Hi All👋
Sorry, it has been a while since I have written anything. I am still alive. I started a new hobby, painting, which I am absolutely loving so that has been keeping me pretty busy. Of course, I haven’t quite figured out how to make all my pictures not look like cartoon characters.🙈 But for now, I am happy with my anime art. 🙏 I have also just been working quietly on my dyslexia speech for Toastmasters next month. This is is my first copy…..the actual speech needs to be half this length so I will spend the weekend hacksawing my baby to the allotted time limit;-)
Hope you all have a beautiful weekend
💕🎉✨🌟🐝🎉💜
Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Richard Branson, Agatha Christie, Steven Spielberg….. all of these people have something in common. They have all successfully learned to overcome their often hidden and frustrating barrier of dyslexia. They have successfully pursued their dreams and desires and their struggle with dyslexia was often the catalyst for their success —forcing them to utilize other hidden talents.
So let’s start by looking at the basic definition of what Dyslexia is. Dyslexia is a neurological condition that is often inherited that makes it extremely difficult to read, write, spell and comprehend language, often resulting in poor academic performance. What many people don’t realise is that ‘dyslexia’ typically encompasses far more difficulties than those simply related to the reading and spelling of words.
While there are numerous, varied symptoms, I will name just a few:
• Children with dyslexia often struggle with directional’s mixing up words, like ‘up’ and ‘down’ or ‘left’ and ‘right’ No doubt this makes remembering and following verbal instructions or directions a little tricky. This struggle with directionality also means they often struggle with the concept of telling time.
• These children often struggle to put their thoughts into words which means they might leave sentences incomplete, mispronounce words or even start stuttering under stress. Many children with dyslexia take longer to process what has been said during a conversation. This might result in their responses being delayed and sometimes inappropriate, as the natural flow of the conversation has already moved on.
• Research has found that some dyslexics have postural instability, poor balance and deficits in muscle tone. These pupils may be unable to judge speed and distance and may lack depth perception, so they will have great difficulty taking part in any fast-moving team games.
• Most importantly children with dyslexia struggle to access their working memory which makes it very difficult for them to retain and recall information as they might need it. This often means that every time they see a word, for example, the word ‘the’ it is literally as if they are encountering it for the first time. Can you imagine how exhausting and frustrating that must be?
The statistics on dyslexia are staggering. A dyslexia international report published in 2014 states that Dyslexia is the most common form of learning difficulty, affecting at least 10 % of any given population. With a world population of 7 billion people that roughly works out to 700 million children and adults worldwide who are at risk of life-long illiteracy and social exclusion- many of them never even being aware that they are dyslexic. Dr Sally Shaywitz, co-director for the Yale Center of Dyslexia & Creativity, has done one of the largest studies on dyslexia, and according to her as many as 1 in 5 students has dyslexia in America. That would mean that in an average class of 30 children, that’s an unbelievable 6 children per class.
The heartbreaking thing is that most children with dyslexia realize quite early on that they are not like their peers. Every single day for them is a struggle with many of them having no extra support or any special accommodations. Without a doubt, their often clutzy difficulties leave them with very low self-esteem and confidence. Imagine always getting the lowest marks in all your tests, despite the fact that you spend more time than most learning. Imagine feeling continually exhausted as you try to keep up with all the reading and writing that is expected of you in a typical class. Imagine spending hours and hours at home doing your homework as you now have the added stress of catching up all the work you couldn’t keep up with in class. Children with dyslexia often feel stupid and depressed, continually living in shame and isolation because they just can’t seem to do what their peers can. They know something is wrong….but without a proper diagnosis, they are so often left fumbling in the dark.
