D-Y-S-L-E-X-I-A. Not only is it a difficult word to pronounce, it’s difficult to understand. With both my children being diagnosed with Dyslexia within a month I had to figure this out. Not only do I need to understand it , I need to find a way to explain it to them and help them overcome the obstacles it will place in their way.
There are a zillion definitions that all say the same thing. Basically Dysleixa is “ … known as reading disorder, is characterized by trouble with reading despite normal intelligence.” Thank you Wikipedia, but that really doesn’t tell me anything. So I kept looking and the Oxford Dictionary told me Dyslexia is “a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence.” That’s a bit more info, but not really the help I was looking for. Although it was nice that everyone was pointing out that it didn’t impact my kids intelligence… now how do I tell them that although they can’t read as good as others in their class it doesn’t mean they are less intelligent?
So what does it really mean?
Here it gets even more diluted because people can have a whole bunch of different types of dyslexia from difficulties reading, spelling, writing, numbers and pronouncing words. So basically any language skill can have this learning disability, yes it’s referred to as a learning disability (something that is hard for my husband and others to grasp). So this little alphabet wonder will make it harder for my kids to succeed in traditional school environments.
What causes it?
It can be caused by genetics and environmental factors. For us, we are pretty sure that my husband has Dyslexia since he still cannot write down a phone number correctly and never enjoyed reading in school or as an adult. Oh and there’s also a link to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yep we got that covered too! Did I also mention it’s the most common learning disability? With about 3-7% of the north American population (others professionals say 5-10%) having some degree of symptoms. In our own household we have severe dyslexia with my daughter and my son is more mild (but he kicks it up with dyslexia’s cousin dysorthography).
Then in my looking I came across this exhaustive list of common traits. If you are interested check it out: https://www.dyslexia.com/about-dyslexia/signs-of-dyslexia/test-for-dyslexia-37-signs/
But none of this was helping me understand what dysleixa was or how I can explain it to my children. The questions were swirling in my head. How could this be? I have always loved to read. As a small child it was my escape. I love to learn as a student and still do. As an adult my love of reading continues to inspire and entertain me. My professional career in corporate communications hinged on communicating and writing. So how could it be that my daughter could not read and my son has such difficulty writing?
So what do we do?
The first thing to come to terms with is that this is a lifelong condition. Every site tells you not to worry, many people will learn to read and write well, especially with early detection. Guessing 6 & 8 years old means that’s covered. Beyond that it gets more difficult. Unlike with ADHD where behavior cognitive therapy, changes in diet, routine and medication can offer help, Dyslexia requires help from specially trained professionals.
But everyone says we (the parents) are the child’s main source of support. We need to be their advocate at school, with professionals and above all else offer constant support and understanding so they have the courage and will power to get the tools and motivation to succeed.
In the end it’s just another piece of pie we need to carve … right?
