Dyslexia - One Mother's Story By Bonnie Shively

 

Dyslexia.  The word hit me like a ton of bricks.  The test results had been interpreted and my bright, beautiful fourth grade daughter was now saddled with a label, "learning disabled."

 “How could this be?” I asked.  “I know she has trouble with reading, but she is so smart.”

My daughter’s test results had shown her science and social studies skills were on the eighth grade level.  Other abilities were nearly as high, but her reading level was only first grade, first month.  

A child diagnosed as learning disabled is different from a child who is simply a bit slower at learning than other children his or her age.  The slow learner is operating to the best of his or her ability, while the learning disabled child very often possesses above average intelligence, but is hindered by something that makes academics challenging.  In my daughter’s case, the obstacle was dyslexia.

While the classic mixing of letters and writing letters backward are what we usually think of, there is much more to dyslexia than that.  Dyslexia is not the actual disability.  It is only one symptom of a communication problem.  As my understanding grew, I began to recognize other signs like my daughter’s persistent mispronunciation of certain words - even though she had long outgrown the use of “baby talk,” as well as her inability to understand an analog clock.

The counselor had some wonderful words of encouragement for us.  Because dyslexic children are so intelligent, they find very creative ways to compensate for their problem.  My daughter has developed an above average ability to retain what she sees and hears.  She can sit through a teacher’s lecture, and remember nearly everything that was said, while the rest of us would only remember small parts of interest.  I have watched her during a Sunday sermon seemingly not paying any attention, but when asked later, she can correctly tell me what the pastor said as well as explain her understanding of the topic.

As she time went on, my daughter began to teach me things about her own frustrations and challenges.  She told me how letters “don’t stay put on the page,” but seem to jump all over.  Together we found that, for some reason, she could make letters behave much better on the computer screen than on paper.  We now do as much of her reading and writing as possible on the computer.

She discovered that when she looks at a word, she begins reading it from the middle of the word rather than the beginning.  She has had to teach herself to look for the beginning of each word and “see” the whole word instead of part of it.  She also learned that reading with her finger on the page and moving along the sentence to help guide her eyes is not a sin.  This can be very helpful for the dyslexic reader, so who cares if it looks “proper” or not.

Although my daughter is now able to read for enjoyment and education, she still faces minor challenges.  Thankfully, due to enlightenment and changed attitudes, our part of the world is becoming a much friendlier place for folks like her.  Just last year when she went to get her drivers license as any other 16 year old would, she discovered her nervousness made it nearly impossible to comprehend the written test.  When the situation was explained to the DMV, they put her on a computer where the questions were read to her through headphones, and she was able to type her answers on the computer.  She came home the same day flashing her new license and a very big smile.

I am not a doctor, educator, or in any way an expert on dyslexia.  I am just a parent who wanted to share a little of my journey with you who may be just beginning yours.  I want you to know there is a bright future for your child, and the road, although challenging at times, can be a pleasant one.

 

For more information:

• http://www.interdys.org/
• http://www.audiblox2000.com/dyslexia_dyslexic/dyslexia.htm

 

Famous dyslexics:

• Cher, singer and actress
• Harry Belafonte, singer
• Tom Cruise, actor
• Danny Glover, actor
• Jay Leno, entertainer
• Susan Hampshire, actress
• Nelson Rockefeller, vice president of the US
• Nolan Ryan, baseball player
• Henry Winkler, actor
• Loretta Young, actress