grandmab
08-20-2009, 11:54 PM
My 13 year old grandson has dyslexia. Did you know that approximately 80% of prison inmates are reported to be functionally illiterate. You may think that dyslexia can be outgrown. This is perhaps the one of the most damaging myth. “The majority of students who get identified with learning disorders get identified between the ages of 11 and 17," says Robert Pasternack, assistant secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. "And that's too late." They can still learn to read, but it will always be a struggle.
This is not to say that dyslexics can't succeed despite their disability. Perhaps because their brains are wired differently, dyslexics are often skilled problem solvers, coming at solutions from novel or surprising angles and making conceptual leaps that leave tunnel-vision, step-by-step sequential thinkers in the dust. But it needs to be caught early. Our struggle was that we could not get the school to test Chris. We were told there was really no such thing as dyslexia and it certainly wasn’t a disability.
According to Frank Wood, a professor of neurology at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., new research shows that children with dyslexia are more likely than nondyslexics to drop out of school, withdraw from friends and family or attempt suicide. (Times Magazine).
Dyslexia is a type of learning disability in which a child has difficulty learning to read and understand written language. Even kids with average or above-average intelligence, plenty of motivation, and ample opportunities to read can have dyslexia. Because kids with dyslexia have trouble making the basic connection between letters and their sounds, they often also have difficulty with spelling, writing, and speaking. With the proper instruction and assistance, a child with dyslexia can learn to read, thrive in school, and succeed in the workforce. But it's important for the child to be diagnosed as early as possible and to promptly get any needed support and assistance.
Research now shows that dyslexia occurs because of the way that the brain is formed and how it processes the information it receives. People with dyslexia process information in a different part of the brain than people without dyslexia do. These children did not ask to be born this was but it is our responsibility to ensure that they get the help that they need. It is the responsibility of the parents, schools, state government and federal government. These are truly children left behind.
In the United States, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a child with dyslexia is legally entitled to special help in public schools to accommodate the dyslexia, such as extra time for tests or homework or help with taking notes. In many schools this is not happening. The parents are told that the child is too young to be diagnosised or that dyslexia is not a disability. (Above is as per Nemours Dyslexia Foundation.)
We don’t want these children just passed on we want them to learn!
This is not to say that dyslexics can't succeed despite their disability. Perhaps because their brains are wired differently, dyslexics are often skilled problem solvers, coming at solutions from novel or surprising angles and making conceptual leaps that leave tunnel-vision, step-by-step sequential thinkers in the dust. But it needs to be caught early. Our struggle was that we could not get the school to test Chris. We were told there was really no such thing as dyslexia and it certainly wasn’t a disability.
According to Frank Wood, a professor of neurology at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., new research shows that children with dyslexia are more likely than nondyslexics to drop out of school, withdraw from friends and family or attempt suicide. (Times Magazine).
Dyslexia is a type of learning disability in which a child has difficulty learning to read and understand written language. Even kids with average or above-average intelligence, plenty of motivation, and ample opportunities to read can have dyslexia. Because kids with dyslexia have trouble making the basic connection between letters and their sounds, they often also have difficulty with spelling, writing, and speaking. With the proper instruction and assistance, a child with dyslexia can learn to read, thrive in school, and succeed in the workforce. But it's important for the child to be diagnosed as early as possible and to promptly get any needed support and assistance.
Research now shows that dyslexia occurs because of the way that the brain is formed and how it processes the information it receives. People with dyslexia process information in a different part of the brain than people without dyslexia do. These children did not ask to be born this was but it is our responsibility to ensure that they get the help that they need. It is the responsibility of the parents, schools, state government and federal government. These are truly children left behind.
In the United States, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a child with dyslexia is legally entitled to special help in public schools to accommodate the dyslexia, such as extra time for tests or homework or help with taking notes. In many schools this is not happening. The parents are told that the child is too young to be diagnosised or that dyslexia is not a disability. (Above is as per Nemours Dyslexia Foundation.)
We don’t want these children just passed on we want them to learn!