I Want People to Understand - Dyslexia Is A Gift Not a Stigma!

       

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Apparently something like one in ten people have dyslexia - irrespective of intelligence or background.

I am a professional mentor, working primarily with senior personnel, (both dyslexic and non-dyslexic) in the corporate sector. It was only after-life saving surgery three years ago that I was provided with the opportunity to start work on a self-help book which would allow me to share my mentoring skills and related information with a far wider audience.

'The Achiever's Journey' is based on my experiences, both during the course of my own life and as a mentor. My intention was to weave into the book the personal philosophy behind my mentoring system, which originated with my parents. Being born dyslexic, dyspraxic, with my feet the wrong way round, and put up for adoption at a month old, meant that by the time my parents adopted me at the age of six weeks they really had their work cut out. They could never have foreseen then that their creative methods of dealing with my learning difficulties would become the basis of my own mentoring career, and later a framework for assisting fellow dyslexics.

I wrote the book for the general public, as a self-help manual, not specifically for dyslexics. Little did I know while writing the book that I was embarking on one of the most amazing journeys of my life.

One of my professional colleagues said I must be out of my mind to admit in my book that I am dyslexic and that it could seriously damage my business...

Questions I was asked: "Do dyslexics read a book from the last page to the first?" "How would one know if you were suffering?! from the condition?" "Is dyslexia brain damage?"

I was totally amazed that so many people had differing ideas on what dyslexia actually is. Then I realized that most people have pre-conceived notions of what a dyslexic is; many of these ideas are incorrect.

Unfortunately many people have the same misunderstanding when it comes to dyslexia. But not only is there is no connection between dyslexia and reduced brain power, there is strong evidence of a link between dyslexia and entrepreneurial abilities. One of Britain's best known and most successful international entrepreneurs, Sir Richard Branson, is dyslexic. And recently a two-year arts project was undertaken by Dyslexia Action UK, to explore the relationship between dyslexia and creativity.

I have always stated that Dyslexia is a gift and not a stigma. In my life I have been affected by the lack of understanding. Two particular incidents stand out, both of which had a great impact on my life. Firstly, in school, when I struggled to spell a word, my teacher said in front of the class, "Are you completely stupid?" I answered that my Mum had told me I definitely wasn't. She replied that as far as she was concerned I definitely was. I was then bullied for months by some children, as a direct result of what she had said. As a young child this really shook my confidence. From then on I withdrew into myself and hardly spoke at all during lessons, in case I got something wrong.

The other incident occurred after I had successfully worked my way up through a large corporation, where I loved my job and got on well with my colleagues. A new director arrived and publicly announced the only downside to his new position was that he had found out the person who had been given the job of inducting him into the company was not only a woman, but even worse, a dyslexic. That person was me. I just had to take it on the chin. Sadly, he used his power to bully me relentlessly, until I finally resigned. This only happened to me once in my entire career, and took place several years ago now. Thankfully these days there are systems in place to help deal with a situation like mine.

After revisiting how dyslexia had affected my life, I finally concluded that dyslexia had never actually been a problem for me. I accept myself exactly as I am; dyslexia only became a problem when misperceived by another.

This leads me to the next surprise: I couldn't understand the sudden unexpected interest in a book that I hadn't even finished, and that no one had seen. But somehow through the jungle telegraph, people I didn't know and had never met, were asking me questions about dyslexia. They had heard of my story and that I had succeeded in life, and were looking for re-assurance that their newly-diagnosed dyslexic child could succeed too, in spite of their dyslexia. I also received interest from fellow dyslexics, who realized that I would probably write the book in a way that would be easier for them to follow and as someone who shared the same difficulties. Others thought they might be dyslexic and wanted to know more.

However, the last experience of this journey of writing the book came when I tried to purchase an interesting book on dyslexia from a large book store, and the member of staff serving me asked if the book was for me. Once he knew it was, he asked in a loud voice (some think you are also deaf if dyslexic) how did I expect to be able to read it if I was dyslexic? He then went on to try and escort me to the audio section of the shop. Once I explained I could read and write, and had in fact just written a book, he apologized. However, as I was still waiting in the queue to pay for my book, he went on to ask, "Do you understand numbers, to be able to put your pin number in?!"

In light of everything I have uncovered during writing the book, I decided to address some of the major issues and also provide useful information. For dyslexics I have created a resource section on "The Achiever's Journey" web site, listing the assistance/information that is available from excellent related organizations. And to help educate the general public about what dyslexia actually is, I have provided (from working with professional dyslexic organizations), simple explanations, and prepared some media information on the subject.

Based on what I have learned, I have also made a conscious decision, that after writing the book my busy schedule in future will include dealing with dyslexia. I have also donated free copies of my books to certain organisations and libraries, to reach those who would benefit from my book, but without the means to purchase it.

After my fascinating life journey so far, I now believe more than ever, Dyslexia is a gift and not a stigma.

Genevieve Dawid is a respected mentor offering dynamic, result-oriented approach to mentoring and personal development. She is the author of The Achievers Journey and writes about her own experiences of living with dyslexia.

Overcoming Dyslexia - One of the Most Common Learning Disabilities

       

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Research studies suggest that as large as 9 per cent of school aged children in the United States alone are suffering from Dyslexia. Some researchers have suggested even 17 per cent. It is understood that problem could be much larger in Europe and non-European countries. It is reported that in countries like the US, Canada, New Zealand and UK, there is lack of proper support and interest in learning disabilities of children in public schools. And in most of the countries, children are struggling with phonics and developmental disorders.

