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15% of the U.S. population, or one in seven Americans, has some type of learning disability
-The National Institute of Health
Dyslexia literally means ‘difficulty with words’ but the child with dyslexia is likely to have a wider range of challenges than dealing with words, and in many cases spelling is the least of their battles.
Many with dyslexia experience some or all of the following-
1. They can use the brain’s ability to alter and create perceptions (the primary ability)
2. They are highly aware of the environment
3. They are more curious than average
4. They think mainly in pictures instead of words
5. They are highly intuitive and perceptive
6. They think and perceive multi-dimensionally (using all the senses)
7. They can experience thought as reality
8. They have vivid imaginations
Dyslexic people are highly creative, intuitive, and excel at three-dimensional problem solving and hands-on learning. Our visual and holistic learning style means that we learn best through the creative process, with methods that focus on mastery of the meanings of words and symbols.
“Dyslexia (say: dis-lek-see-uh) is a learning problem some kids have. Dyslexia makes it tough to read and spell. The problem is inside the brain, but it doesn’t mean the person is dumb. Plenty of smart and talented people struggle with dyslexia.
But dyslexia doesn’t have to keep a kid down. With some help and a lot of hard work, a kid who has dyslexia can learn to read and spell.”
To understand dyslexia, it helps to understand reading. To read, one needs to do the following steps all at once:
- Understand the way speech sounds make up words.
- Focus on printed marks (letters and words).
- Connect speech sounds to letters.
- Blend letter sounds smoothly into words.
- Control eye movements across the page.
- Build images and ideas.
- Compare new ideas with what is already known.
- Store the ideas in memory.
Kids who have dyslexia struggle with the beginning steps, which makes doing the rest of the steps even harder. Trying to read or do math while dealing with dyslexia makes a kid’s brain really tired really fast- but don’t give up on them. Learn more about the disorder, don’t let your child get shoved off or labeled and not learn as much as every other child, and get them tested and the correct learning materials, and an aid if needed. Research is key, parents- you are your child’s best advocate.
thanks for writing about this, makes me think about it in a whole new perspective.