The Psychological and Emotional Impact of Dyslexia on a Child
Dyslexia is a recognized learning disability under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). It affects four to eight percent of the general population and the percentage keeps growing. Chances are, everyone knows, or knows of, someone suffering from this disability. Although most studies seem to agree that dyslexia is a condition that is genetic in origin, and not a result of deficiencies in a person's upbringing, there is a marked lack of awareness of the psychological issues a child diagnosed with dyslexia faces.
What is dyslexia?
Medical News Today (MNT) defines dyslexia as “Dyslexia is a specific reading disability due to a defect in the brain's processing of graphic symbols. It is a learning disability that alters the way the brain processes written material. It is typically characterized by difficulties in word recognition, spelling and decoding.” Having said that, it is also a very treatable disability, in the sense that with the proper tools and educational experts a person can overcome the day-to-day problems caused by dyslexia. However, the road to doing so is far from easy, and fraught with psychological and emotional turmoil.
What are the psychological issues that a child diagnosed with dyslexia faces? The issues are many and varied, though there are several core symptoms that seem to be shared by most children suffering from this predicament. One of the greatest issues is spotting the disability at an early age. The earlier on it is noticed, the easier it is to treat. The issue at hand is that it is very hard to tell the difference between a child who is dyslexic and one who is not applying himself enough to his studies. An added complication is that dy...
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...of his brother’s or sister’s seeming independence and ease of learning, while the child who is not dyslexic resents the attention his dyslexic brother or sister is receiving.
In conclusion, it is my belief that with dyslexia, as with every other disability, there must be taken into account the child’s emotional and psychological well-being, from encouraging the child to work on concurring his disability, to giving them problems they can easily solve in order to boost their self image. Additionally, parents and other adults in contact with the child should be made aware of the psychological impact of the handicap on the child, and taught to deal with it accordingly. Just because the handicap is not immediately apparent, does not make it any less debilitating. In fact, it is my opinion that it just makes it more insidious, and the social climate less understanding
“The Extraordinary Characteristics of Dyslexia” by Jake Horner is a definition essay on what it means to be dyslexic. He incorporates his own life story to support his definition and his ideas in his essay. Dyslexia is looked upon as a disability that should be treated even though dyslexia has to do with the way your brain processes the information given to you. Horner includes two types of thinkers, spatial and linear. Spatial thinkers are the dyslexic people in the world, and linear thinkers are the non-dyslexic people in the world (Horner 493). As I read this essay, it made me reflect.
The specific language based disorder of dyslexia is a learning “disability” or “syndrome” that creates an imbalance of reading, writing and comprehension skills in children and adults (Lucid Research, 2006; Shaywitz, 1998). Around 4 percent of the population are affected by the specific language based disorder (Lucid Research, 2006), as well as 80 percent of people with a learning disorder are reported to be dyslexic (Shaywitz, 1998). Dyslexia is not connected to low levels of intelligence, inadequate schooling and education or social circumstances, rather, an individual who is deficit in the phonological process, the breaking down of a word, and the auditory process, taking in sound and interpreting correctly (Lucid Research, 2006; Shaywitz, 1998; Wang and Yang, 2014). Since dyslexia is reported to be a life-long learning disability and symptoms are varied for each person, large amounts of research have been conducted in attempts to understand the severity and the impairments associated with
This is a subject and disorder near and dear to my heart. My personal experience with dyslexia, with myself and my daughter, has given me great insight into what dyslexia is, what the signs are, and how soon you can detect the potential for problems. It is not always the case that dyslexia is the sole source of reading and reading comprehension difficulties, there are other disorders that can exist at the same time, and this is important to know in order to help students improve their reading abilities. But, dyslexia will not only affect reading abilities and reading comprehension. It can affect writing, spelling, math, memory, listing comprehension, self-esteem, social skills, the ability to understand sarcasm, understanding spatial concepts,
Too frequently dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia are clumped together and thought to be the same problem. In reality, the three issues are similar but also constitute many of their own distinct complications. Dyslexia is manifested not only in seeing letters backwards and upside down but is the inability to decipher sounds and letters or shapes. “Dyslexia reflects a deficiency in the processing of the distinctive linguistic units, called phonemes, that make up all spoken and written words.” (Shaywitz pg98) This makes it difficult for the child to sound out words phonetically to read fluently; they might also struggle with remembering
Students with the learning disability can be taught in different ways that are more suited to their needs (54). Alternative lesson plans such as the Orton-Gillingham approach can help dyslexic students learn to read and write as well as their peers (9). Better learning programs can also help people with dyslexia overcome mental health issues such as low self-esteem. When students are doing well in school, they are more motivated to learn. Struggling students can also find better ways to study on their own, such as recording class lectures and listening to them at home (58). Regardless of the methods used to treat dyslexia, it is absolutely crucial for the child’s health to start therapy at a young age
Dyslexia has been a commonly known problem in the Unites States. Even though, dyslexia is a mental problem that causes disabilities in reading, most people do not know the truth about it. There have been movies where a person with dyslexia sees letters moving around, yet people with dyslexia do not have disabilities like moving letters around. The truth is that there are plenty of misconceptions. The myths going around of what dyslexia supposedly is, is not the truth. These myths are just misconceptions and the truths about dyslexia are more complex than what it seems like. Dyslexics have different learning processes and different ways of handling the problems at hand.
