Myth:
Dyslexia
is a disease that needs to be cured.
Reality: Dyslexia is not
a disease. It is a life-long condition and if it is not identified it will
persist through adulthood. Many people believe that dyslexia can be cured like
pneumonia or tuberculosis but the fact is that dyslexia can only be tackled
using academic remedial strategies.
The
only thing common between dyslexia and other diseases is that it has signs and
symptoms but the similarity ends there. People also believe that it is a
disease located in the child’s brain. The fact is that in the case of dyslexics
differential wiring of brain circuits makes it difficult for the child to learn
reading like an average kid does.
Phonics To The Rescue
Phonics To The Rescue
It is possible to overcome difficulties in reading and writing using structured methods for ex. Phonic reading. The
mechanism the brain uses to familiarise itself with and decode a word varies
from that of an average reader.
While a person reads the brain is very active and engaged in making connections. It has to associate letters to sounds and place all those sound in the right order. In order to make sense of what you are reading the brain has to connect letters, words and paragraphs together. The brain also has to associate a word with what it stands for.
Let’s look at an example. When you reads the word ‘table’, the brain hast to string the sounds ‘t-a-b-l-e’ and also associate this word ‘table’ with a solid wooden object which has four legs and is used to place things. There are a lot of such connections the brain is busy making as we read and in case of dyslexics it just takes longer. Dyslexics have great difficulty figuring out what sounds a letter or a combination of letters stand for.
Unfortunately, because most of us learn to associate phonemes with real world objects pretty easily we are unable to appreciate how it hard it is for kids who lack that cognitive capacity for no fault of their own. None of these cognitive dynamics are visible to normal people a teacher or the parent even if they observe a child working hard. As a result dyslexic kids are often mis-construed as lazy and stupid.
However, through proper phonemic awareness and training these issues can be easily overcome. Dyslexic kids have to focus more on improving their reading skills beginning with the awareness of the sounds that each letter stands for and then moving on to letter combinations, sentences and paragraphs. Gradually a child with dyslexia figures out different ways of attacking and decoding words. It is possible for a child with dyslexia to read relatively effortlessly once they learn to think phonemically.
While a person reads the brain is very active and engaged in making connections. It has to associate letters to sounds and place all those sound in the right order. In order to make sense of what you are reading the brain has to connect letters, words and paragraphs together. The brain also has to associate a word with what it stands for.
Let’s look at an example. When you reads the word ‘table’, the brain hast to string the sounds ‘t-a-b-l-e’ and also associate this word ‘table’ with a solid wooden object which has four legs and is used to place things. There are a lot of such connections the brain is busy making as we read and in case of dyslexics it just takes longer. Dyslexics have great difficulty figuring out what sounds a letter or a combination of letters stand for.
Unfortunately, because most of us learn to associate phonemes with real world objects pretty easily we are unable to appreciate how it hard it is for kids who lack that cognitive capacity for no fault of their own. None of these cognitive dynamics are visible to normal people a teacher or the parent even if they observe a child working hard. As a result dyslexic kids are often mis-construed as lazy and stupid.
However, through proper phonemic awareness and training these issues can be easily overcome. Dyslexic kids have to focus more on improving their reading skills beginning with the awareness of the sounds that each letter stands for and then moving on to letter combinations, sentences and paragraphs. Gradually a child with dyslexia figures out different ways of attacking and decoding words. It is possible for a child with dyslexia to read relatively effortlessly once they learn to think phonemically.
Famous people like Albert Einstein, Sir Richard Branson, Agatha Christie, Whoopi Goldberg al went through these challenges. They are all proof of the fact that dyslexics can not only lead normal lives but can thrive, prosper and even become world famous!
Further Reading:
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