So if this is the reality, why is it that so many people are so determined to ‘not label’ a child as dyslexic? Why is it that labelling a person with a condition has somehow become so politically incorrect? Last year I completed my honours in learning support and it saddens me to say that in my entire 600-page thick textbook, covering every issue imaginable in learning support not a single mention of dyslexia was made. Yes, mention was made of how to help children with ‘reading difficulties. But anybody that has worked one on one with a child who struggles with dyslexia knows how this is so much more than a simple reading issue. A few years ago a friend of mine who is an internationally accredited dyslexia facilitator went in for a master’s selection interview. On informing the panel that she was a dyslexia facilitator she was severely reprimanded for allowing herself to attach this label to any individuals that she was working with. The accusation made was that she was actually harming her students. Honestly, I find this to be almost unbelievable, especially when you see how passionate this woman is about her work and how much progress and confidence she instils in so many of her students. The sad truth of that the matter is that in South Africa very little research has actually been done on dyslexia. Almost all the research that is currently available to us is mostly based on international experience. Without actually identifying what the problem is, how can we even start to find solutions to help these children? It often feels to me that this fear of labelling a child leads to them living with other far more damaging labels. For example ‘She is just lazy. “He never listens properly” Or how about the “class clown’ This is a type of camouflage behaviour that many dyslexic students might consciously or unconsciously employ so as to deflect attention away from their class work. Arent these ‘labels’ far more damaging for our students in the long run?
While I wholeheartedly agree that we don’t want these children to feel labelled as ‘defective’ the truth of the matter is that is still exactly how so many of them are feeling. What if, instead of just ignoring the issue we could start to reframe how we see and understand dyslexia? Dr Martha Burns who is an international dyslexia expert goes so far as to say that it is not helpful for us to even categorise dyslexia as a disorder or a disability. Neuroscience research has found that people with dyslexia use different neural pathways which is a concept known as neurodiversity. Neurodiversity is the idea that our brains have structural differences and simply work differently. It is for this reason that we shouldn’t be so quick to label every deviation from the norm as a pathological disorder, or dismiss people living with variations as ‘defective.’ As stated by Dr Burns what we’re learning from neuroscience is that children who have dyslexia simply have a brain that is organized differently.
The brain is divided into 2 hemispheres. The left hemisphere is typically in charge of controlling language, reading, writing, maths and science. The right hemisphere performs tasks that have to do with creativity, imagination, arts and music awareness. Research has found that people with dyslexia rely more on the right hemisphere of the brain, the creative side, than those without it. With a more underutilized left hemisphere, this means that reading and writing are going to be more challenging for these students. But these more right-brained thinkers often have a whole host of other talents that are so frequently overlooked. Dyslexics can be highly creative people who often see things more holistically. Hence they might miss the trees but they will have no problem seeing the entire forest. They are often well known for having sudden leaps of insight that solve problems with an unorthodox approach. This might be why as many as one in three American entrepreneurs has dyslexia. (https://www.nessy.com/…/dyslexia-info…/9-strengths-dyslexia/) For many famous dyslexic sportsmen, it is their strong visual thinking ability that has allowed them to excel in their chosen sport. A good example of this would be Olympic Gold medallist Muhammad Ali who was best known for his exceptional boxing career. Muhammed would go on to become a prominent advocate in raising awareness of dyslexia. One of his famous quotes was “If my mind can conceive it, and I can believe it—then I can achieve it,”
Random story: Sam was diagnosed with severe Dyslexia in Grade 1. She is a gorgeous, bubbly, intelligent child who struggles immensely with her reading and writing. Surprisingly enough her strong point is her mathematics which she absolutely loves doing. Sam will be the first to tell you that her brain ‘works differently’ so this is why she struggles to read. In the same breath, she will also tell you that she is ‘super clever when it comes to maths because her brain ‘loves’ maths. I have found that the use of word problems is an excellent way to keep Sam motivated and excited about reading. Sam has an abundance of faith that she can do anything she puts her mind to.
I strongly believe that knowledge is power. One of the foremost aspirations that I have is to help my dyslexic students demystify their learning difficulties. With a proper medical diagnosis of dyslexia and an explanation as to why it is they struggle so much, it is almost like they literally let out a sigh of relief. Without a doubt – clarity and understanding facilitate kindness and acceptance. They are not stupid, they are not broken and they do not need to be fixed. These students often don’t fit into the typical ‘academic’ school environment but wouldn’t it be amazing if we, as teachers, could help them mould their minds to become the experts and groundbreakers in their chosen fields that so many of them are capable of being? All they need are the tools to facilitate learning in a way that is best suited for their brains. All they want is the space to develop and grow the many strengths and talents that make them the unique, beautiful and extraordinary human beings that were born to be.