See Dyslexia Differently
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See Dyslexia Differently (Transcription)
See Dyslexia Differently (Transcription)
Your brain is amazing and nobody else has one quite like it.
Although everybody’s brain looks the same, they all work differently from each other. Just as we all have different color skin, hair and eyes, we all have a brain that’s individual to us. Like a fingerprint we have different personalities, tastes, strengths and weaknesses.
Our brains can even see and understand the world in different ways. One of those ways is called dyslexia, which affects how the brain handles information at sees and hears.
Dyslexic people may find it difficult to match letters to sounds and to remember how to spell words. They may even see letters moving around when they’re reading, they might have trouble telling left from right. Remembering lots of instructions can be especially hard. They may need more thinking time to remember the right word as well as memorizing sequences. It may be difficult for them to hold a pencil and to write by hand, even organizing themselves can be difficult.
But everyone with dyslexia is different it can affect how people feel about themselves. When they struggle with a task that other people find easy, they may feel frustrated, angry or sad. Some dyslexic people try to hide their difficulties because they are worried about what others will think of them.
However, thinking differently can be a really good thing. A person with dyslexia may be very good at seeing patterns and solving problems, imagining and rotating objects in their heads, telling stories and making people laugh. Taking things apart understanding how they work and figuring out how to put them together again, inventing, drawing, painting and making things, seeing the bigger picture, Dyslexic people can do a lot of things.
They just might do them in a different way to how others would. And many of them have even become famous for it. There have been many famous dyslexic inventors, writers, scientists, business people, astronomers’ paleontologists, actors, cooks, singers, artists, architects and so on. Dyslexic people have changed the world.
What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling.
Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed. Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities.
It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and there are no clear cut-off points. Co-occurring difficulties may be seen in aspects of language, motor co-ordination, mental calculation, concentration and personal organisation, but these are not, by themselves, markers of dyslexia.
A good indication of the severity and persistence of dyslexic difficulties can be gained by examining how the individual responds or has responded to well-founded intervention.
In addition to these characteristics:
The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) acknowledges the visual and auditory processing difficulties that some individuals with dyslexia can experience, and points out that dyslexic readers can show a combination of abilities and difficulties that affect the learning process. Some also have strengths in other areas, such as design, problem solving, creative skills, interactive skills and oral skills. Source Click Here
Does Your Child Show These Signs?
- Problems learning the letter sounds for reading and spelling
- Difficulties in reading single words, such as lists (decoding) and flash cards
- Lack of fluency (ignores punctuations, reads slowly and monotonously)
- Poor spelling (spelling phonetically and inconsistently)
- Tends to confuse words with similar spelling (slat/salt)
- Difficulty understanding the meaning of text (reads and re-reads with little comprehension)
- Becoming tired after reading for only a short time and avoids reading
- Homework is stressful
Four Features of Dyslexia
It is a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read and spell. The challenges can come in many different forms and are not limited to reversal of letters and words, a common misconception.
Intelligence
Dyslexia is not a sign of low intelligence. Dyslexics are successful in all walks of life. It’s an unexplained difficulty in reading despite normal intelligence and verbal ability.
Spectrum
It can be mild to severe and is often inherited. The effects can include low self-esteem, frustration, loss of motivation, social and emotional issues and attention difficulties.
Diagnosis
Dyslexia will normally become apparent during the early years of schooling.
Many unidentified students develop coping strategies which can disguise dyslexia.
Intervention
The earlier the identification of issues the better.The sooner the child can receive specific instruction for their needs the better. A personalised program is the best.
What Can You Do?
Seek Professional Advice
Reading instruction needs to be implemented by a trained teacher or Speech and Language Therapist. It should include explicit, direct and systematic instruction in letter/sound association, decoding, sight word knowledge, vocabulary and comprehension.
Compensatory Strategies
Talk to your child’s school. Make arrangements for your child to take oral versus written tests, and use scribes if possible. Investigate the use of lerning using audio, video and more graphical content.
Use Brain-Based Learning Programs
Research has shown it is possible to change the brains of people with dyslexia.
In this study conducted at Stanford University, children with dyslexia (reading problems) experienced changes in their brain activation patterns and significant improvements in reading and language skills following Fast ForWord participation.
Directly Train Cognitive & Processing Skills
Compensating and changing the environment will make things a little easier but they will not fix the auditory processing problem. There are many interventions you can use. Make sure these deal directly with strategies, exercises and activities that address processing speed and accuracy. The cognitive skills of memory, attention, and sequencing also need to be strengthened.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a method to "cure" Dyslexia?
In short there is no “sure” to treat dyslexia.
Question 1
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It is never too late for individuals with dyslexia to learn to read, process and express
information more efficiently. Research shows that programs utilising multisensory
structured language techniques can help children and adults learn to read.