People with dyslexia have difficulty reading letters and words but it’s a learning disability that has nothing to do with their intelligence. Even though it is misunderstood and thus largely misdiagnosed as well, dyslexia is a very common problem in today’s kids and adults. Approximately, 15% of people in the world have dyslexia and, although the degree may vary from mild to severe, it still affects their life to a huge extent. Psychotherapist Umanga Jung Parakram Shah from Nepal Academy of Psychology talks about the need to address this issue. He points out that not many even know the signs and symptoms of this condition and maybe awareness is where we should start.
Is there a way to identify dyslexia?
The thing a dyslexic person struggles with the most is decoding and writing language. So you have to be mindful of these two basic things. A dyslexic person also has low phonemic awareness and has problems pronouncing even mildly difficult or confusing words and this is something that is apparent since childhood. So if your child has problems with schoolwork, it is highly recommended that you get the child examined by an expert. It may not always be dyslexia. It could be other similar problems like ADHD, visual motor deficit, autism, dysgraphia, etc. But only when a condition is rightly diagnosed, is it easier to deal with.
'Dyslexia is not a disease; it’s a condition'
How does dyslexia affect your life?
The world puts a lot of emphasis on educational learning and for someone with dyslexia, navigating this is a tough task. They have problems with normal reading, writing and using language properly. It can be corrected if diagnosed at an early age but, more often than not, people get diagnosed with dyslexia very late in life and their life gets very problematic because of it. Although it is still treatable, it is better if someone is diagnosed with it as early as possible. If not tackled early on, dyslexia can lead to low self esteem, problems in navigating locations and directions, learning standard social skills and, in the worst case scenarios, even depression.
How can someone who is dyslexic learn to deal with the condition?
The first thing to do is to recognize and accept the condition. This is where you need to start. You need to understand the condition and accept the fact that it’s going to be a part of your entire life. What one shouldn’t do is be limited by the condition. There are ways you can work around it and lead a perfectly good life. And being dyslexic doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you. Your brain just perceives language a bit differently than most people. You will have to learn to look at it positively. Perceiving language differently can come in handy because it helps you think differently and your problem solving skills will most likely be better than others.
What can teachers and parents do to help a kid who has dyslexia?
The biggest help a dyslexic can get from their parents and teachers would be an understanding of their condition. If other people understand what dyslexia is and not pressurize and discriminate a dyslexic person, then he/she could deal with the condition much better. If you are a teacher and have kids with dyslexia in your class then try different physical or digital methods of explaining a topic to the class rather than just sticking to the book description. Parents can buy educational toys and other such activity based learning materials for their kids. There are also plenty of apps and other forms of digital media that tackle conditions like dyslexia, so you could encourage your child to go through those as well. Also, limit the use of complicated language and long sentences. Keep everything simple. You could buy or create small books, with just three to four pages, and encourage your child to read those. Do not pressurize them into reading a 500-page novel right from the start. Know that they will eventually get there.
When you say treatments, what exactly are those?
There are different methods an expert might use to deal with someone who has dyslexia. We try using visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile (VAKT) method to help them learn better. If they are having trouble decoding something just through sound then they could perceive it through vision, smell, or touch.
The idea here is to try teaching them in both concrete and abstract forms to help them get a good sense of whatever they are learning. At schools, most things are taught abstractly. For example, we know what anger is but everyone’s definition of it differs. In the concrete method, you actually give a fixed example of everything. I could tell you that physical violence is a form of anger and that is more easily understood by dyslexics than the dictionary definition of it.
We also use different manipulatives, which could be anything from blocks to sound effects, to explain things and topics better. Digital media is also very commonly used these days and it has made the treatment of dyslexia a lot easier.
