking in pictures, where the picture grows as the thought process adds more concepts. Therefore, it's much faster, possibly a thousand times faster.
Often there is a negative feeling about having dyslexia; because we concentrate on the disadvantages. Why not turn the situation around and harvest the positive aspects of having dyslexia. This would prevent a lot of frustration to the child and his surroundings. The main difficulty that the child faces is in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting and sometimes in arithmetic. Although dyslexia is there for life, children with dyslexia frequently respond successfully to timely and appropriate intervention. (Read: Understanding developmental disorders in children)
As a parent, it is important to take any label with a grain of salt. The parents should not be so enamored with the idea of a child who has high intelligence that they fail to notice their learning difficulties. Also the parents should not be so heartbroken by the diagnosis of 'learning disability' so that they fail to see strengths of the child.
If we ask the teacher of any class or school, each would give a list of at least 10-15 children who are not able to cope up with their peers in a total class strength of 35- 40 children. The major difficulties which these children would be facing are- concentrating in the class, sitting for longer duration completing their work, not able to follow instructions, problem taking notes, spelling errors, unable to understand lessons being taught, not able to understand the rules of grammar while writing or answering questions and having emotional breakdowns. If asked to get a formal assessment done for these 15 children, 7-10 would get diagnosed with learning difficulty/dyslexia.
Why are children with dyslexia frustrated?
Except for the child, no one knows exactly how hard a child with dyslexia is trying. The frustration of children with dyslexia often centres on their inability to meet expectations. Their parents and teachers see a bright, enthusiastic child who is not learning to read and write. Their parents hear, 'He's such a bright child; if only he would try harder.' Ironically, the pain of failing to meet the parent's & teachers' expectations is multiplied by child's inability to achieve their goals. Their self-esteem suffers and they may become loners or 'class clowns' or behave in other ways designed to hide their learning difficulty or cope with academic insufficiency. They grow up believing that it is 'terrible' to make a mistake. This is extremely frustrating to them, as it makes them feel chronically inadequate. (Read: Mental illness portrayed onscreen)
Instead of labelling the children as failures, we as parents and teachers should try to assess their strengths and change the way in which we work with the children. Following are few ways in which a teacher can help the child in the classroom:
Few years ago, it was up to the child with dyslexia to manage on their own as there was little awareness and hence there was no help. The children were expected to find their own strategies to overcome the difficulties or be the back benchers in the class. Thus for many parents and children, it was a distant possibility to complete their education with good grades and fulfill a professional dream. But now with growing awareness, more and more children are being diagnosed with dyslexia and simultaneously more tools are being developed to help them. As children with dyslexia can excel in normal life, the onus is on the educators to catch the difficulties early and provide them with the required help and aids to make their dream a reality.
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