What Can Be Done (2) - Bring out the strengths...

 6.Weakness Vs Strengths: It is very easy to make a list of weaknesses which the child has, but we need to focus on the bright side. What is the child good at? Singing? Dancing? Painting? Does he/she have a mechanical ability? Is the child creative? Once your child’s talents and strengths come to the fore, it will be easier to just think of what can be done with those talents, as opposed to worrying about his lack of writing skills or counting ability. These accomplishments will also help boost the child’s self image and self esteem.

 7.Change the methodology: It has been proven that they are intelligent children with lots of potential. We need to change the teaching methodology in order to utilize their potential to the maximum. The traditional methods of teaching and education are very inconsistent and at times, even barbaric, for such children. They lose interest very fast and become discouraged at the lack of results. Even with a high IQ, dyslexic children fail to cope up with the demands of a traditional classroom and testing system and fall further behind in the rat race. Studies have shown that dyslexic children use four times as much lactic acid in the sound processing portion of the brain as compared to normal children. This shows they have to exert four times the normal effort to read, as compared to normal reader. We need to go in for a remedial or alternate system of education, which employs the maximum use of colorful presentations, web chats, smart phones, computers, televisions, e-chats etc. These technology-aided methods are sorely needed to make the process of education easier and interesting for dyslexic children. 

 8.Create a support group or system: Support systems have been around for a long time. They should not be viewed in the negative sense. The family which has a dyslexic child should try and create a group of close friends and families from their immediate neighborhood or similar social circles and inform and educate them about dyslexia. But before doing this, the sensitivity level of the individuals participating in the social group must be evaluated. An insensitive person or someone with misguided zeal may do more harm than good. Other than support, these groups also offer a close bonding ground for the children, whose social skills are already rusty. The group contributes towards the social, moral and all-round upbringing of the child and therefore, is a valuable asset.

 9. The child should not be left behind in terms of knowledge and information:

The main consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge of the child – that should not happen. With all the other sources and methods, we need to ensure that part. They might just surprise you with their grasping powers and ingenuity.

 10. Support

·         Sensitive society &school

·         Understands the child

·         Proper guidance

·         Protects child’s self –esteem

·         Opportunity should be equal

·         Right to be in normal schools/Remedial education

·         Treatment or Therapies

"Stupid or dumb"?!

Myths Surrounding Dyslexia

‘People with dyslexia are stupid or dumb.’ No. In fact, mounting evidence shows that many people with dyslexia are highly creative, out of the box thinkers and extremely intelligent. That helps explain the long list of entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists, actors, doctors and lawyers who have excelled despite, or perhaps because of, their affliction. Neuro-imaging studies demonstrate that the dyslexic brain really does things differently. The second, very peculiar myth about dyslexics is that they have vision problems. That is also untrue.

People with dyslexia

We have a long list of successful people who were afflicted, or rather, blessed with dyslexia, who went on to become famous in their own right. People like Archer Mortin, Tom Cruise, Pierre Curie, Michael Faraday, Albert Einstein, Muhammad Ali, Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, William Hewlett etc. This list can go on and on, and one of these leaders has said, "I frankly think dyslexia is a gift. If you are supported in school and your ego remains intact, then you emerge with a strong work ethic and a different view of the world." Truer words were never spoken.

I was trying to look for people from India who have embraced their dyslexia and achieved success. There are 1.27 billion people living in this country (according to the latest census report) and I still couldn’t manage to meet a single person with dyslexia. What a crying shame! As per official records, more children are attending school now, as compared to the last decade. In a developing country like India, what exactly are we developing? Around 17% of school children today suffer from one or the other learning disability, and out of those, 3-6% are dyslexic. Where are these children?  Or, do we really not have any dyslexic in this country or they have been killed/crushed? How are they handling this conservative society? There is a big WHERE and How in this question which needs to be answered.