This week we have a contribution from the founder and chairman of the Dyslexia Association, Cathryn Kelshall on dyslexia.
What is it, dyslexia? No, not lack of intelligence! No, not funny eyesight! No, not laziness!
It is a specific difficulty with acquiring any of the language skills of speaking, reading, spelling and writing despite adequate intelligence and opportunity to learn. Dyslexia affects ten to 15 per cent of the population. This means that there are between 100,000 to 150,000 dyslexics in Trinidad and Tobago.
Dyslexic students can be described as the “puzzle children.” These are the children in the class who know the answers, often excel in mathematics and other areas of the curriculum like science, but just can’t get it on to paper, their reading skills are poor. These children often get labelled as lazy.
One dyslexic ten-year-old student poignantly described it to me like this; “For some people reading is like a feather, for me it is a ton.”
Research has shown that the dyslexic’s brain is actually different. In addition, recent brain scans show that dyslexics use different areas of the brain to process language, areas that are perhaps not ideally suited to those skills.
On the plus side, many dyslexics have extraordinary talent for architecture, engineering and the visual arts. Because they are good at seeing how many parts fit into a whole, dyslexics make talented entrepreneurs and surgeons.
It certainly takes a great deal of ability to manoeuvre through a school system that just isn’t geared to this different way of learning, and it’s not surprising that many dyslexics drop out of school. This spiral of failure can lead to disastrous consequences.
The students who make it report a great deal of support from parents and teachers who believe in them.
Teachers can see through the spelling mistakes to the creative ideas, they provide other ways to excel such as illustrating the literature text, or dramatising it. Teachers should recognise that many students need to discover, and feel, and do, in order to learn.
Dyslexic students who survive the school system learn persistence and determination.
Dyslexia is hereditary. You don’t want to be paranoid but early detection, which results in early intervention, can prevent frustration and loss of self esteem. Some early indications are:
• Late speech acquisition or jumbled words like “hostipal” for hospital.
• Difficulty with rhyming and learning common sequences, like the alphabet may clue you in that your child is at risk.
• A seemingly bright child taking much longer to learn the letters than the other children in the class.
• Taking longer than normal to learn to tie laces or poor hand eye co-ordination like catching a ball.
• Difficulty with directional labels such as before and after, left and right.
• From seven on still having difficulty with reversing letters and numbers.
• If you suspect dyslexia in the family, contact: The Dyslexia Association. Tel: (868)-625-5869
Email: info@dyslexiatt.org
Website: www.dyslexiatt.org.
The Association provides screening and tutoring for dyslexic children and adults.