Does anyone know if a dyslexic teen would have difficulty with public speaking skills? My dyslexic teenage son took an 8 week course (toastmasters for youth). It was an excellent course, but my son was uneasy and lacked confidence. I am trying to find out if his dyslexia is the cause of his troubles, or if he is just new at this. He wanted to be perfect, he put tremendous pressure on himself, and just could not relax. He was better with spontaneous speaking, but more nervous with his planned, pre-written speeches. I try to do lots of reading about dyslexia because he is horrible w/ spelling, and that’s always an issue. He’s bright, talented, but a bit dyslexic. Thanks for any help.
Re: dsylexic teen and public speaking
Sometimes dyslexia is pretty much a reading issue — trouble translating those symbols into words — but hte kid has no trouble with language in general once it reaches the brain. THese are the kids who do really well with books on tape, who have good speaking and listening skills (though they may be terrible spellers, especially if those listening skills are based on getting hte meanings of whole words, but the don’t really hear those individual sounds).
Other kids with dyslexia have trouble with other areas of language and it might include listening and/or oral expression. However, it sounds like he doesn’t have trouble with everyday stuff — just with reading his prepared speeches. Could be he struggles with having to read *and* speak effectively (with expression, etc) at the same time. I’d suggest stressing that when you make a speech it’s absolutely NOT necessary to say exactly what you wrote down — and have him higlight just a few key words and let him fill in the details more “spontaneously,” unless he can’t remember them. In that case I’d work on making the text as easy to read as possible (big print, maybe do it in outline form, not a paragraph).
I think nervousness is very common. The only cure is doing it again and again. I remember my husband in college during a speech class. He was a total wreck. Now he speaks regularly as part of his job and is considered to be a very good speaker.
I think trying to do a prewritten speech is different than just speaking. Perhaps he is trying to memorize it. That might relate to the dylexia since it is often accompanied by memory weaknesses. My advice would be to get him to write an outline out or make overheads but not use those little cards unless they have just some key words on them.