"If you work hard, you'll learn..."!

Don’ts:-

•    Don’t use words like “If you work hard you will learn.” Among dyslexics who succeed, Dr. Shaywitz says many dyslexics give up their social lives and everything else to spend more hours studying. They are very bright, but they are terribly anxious and think, 'I've just been fooling everybody.” This is not right.
•    Dyslexic children have been hounded because of their failure at school, and further failures arouse such strong emotions and feelings in them that the brain’s normal systems are simply unable to cope with the stress and become overwhelmed. This taxes the brain’s normal functioning ability and may pose a danger to the child’s overall development.
•     Don’t demoralize them.
•   Don’t pressurize them into learning, reading and writing. “You have to come first in class” is probably the worst thing you can say to a dyslexic child.
•    Don’t blame the child for not understanding something in class or at home. The child is not at fault. The learning difficulty is such that certain things skim over the child’s mind entirely.
•     Don’t exclude the child from normal social life or intellectual discussions. Let him/her be as much a part of those activities as you are.
•     Don’t underestimate the child’s potential. You never know how the child is going to blossom.
•    Don’t send him/her to schools meant for mentally retarded children or special school. Your child is not mentally retarded, only dyslexic.

My alphabets have become very naughty...

Here are some common symptoms of dyslexia:

“My alphabets have become very naughty. They are flying all around. My “c” becomes a rabbit hiding in the bushes, “a” is standing upside down, and “t” has become a cloud hanging in the sky.” 

Just think about what goes on in the mind of a little child who has been asked to write sentences, but all she sees are dancing and hopping alphabets.

• The child is unwilling to go to school and has constant difficulties in keeping up with the class.
• The child may be too quiet or he/she will act up to either distract the teacher or get attention from other children.
• There is a marked discrepancy between the child’s apparent intelligence and his/her achievement in reading and spelling.
• Difficulties with spelling, visual tracking and confusion between left and right.
• Difficulties in copying from the board, following simple instructions and reading and comprehension.
• Trouble with organizing and writing thoughts and ideas.
• Difficulties in multi-instructions & multi-tasking.
• Poor grammar, handwriting and weak memory.
• Difficulty in verbalizing short or long words, weak vocabulary (at least initially) and delayed spoken language.
• Possible difficulty with mathematics (though not necessarily)
• Additional diagnosis of ADD/ADHD in some cases.