Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Dyslexia- Should a child be informed he is dyslexic

I believe a dyslexic child should be made aware that he is dyslexic as soon as the parents find out that he is dyslexic. He must be made to understand what dyslexia means.
He must be made aware that he has his strengths and his weaknesses. Tell him that he is not learning disabled. Tell him instead that he has a preferential learning style. Tell him it is like the difference between a right hander and a left hander. Both a right hander and a left hander can do the same thing except in a different way.

It is better to inform a child that he is dyslexic because he will be aware of the difference between himself and the other students in his class. Knowing that he has a learning preference, he will know that he is not stupid and will not lose his self esteem and confidence. After a short intervention of one to one coaching he will be able to cope well
with traditional teaching methods.

Extracted from an article : Tside. You may read the whole article here.

Andrew Eleftheriou, 19, was diagnosed with dyslexia – which affects reading and spelling – just four years ago.
Today Andrew described to Tside how this late diagnosis – half way through his GCSE’s – effected his life.
Andrew said: ” Throughout school my grades were always quite low and I felt I couldn’t concentrate on anything.
“I was really naughty and disruptive in my lessons, and this meant I was in trouble quite a lot.
“But when I diagnosed with dyslexia both my teachers and me knew that was the reason I was struggling. From that point things got much better.”
........... Andrew added: “Being diagnosed really changed by life. I don’t think I would have done so well.”

Most of my student’s parents hide the fact that their child is dyslexic. I believe this will do more harm than good.

Your comments will be appreciated.

For lesson 29 click here:

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

A very profound and valid point has been made.Your recommendation has rightly made the individual central to their learning.
Only with self knowledge can one accept responsibility and be in control one's learning.This then gives them the confidence to tackle all the challenges they face with confidence, knowing there are support sytems in place toa acccommodate their needs.

Jase

Luqman Michel said...

Thank you Jase.

Unknown said...

I told my son he was dyslexic because he was wondering why he was "not as smart as the other kids" and he desparately wanted to be. Plus, he was also wondering why he was going through all these tests. I told him we were discovering his learning style. The place he went had posters of all kinds of famouse people with learning challenges, and when he learned he was dyslexic, he didn't see it as a bad thing since posters of Thomas Edison and Einstein were on the walls of the clinic.

Luqman Michel said...

Thank you Heidi. I remember you saying about famous dyslexic people in one of your comments. I too want to post some of the famous people in my blog but I'll do this later, I guess.There are already many sites with famous dyslexic people.

Anne said...

I agree with all of this however the reality is much more difficult than you can imagine. After having a frank and open discussion with my daughter about dyslexia she then spent the next couple of weeks saying "I can't help it I'm dyslexic so I don't have to try." It is important that children do not develop a victim mentality and that dyslexia like all other disabilities is NOT an excuse to give up on trying or using other strategies to get over life's hurdles.

Luqman Michel said...

Sorry I had missed your comment. It is rather unfortunate that some children develop a victim mentality like you say. I have seen dyslexics in forums who behave the same way.They believe they have a disability and do not want to hear anything other than what they already believe.

Wife, Mom, Teacher said...

Anne's comment is exactly why I haven't told my son Sam that he is dyslexic. I do wonder if he would run with it and not hide behind it if I told him, though. His father is a brilliant dyslexic and he could take encouragement from his father...
Poor Sam is 9 and in a slump learning to read. He is a very good phonetic reader... the rule-breaker words kill him. But he has to painfully sound out each word (he finally can read 'the' and 'and' without sounding out) and reading takes FOREVER!
I am homeschooling my kids and if I didn't love the boy so much I'd give up.

Wife, Mom, Teacher said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anne said...

Hi - Just as a note I also home school my child and it is the best decision I have made in years. I am broke financially but I have been able to hone in on Jade's literacy, numeracy and even sporting life. I attended Linda Mood-Bell with Jade and while she did not come out reading at her age level she did come out of the course with significant leaps in phonetic understanding of sounds and phonograms that I could not have done on my own. We are trying to cover over 5*year literacy gap and to do this I am using Phonetic exercises combined with the spelling and grammar magic rules from LME http://www.learningmadeeasier.com.au/books.html
I found that this resource clicks with Jade better than anything else however it is slow going and grueling none the less. At this point in time Jade will use every excuse in the book to get out of work - even daily chores that she can do with ease. I cannot afford for her to feel victimised. As we become closer to high school and I need to go back to work I know I will need to empower her carefully with this information as discussed previously. Anyway I wish all of you amazing patient, hard working Mum's and Dad's the best on your journey. My daughter is 13 and dyslexia brings challenges that most other parents never have to face in a life time.
Take Care
A