Coping with Your Child's Dyslexia

Of all the types of learning disabilities affecting schoolchildren, Dyslexia proves to be the most common.

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia, also known as Specific Reading Disability, is a condition marked by difficulty in reading due to the brain's inability to process or interpret written material or information.

Most children or people with dyslexia have normal intelligence, normal speech, and normal vision. The deficiency or problem is not linked to intelligence or vision. Dyslexics simply read at levels lower than what is expected for their age. While Dyslexia tends to run in families, it varies from person to person.

Indications of Dyslexia:

Difficulty in recognizing written words or letters

Reading ability is significantly lower than what's expected for a child's age

Persistent reversals of letters (b for d)

Persistent reversals of words (was for saw)

Difficulty in comprehending spoken words and instructions

Reading backwards

Difficulty in remembering sequences of instructions

Delayed speech or talking lateIf you notice that your child is still not reading as well as she should be for her age and any of the above symptoms are present, chances are your child might have Dyslexia. Therefore, you should consult a doctor to discuss the possibility of Dyslexia affecting your child and what you can do to help her.

Before a diagnosis on Dyslexia is reached, several tests need to be done in order to rule out other factors or disorders causing your child's reading disability. In addition to medical tests, the doctor will also be evaluating your child's medical history as well as your own family's medical history (since dyslexia runs in families). Other tests include:

Neurological tests

Vision testing

Hearing tests

Psychological testing to rule out anxiety/depression as the cause of the reading disability

Educational testing to assess your child's academic abilities and reasoningNote, however, that just because your child has been diagnosed with Dyslexia, it doesn't necessarily follow that your child will do poorly in other school subjects. While the inability to read properly might be a disadvantage to learning, you have to remember that Dyslexia is something that children can learn to cope with. In fact, many dyslexics, even famous people like Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Tom Cruise, and others, have all learned to cope with dyslexia and even managed to lead very productive lives. Treatment for Dyslexia

The most effective treatment for Dyslexia is through a Special Education Program using a multi-sensory approach designed to improve your child's reading/learning ability. Coping with Dyslexia

As a parent, you can help your child cope with Dyslexia by:

Being supportive, encouraging, and loving so as to help build your child's self-esteem.

Making sure that your child understands what Dyslexia is all about, that it does not make her worthless or dumb, and that there are ways to cope or live with it.

Making your home a place where love and support is found as well as making it conducive to your child's learning.

Often reading to your child and reading with your child.

Ensuring that your child's teachers are well aware of your child's condition so that they may also be able to provide emotional support and encouragement to your child.

Letting your child take tutorial lessons from a reading-disability expert.Improving Your Child's Reading Skills:

It is very important to ensure that what your child is reading really makes sense to her. The following are tips shared by reading-disability specialists and parents of dyslexic children:

Read to your child and read with your child - this encourages your child to not give up on reading altogether

Encourage your child to read aloud

Use flashcards to teach your child to read difficult words from reading passages

While reading with your child, point at words using a finger to urge your child to read on without going back to words that have already been read.

Get your child books with audio tapes - this way, your child can follow the written text on the book while listening to the taped story and reading passages.

Use spelling techniques like Visualization, Mnemonics, spelling by sight, hearing, and touch.Visualization - Ask your child to look at a word and tell your child to close her eyes and imagine or SEE the word in her mind. Then, tell your child to write the word in the air while saying the letters at the same time.

Note: color coding also helps a lot. For example, if your child misspells the word Land (spells it as LEND or LOND), get a flashcard and write the correct spelling of the word Land but use a different color (red) for LND and another color (yellow) for the letter A. The highlighted letter will remain in your child's memory.

Spelling by Vision, Touch and Hearing - Listening to recorded passages and then tracing the shape of words as heard by the ears.

Spelling by Mnemonics - Involves the use of phrases or rhymes to help remember how a word is spelled. For example: the phrase ONLY CATS' EYES ARE NARROW are used to spell the word OCEAN. (Look at the starting letters of each word in the given phrase).

The key to your child's coping with Dyslexia lies for the most part in you. As a parent, be sure to provide emotional support and encouragement to your child. Even this will already greatly help your child cope well and learn to live with Dyslexia.