We teachers sometimes come across children who struggle with reading, writing, and speaking. Such children are dyslexic. Dyslexia is neither a disease nor a sign of poor intelligence or a result of laziness. It is a disability in learning to read and write. Thanks to movie Taare Zameen Par" people are becoming aware about Dyslexia. Many well known celebrities like Tom Cruise (Hollywood Actor),John F.Kennedy (President of U.S.A),Pablo Picasso(painter),Agatha Christie(Novelist) and Abhishek Bachchan (BollyWood Actor) had dyslexia during their childhood ,which they overcame and become world famous.
Dyslexia children are unable to perform well in academics even through their I.Q is high. Learning disabilities are often accompanied by emotional and behavioural problems due to peer or parental pressures .Boys are 4-5 times more prone to have dyslexia than girls .A child who is suffering from dyslexia always complaints "I don’t get enough time to copy. I try hard but get lost from the black board .Can't read in cursive , can't see the words on white board. Sometimes I see words twice .I make lot of mistakes .I feel comfortable in Dyslexia group because teacher writes on blue black board and children are not fast in reading and writing."
We can notice dyslexia from the following symptoms:
- Delayed speech ,trouble in memorizing numbers and address when they are in Pre -School.
- Slow writing , letter or number reversal example(for 21 they read 12),terrible spelling , find difficult to use the correct word while speaking at Elementary School level.
- Symptoms continue if the problem is not taken care of in the beginning. Such children read going to school, have limited vocabulary ,poor expression , poor grades .
Adults are slow readers, read a page 2 or 3 times to understand and have terrible spelling . Dyslexia is either inherited from parents or is due to hearing problem at the young age .It is caused by malfunction of a certain area in the brain which is concerned with language . Such children are advised to visit a psychologist who tests them on 3 parameters:-
- Vision, hearing and neurological evaluation. .
- Psychological assessment.
- Educational skills .
Parents should adopt the following techniques if the dyslexia is mild:-
Slow the speed of the lectures.
1.For a new concept, write down the key word or show a picture or ask questions.
2.Do not grade his spelling test.;Preferably provide reading material on Audio tapes.
3. For a new concept, write down the keyword or show a picture or ask questions.
It impossible to deal with severely dyslexic children without parents cooperation. Parents should acknowledge their child's disability to learning .Praise him, reward his progress display , his work at home and do not impose home work. The silver lining is such children are good in curricular activities .It is better to push them in the field they are interested. 