Dyslexia is a word we hear often in connection with reading difficulties and special education. Children with dyslexia face challenges that can be frustrating not only for the student, but for teachers and parents, as well. As an educator and a parent of a child with dyslexia, I can tell you that there are many misconceptions about the abilities of these students and a reluctance to use the resources available to them.
First, let’s understand what dyslexia is, and more important, what it is not.
- Dyslexia is a neurological processing disorder that is often genetic. *
- A dyslexic brain processes and interprets words and sounds differently.
- It affects reading fluency, reading aloud, recognizing words, spelling, structures of language, vocabulary, and sometimes other visual representations such as maps, clocks, charts, etc. As a result of these difficulties, reading comprehension can be greatly affected.
- It has nothing to do with economic, social, or ethnic background.
- It is not the result of impaired vision, laziness, or inability to understand concepts. And it is not a reflection of poor instruction.
- Dyslexia is not a measure of a child’s intelligence.
- With proper support, dyslexic students can become excellent readers and writers.
What does dyslexia look like?
Children with dyslexia have a difficult time linking speech sounds to letters and words. They spend a tremendous amount of time trying to ‘decode’, or break down, words into sounds.
Often, dyslexic students appear uninterested or they seem as though they ‘aren’t trying‘. To me, this is the most heart-breaking misconception of all.
The process of braking down words into sounds and ultimately connecting them together can be overwhelming and exhausting. I often explain to other parents that it is like trying to read a foreign language after only a few lessons. Figuring out how the words are supposed to sound will probably take most of your time and energy, while understanding what the words mean may not happen at all. If someone were to read the text to you in your native language, you would have no problem understanding what it means; it has nothing to do with your ability to comprehend the information once you know what it says.
What can we do to help?
There are several tools that can help a dyslexic student to ‘translate’ the information. One of the most powerful tools is books with both an audio and a read-along component. This allows students to start to make connections between the visual letters and the sounds of the words. To me, it’s the equivalent of giving a child a pair of glasses to see the text better instead of asking him to strain on something he cannot see.
The key is providing the audio text along with the written text. As students listen to the text being read, they can connect the words with the sounds, understand the structure of a sentence or paragraph, and gather meaning from the way the book is read with expression and inflection.
This is one of the exceptional opportunities you will find at BigUniverse.com. There is a wonderfully diverse library of read aloud books available for children. You can search by reading level, category, interests, or simply click on the read aloud collection. Children can create their very own library of favorites to read and listen to over and over, and they can continue to add new favorites as they go. The more interest they have in reading, the more confident they will become as readers.
In my experience, children with dyslexia are some of the hardest working students I have ever met. They overcome challenges and succeed in ways that are inspiring, and they develop strong skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.
Children accept differences in each other much more easily than adults. We should follow their lead when it comes to learning differences and realize that being different means being normal.
I have watched my son overcome many areas of his ‘disability’, and I agree with him completely when he tells people that having dyslexia is one of his greatest strengths.
*information based on the research of Fiedorowicz, 2005 and Olson, 2006.