Dyslexia in Children
How Do I Know If It’s Dyslexia I’m Dealing With?
If children are anxious and struggle at school, find reading challenging and read slower and without fully comprehending what they read, spell as they hear a word, and have difficulty expressing themselves in writing, chances are that they are visual learners, which we call dyslexic.
That means that they are very bright, creative and often intuitive, but struggle at school and often don’t feel as intelligent as they are.
Is My Child Dyslexic?
That is the most common question I get asked, especially after assessing a child… which is not surprising, really. I used to ask the same question about my son before I knew anything about dyslexia in children. Like most concerned parents I had the impression that there is something wrong with my son and I was determined to get a label in order to find a solution.
But over time, I formed a very different view about dyslexia in children.
Before my training and working for over 15 years with dyslexic individuals of all ages, I just saw that my son was struggling, thinking differently, obviously not stupid – yet having really poor marks in English and any subject where reading and comprehension was required. His spelling was appalling – I am not sure if he would have been diagnosed with ‘phonological dyslexia’ or ‘visual/surface dyslexia’. Somehow I think he would have fit into both boxes.
The term “phonological dyslexia” refers to a symptom pattern of difficulty with decoding and connecting sounds to symbols. Individuals with that form of dyslexia typically have difficulty sounding out unfamiliar words and do poorly on tests of non-word reading. The term “surface dyslexia” refers to a pattern of difficulty with whole-word recognition. Individuals with that form of dyslexia often spell phonetically and are able to figure out new words, but will not be able to remember or recognize frequently encountered words. Their reading may be slow and laborious (Abigail Marshall, Webmaster DDAI).
The Primary School my son went to never saw a reason for concern. He never had any IQ/ Wechsler/ psychometric assessment/ dyslexia testing/ psychological assessments or tests … and in hindsight I believe that was rather fortunate. Who knows – it might have sent me on a long merry-go-round of fixing symptoms and phonic training which is similar to torture for many dyslexic children and adults – and with mixed results.
Now, I don’t believe that Dyslexia in children is a learning disability, just a learning difference. Dyslexics are mostly visual learners and although they do struggle in school, they are very bright and creative.
Nothing needs to be ‘cured’ or ‘fixed’, but it will help them to receive tools to increase their focus and help them understand words that don’t have a picture. ‘Sight words’ which are meant to be the easiest little words that children are learning to read first, are usually culprits for dyslexics – often they have no obvious meaning. Even though the child will be able to read ‘to, for, from, so, by’, but without the necessary picture or meaning, or a different syntax.
We need to empower children to enable them to become focused and oriented, overcome confusion, shame and frustration, resulting from mistakes and misunderstandings.
If you want to make sure that dyslexia is the problem your child is dealing with, I’d be happy to see you and your child for an assessment.
Need Help with Dyslexia in Children?
Get a Dyslexia Assessment
If you want to make sure that dyslexia is the problem your child is dealing with, I’d be happy to see you and your child for an assessment.
These consultations are not testing your child academically, but you will find out:
- Their learning style
- Their gifts and challenges
- Their goals and which challenges they are ready to change
- Their motivation
- The right path at this point in time to help your child move forward
To find out more or to book a one-on-one dyslexia assessment, click on the button below.
If you are uncertain, whether your child fits the dyslexia “label”, click here for a free dyslexia test.
— Spelling
— Writing
— Focusing
— Concepts
— Grammar
— Maths
— ADD/ADHD
— Reading for Comprehension
The One Year School will support the use of your child’s positive gifts, remove the obstacles which prevent the natural learning process from occurring, and help your child one-on-one and/or in small zoom classes. You can start as soon as you are ready, every day of the year is the right one.
Discover why these bright individuals have difficulty learning, when using traditional methods. We’ll show you how learning can be made easy, enjoyable and ADD can be corrected, DRUG FREE.
To find out more about The One Year School and how it can help overcome dyslexia in children, click the button below.