Dyslexia is a neurological or brain based condition. With this condition, there is supposed to be poor communication between the left and right brain hemispheres. It is a specific learning disability whereby elementary school children have reading, writing and spelling difficulties.

The word ?Dyslexia? is composed of two Greek words ? ?Dys? meaning impaired and ?lexis? meaning word. Children suffering from dyslexia are called dyslexic or dyslectic. A dyslexia child is not able to develop reading and writing skills despite normal teaching and sociological environment. Dyslexia is supposed to be both genetic and hereditary.

It is generally believed that dyslectic children are not in any way less intelligent or suffering from sensory problems like poor eyesight, though in some cases they have poor vision also. They could be having all the intellectual and physical abilities, but still be dyslectic. They are motivated, but they are not able to develop enough reading and writing skills as their other classmates.

Though dyslexia affects primarily reading and writing skills, they are also reported to be having speaking and other non-language difficulties. Boys are supposed to be more dyslectic than girls. Dyslexia can range from mild to severe conditions. Some experts are of the view that the term dyslexia should be applied more to children with acute learning problems of about 5 per cent of all dyslectic cases, and ?Reading Disorder? or ?Reading Disability? should generally be applied to most of the other cases.

While understanding dyslexia, it may, however, be noted that poor reading skills are not solely because of dyslexia. These could also be the result of poor teaching methods.

Dyslexia Symptoms

Dyslectic children can be spotted early. While still in their First, Second or Third grades, they may demonstrate speaking difficulties and mixed up sounds and pronunciations. They may not speak letters like R?s, L?s, M?s or N?s properly. In short they lack in speech. They may wrongly pronounce words like ?red and green? as ?wed and green? and the like. They could also be having listening problems.

It is but natural that children with speech and hearing problems can latter be having reading problems as well. They will be lacking awareness regarding smallest units in spoken language or phonetic awareness.

The existence or non-existence of dyslexia is determined by a qualified professional like a neurologist or an educational psychologist by following a proper dyslexia test. The evaluation is designed to test reading, writing, spelling and language skills. In addition, memory, intelligence, hearing and vision tests may also be conducted. Generally, dyslectic children are characterized with the following:

?Reading, writing and spelling deficiencies as compared to their peers, in spite of having normal intelligence and oral language. In some cases, there could also be oral language and talking difficulties:

?Despite having average, above average or excellent intelligence, they will fall short of academic achievement in areas like pronunciation, vocabulary, alphabets, concepts, poor handwriting etc. They may not be able to differentiate between letters and symbols:

?They could be having behavioral problems and can be lazy, dumb, careless, withdrawing, non-participative, non-caring and simply na?ve:

?Dialectics can easily feel frustrated, angry, emotional and repulsive in the face of school or household chores:

?They may suffer from inferiority complex and will be lacking self-esteem. This may lead them to underachieve in academics and in society at large.

?They will try to indulge in other activities like sports, music, art, drama, machines, sales, business, community work etc. in order to hide their poor reading abilities. But all the time, they carry a negative image of their academics:

?They may be inattentive in schools, absentminded, lost, and incoherent and out of line with school curriculum in general. They may also indulge in anti social behavior. Reading and comprehension tests in schools may also cause problems. These problems can occur more because of visual impairment and

?They fail to follow directions.

Dyslexia Treatment

It is generally believed that there is no ultimate and permanent cure for dyslexia. Since their skills are vastly different than the majority of children, the primary responsibility for correcting their learning deficiencies rests on them. They have to apply themselves though conditions will have to be created for facilitating their tasks. They have to learn appropriate learning strategies.

Dyslexia can be considerably tackled with proper therapy, training and equipment. If dialectic disabilities are not tackled properly by age 12, those children may never obtain a positive self-image. They may completely drop out of school. Therefore, it is important that dyslectic conditions are recognized and addressed to at a very early childhood age.

Educational one to one tutoring is considered to be the most effective treatment for dyslexia. Here the stress should be on building phonetic decoding skills. This often involves breaking words into their basic sounds and rearranging these sounds to produce different words. This can improve their reading decoding skills.

Another treatment can be through molding tutorial lessons appropriately by developing modules and other software. In fact, there are lot of aids and software available in the market for correcting dyslectic conditions.

It is suggested that musical training can also aid in remedying dyslexia.

Though in severe cases of disruptive behavior from dyslectic children, medication is prescribed, it is the dyslectic or learning disabilities that need to be tackled in the first instance.

Following measures can also be undertaken in addition to the above:

?It should be tackled jointly by parents, teachers and experts:

?Experiences in different countries and schools should to be shared:

?It is extremely important that a dyslexia child is closely associated and his cooperation sufficiently obtained:

?Dialectics need a lot of psychological attention, understanding and guidance:

?Proper attention has to be paid to teaching, to make it structured, cumulative and systematic: and

?Extra reading will also help a child to fight dyslexia.

Many charitable organizations around the world have also come forward to lend support in tackling dyslexia by funding, training and equipment.

Lot of research has been done internationally on the subject. International Dyslexia Association has also been in the forefront of dyslexia treatment.

A very exhaustive resource relating to the study of dyslexia, dyslexia symptoms and methods of overcoming dyslexia can be found at http://www.businesses-jobs-careers.com/dyslexia.html