Understanding Dyslexia

Today we looked at dyslexia in detail, and it is interesting to see how people judge people with dyslexia, yet they do not realise that it does not mean that these people will never succeed. So many creative people are dyslexic, and that is their gift.  Just looking at the list of famous people who are dyslexic, Tom Cruise, Richard Branson, Pablo Picasso, Magic Johnson, Steven Spielberg, Mohammed Ali, and look at what they achieved in their lives. It really shows that we should not judge people, nor shut them out as if they will achieve nothing.  We also spoke of how children are victimised at school for being 'different'. Who determines 'different' to be quite honest, I would rather say 'Gifted' because we are all born with special abilities and talents. How boring it would be if we were all the same!  Let's celebrate our children and their uniqueness

Here is what we shared on the show:

Dyslexia is a lifelong condition that makes it difficult for people to read. It’s the most common learning issue, although it’s not clear what percentage of kids have it. Some experts believe the number is between 5 and 10 percent. Others say as many as 17 percent of people show signs of reading issues. The reason for the wide range is that experts may define dyslexia in different ways.

Dyslexia is mainly a problem with reading accurately and fluently. Kids with dyslexia may have trouble answering questions about something they’ve read. But when it’s read to them, they may have no difficulty at all.

Dyslexia can create difficulty with other skills, however. These include:

• Reading comprehension
• Spelling
• Writing
• Math

People sometimes believe dyslexia is a visual issue. They think of it as kids reversing letters or writing backwards. But dyslexia is not a problem with vision or with seeing letters in the wrong direction.

It’s important to know that while dyslexia impacts learning, it’s not a problem of intelligence. Kids with this issue are just as smart as their peers. Many people have struggled with dyslexia and gone on to have successful careers. That includes a long list of actors, entrepreneurs and elected officials.

If your child has dyslexia, she won’t outgrow it. But there are supports, teaching approaches and strategies to help her overcome her challenges.

Here are some examples of signs of dyslexia:

Preschool

• Has trouble recognizing whether two words rhyme
• Struggles with taking away the beginning sound from a word
• Struggles with learning new words
• Has trouble recognizing letters and matching them to sounds

Grade School

• Has trouble taking away the middle sound from a word or blending several sounds to make a word
• Often can’t recognize common sight words
• Quickly forgets how to spell many of the words she studies
• Gets tripped up by word problems in math

Middle School

• Makes many spelling errors
• Frequently has to re-read sentences and passages
• Reads at a lower academic level than how she speaks

High School

• Often skips over small words when reading aloud
• Doesn’t read at the expected grade level
• Strongly prefers multiple-choice questions over fill-in-the-blank or short answer.

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/dyslexia/understanding-dyslexia#item0

It is important for us as parents to look out for these signs and get our children help as soon as we can.  


Till next Monday

Stay Blessed

#beingaparent