My son was diagnosis with dyslexia at age 6 and 6 years later I am still learning about how it affects so many areas of his life. Over and over dyslexia is defined as a “reading disorder” or less frequently a “language processing disorder”. From my experience with my son and lots of reading, it seems to me it is a brain processing disorder.
His difficulty with reading is only one of many areas that he struggles with because of his dyslexia: direction, sequencing, organization, memory, vocabulary, putting thoughts into words or writing, etc. etc. etc. He struggles with telling time, losing items, remembering directions, numbers, or multiply tasks, mislabeling every day objects, to name just a few.
After 5 years in private school, he started public school. I met with his teacher and the school counselor to explain these areas of difficulties. they seemed to get the reading part but judged the rest to be just an “over-indulgent mother”. I requested that he have a folder for homework; assignments due and done as he loses papers. The teacher stated she gave the children plenty of time to do their work in class, he would have no homework therefore no need for a homework folder. His 2nd day of school, he did not complete the assignment and was given it as homework. He lost his homework assignment. He struggled for three days with the combination lock on his locker: Right left right or left right left, 21 or 12 and 12, 24, 19 or was it 24, 19, 21. So I asked the school counselor if he could have key lock instead. I was lectured about how this problem was due to my son’s lack of experience with a combination lock and about my quickness in rescuing him from difficulties in his life. “For the rest of his life, he will be faced with combination locks and he is going to have to learn to use them”.
There was no connection that these problems were connected to his dyslexia nor that he has a disability that in some areas he may be able to overcome but in others he just may need to have accommodations. I feel he has enough barriers and battles he has to struggle with to overcome and if for the time being or for the rest of his life he uses key locks instead of combination locks, SO WHAT. Would she have made this comment if he had cerebral palsy or crippled hands? NO, so why in this situation? Because she is totally ignorant about dyslexia (and a jerk). But he and I run into this ignorance all the time and people look very disbelieving when we try to explain.
It is frustrating that dyslexia is so poorly defined on websites addressing learning disabilities or even dyslexia. Even on this website, dyslexia is not even listed, it is found under “reading”. I have found only one website that really addressed these issues as being part of the disability of dyslexia. It seems to me that this definition is very out-dated compared to what is now known about dyslexia and smacks too much of being academically defined instead of life defined. My brother was diagnosis with dyslexia 30 years ago and I see very little difference in how it was viewed and addressed then compared to now.
Re: Misunderstanding dyslexia
Dyslexia **is** poorly defined. One person with dyslexia will have different needs from another. There are many different models for describing dyslexia and different ones work better with different people and different cultures - and then throw in professional and unprofessional egos into the mix.
When you find what works for one person, hallelujah :-) :-)
Re: Misunderstanding dyslexia
Here’s the problem: the current popluar theory of dyslexia is that it is a phonemic awareness problem that only affects reading (same as back in the 70s when I was diagnosed). Teachers do not want to make their life more complex and “notice” the other problems, because these things do not fit in with the theory.
The reality is that reading is a complex brain function that can go wrong in multiple ways, some of which can produce other problems. The one that most teachers are concerned with, though, is the reading problem.
Re: Misunderstanding dyslexia
Teachers are hired to *teach*. We are supposed to teach reading and writing and math and other academic subjects; that *should* be the major focus of what teachers do in the classroom. When you get so-called teachers who try to be mother and father and social counsellor and nurse and psychologist, they generally do a rather poor job of all those things and also don’t have the time and energy required to teach.
I had the experience of going into a school where the previous administration had centered their efforts around self-esteem and community building. The kids could and would sing “We are Family”, they supported their friends under all conditions even when the friends were in the wrong,they had wonderful self-esteem and no desire to change — and in Grade 8 they had Grade 4 academic levels and were not going to be able to pass the most basic high school classes or get a job, over 90 percent of the class — regular, not LD — on the dropout and welfare track.
As a private tutor, I get hired to go to people’s houses and do the intense focus on reading and sometimes math that the schools have not been doing. Parents with a kid who has reached Grade 5 or Grade 8 as a non-reader are suddenly very very interested in that reading stuff and not so excited about all the other things.
Not to ignore children;s needs or to belittle them, but it is important to work hard on those things that are our reason for being there.
Wow, you’re son sounds ~EXACTLY~ like my daughter. Except she was diagnosed with Output Organization Deficit, not dyslexia.
I had read a book called “When the Brain Can’t Hear” and thought she had CAPD. I took her to an expert in the field for a Central Auditory Evaluation and it was there that I first learned of her output organization deficit. Good luck, and feel free to email me.