Many of us can identify with struggling at least once during our school years. Imagine struggling every day and in every class just cause your learning strategy is not the same as everyone else. Dyslexia is a specific difficulty with learning how to read or write in nearly 3.5 million American children (Dyslexia Research Trust). This difficulty originates in children who are normally intelligent and receive adequate teaching; however, they are not able to process information as efficiently as regular learners. Dyslexia is an inherited condition, which children inherit from parents or family members. The condition results from abnormal nerve cells usually inherited which make children vulnerable to immune factors affecting brain development and causing deficiency of Omega-3. Dyslexia begins to become a problem when children are learning to read and write but, many children show signs of dyslexia before learning to read Dyslexics have problems concentrating in the classroom, pronouncing words properly and visualizing words. Many individuals often identify dyslexic people as people who...
Dyslexia is one of several distinct learning disabilities. It is a specific language based disorder of constitutional origin characterized by difficulties in single word decoding, usually reflecting insufficient phonological processing abilities. These difficulties in single word decoding are often unexpected in relation to age and other cognitive and academic abilities; they are not the result of generalized developmental disability or sensory impairment. Dyslexia is manifest by ...
Next, we need to tackle the many misconceptions associated with dyslexia. Many people acquaint having a learning disability as having a disease. This is completely false, dyslexia is not a disease, and therefore there is no magic pill that can cure it. Actually, there is no cure and it cannot be outgrown. According to the journey into dyslexia, “it is a lifelong issue.” However, it is manageable with the assistance and resources, those with dyslexia can continue to keep up and retain their grade level in
Students with Dyslexia can progress very quickly in some areas, it just depends on how their brain “lights up”. Students with Dyslexia can be gifted in art, computer science, design, drama, electronics, mechanics, music, physics, and sports. So not everything can be a problem for your student. Students with Dyslexia don’t have anything wrong with them except they have a hard time reading and
Dyslexia is a very common learning disorder that affects more than three million cases reported every year. It can also be referred to as a language based learning disability. Dyslexia is a disability that impairs one’s ability (usually identified in children) to read and interpret different letters/words. It cannot be cured and is generally a lifelong condition but can be treated with therapists/specialists. This disorder does not translate to poor individual intelligence, just simply an individual that struggles in an area of learning. More often than not, this disability can be self diagnosed by an adult. This disorder is the most common learning disability in American children. Although, scientists cannot pinpoint the percentage of children
According to an independent report by Rose (2009,p.29) “Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling”. This definition has since been used by the British dyslexia association. During my time in attachment one I experienced many provisions taking place to help support Child A to enable them to have equality of opportunity and have an inclusive education, something the Department for Education (2015) SEND code of practice promotes.
Treatment for dyslexia is left up to the parents of the child or the adult living with the condition. Between adults and children needing treatments, many of the same kinds of treatment can take place, but also different treatments and techniques will work depending on the type. Three common types of primary dyslexia consist of dyscalculia, dyspraxia, and auditory dyslexia. Dyscalculia relates to one’s ability to perform math skills and the capability of memorizing sequences. Dyspraxia involves difficulty conducting ordinary motor skills, such as waving goodbye and tying a shoe. Not only does this condition affect one subject of a school day, but it likely troubles countless situations in a typical educational setting in one day. A child has a higher chance of having success if the proper treatment at school and at home is available. Parents of a child with dyslexia should talk to the teachers and make sure programs exist in their children’s day and that it suit’s the dyslexic needs in education. Advice given to parents of the child undergoing the evaluation is to not coach up the child, rather let them show their strengths and weaknesses on their own. Programs that help the child show their strengths and work more on their weaknesses will help the child tremendously. The dyslexics attending school should not use the disability as an excuse for not completing work. Getting
Dyslexia is now a widely accepted condition that is prevalent in many classrooms. However, defining dyslexia is difficult as it can be described as a continuum. Although experts largely agree that dyslexia is identifiable as a developmental difficulty of language learning and cognition (Rose, 2009). Dyslexia can pose a host of difficulties for the child and can make daily activities and school life very challenging. The NCLD (2013) states children with dyslexia may have difficulties with ‘accurate and fluent spelling, accurate and fluent written expression, phonological awareness, memory, verbal processing speed and information processing.’ As teachers it is vital that we are aware of the underlying difficulties as the child’s consistent underachievement can appear on the surface as carelessness and lack of effort (Hodge, 2000). Dyslexia is not only about literacy, although weaknesses in literacy are often the most visible sign, it effects all areas of learning as the ability to read and write sufficiently permeates all areas of learning within the curriculum. ‘Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities’ however, the difficulties posed by having dyslexia can affect a child’s ability to learn (Rose, 2009). Every child has the right to succeed and so the teacher must strive to provide the key for learning and implement effective interventions which develop the child’s literacy skills and help them reach their full potential (DCSF, 2007; DfES, 2004).
According to dyslexic researchers, Emma Sumner, Vincent Connelly, and Anna L. Barnett dyslexia shows it itself via, “ …significant difficulties with acquiring orthographic knowledge and [children with dyslexia] show poor phonological skills” (Sumner, Connelly, and Barnett, 2013). Owen Barden, another dyslexia researcher states, “Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty which mainly affects the development of literacy and language related skills… It is characterized by difficulties with phonological processing, rapid naming, working memory, processing speed, and the automatic development of skills that may not match up to an individual’s other cognitive abilities” (Barden, 2014). Finally, according to the International Dyslexia Association the formal definition of dyslexia is, “Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction” (International Dyslexia Association). Another definition for dyslexia, according to Emma Sumner et la, dyslexic researchers, is, “ Children with dyslexia have significant