Struggling with Dyslexia - little stories through the eyes of a child
By Elfi Koufogeorgou and Youlina Douska MEd Special Educational needs Post.DImploma in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Original published in greek http://www.themamagers.gr/dyslexia-dyskolevomoun-poly-alla-den-ithela-na-stenochoriso-ti-mama-mou/
Translation from Greek by Debbie Georgiou
I remember that classmate of mine in the 6th grade, who used to read very slowly, and the rest of us giggling and saying to each other “he can’t even read!”.
He also used to weigh a little more than average, so he had the “honour” of being labelled both stupid and fat.
I remember him and I want to tell him I’m sorry, but I have no idea where he is or how he is doing. I only hope he is well and leading a happy life far away from such labels.
When the teacher asked him to read, he would do so as a little kid from the 1st or 2nd grade. Slowly, often incomprehensibly, and making many mistakes. Almost always, after two or three sentences, the teacher would ask somebody else to continue; somebody who, confident for not having the same problem, would read fast. The teacher had to go on with the lesson and didn’t have time for my classmate who was a slow reader. This is the way the system works: if somebody is different there is no time at school for the teacher to do anything. We have to stick to the schedule…
Most probably that classmate of mine had dyslexia.
Fortunately, thanks to studies that have been conducted and since it is widely accepted by now that every person is different and has a different learning ability, and since there are people willing to deal with this, it is now clear that a child with dyslexia can make a progress and be happy and positive at school as long as he/she is properly supported and lives in a pleasant and supportive environment that the family members and loved ones have created.
But what is dyslexia?
General characteristics
Difficulty in organising and classifying information, difficulty in learning sequences (days, months, seasons, multiplication table), impulsive answers, immature behaviour, disorder in personal space, stress and tension, weak memory, clumsiness, difficulty in writing dictation/copying from the board (they take a longer time than the rest of the class), difficulty in orientation and distinguishing between left and right.
Difficulty in reading
It takes them longer to learn how to read due to a difficulty in phonological awareness. They cannot make the connection between the image and the sound of a letter. They confuse letters that resemble each other, visually or phonologically (eg. b/d), they mirror read or they substitute words with their synonyms. They don’t use voice intonation, they have a poor text understanding, which is why they avoid reading literature, they don’t pay attention to punctuation and they lose track of where they are in a text while reading.
Difficulty in writing and spelling
They omit letters or syllables, they add others where there is no need, they substitute letters with others that sound the same (as they do when they read), they don’t accentuate, they don’t use punctuation, they don’t use capital letters, they don’t keep the right spaces between words, they have poor handwriting, they lack a sense of sequence of time, they make mistakes even in the most simple word endings even though they know the grammar rules if you ask them, they have a limited vocabulary whereas they are capable of expressing themselves better orally, they don’t generalise any rules and they have trouble learning thematic spelling.
Official diagnosis is possible through public hospitals or KEEDY (evaluation centres per region in Greece). Waiting can last up to two years and leads many parents to visit private centres and specialist teachers to get a diagnosis faster, and therefore to be able to intervene earlier.
The first session includes a full background check of the child and of both parents, as well as a discussion regarding the difficulties that the child is facing. We always ask if the child has also been referred by the teacher, because it is common that the parents notice something before the teacher…
In one or two sessions, the child takes various weighted diagnostic tests and IQ tests to fully identify the difficulties and plan the intervention programme.
If the child gets immediately a programme to follow, this entails at least two hours a week with a specialist teacher and another two with a child psychologist.
The age for referral is on average from 7/8 years old and above (second/third grade).
The parents don’t get a diagnosis earlier than that, but the specialists may mention dyslexia elements and preventative intervention. This very often holds back the progress of the child because the parents don’t proceed with the intervention sooner…
Until we reach this point, the children have been through difficult times and are frustrated. They have low self-esteem, think that they are stupid and that they cannot accomplish anything no matter how much they try. They tend to become introverts or develop delinquent behaviour. The parents are patient at first but as they see their child lagging academically they get frustrated, lose their patience, they ask the teacher what to do and they increase the study volume, which is devastating for the child.
If, and when, finally and thanks to the diagnosis, the problem acquires a name and a way to deal with it, the specialist becomes the person who will solve everything. From helping the child with the homework, giving instructions to the parents and making remorseful thoughts go away, to organising the family’s everyday life from the start and bringing balance back to the disturbed relationships.
The parents feel safer because they are aware of the long and medium term goals and the things to work on are now concrete. It is difficult for the specialist to win both parents. But this is the key to the success of the programme. Every parent will put their child above all else and as soon as the intervention shows results they will become easier to work with.
My experience as a specialist has shown that, at first, the children are under the impression that the specialist teacher is just another teacher who will add a load of words, reading, boring arithmetic and learning by heart, and they don’t always react positively. They might be willing to work but they don’t let you get close to them. They are afraid to answer in case they make a mistake, they are shy and don’t open up unless the relationship with the specialist is established. Little by little and always aiming at reinforcing first their self-confidence, we work in every area of difficulty with the right techniques. The children start to show signs of improvement, they are happy when we have a lesson, they make drawings for me, they tell me what’s new at their school and they share concerns and problems they have with parents and friends.
Two short stories explain how a child can get help in practice
1. “A kid who didn’t want to go to school, now wants to study Chemistry”
Let’s call him Α. I met him when he was at the second grade. His mum called me because the kid didn’t want to go back to school, to hold a pencil and read. He had had a difficult schoolyear with a demanding teacher and a lot of disappointments. He had difficulties with everything and, as he told me, he was feeling his head spin and the letters were dancing every time he tried to read. When I went there he wasn’t happy, he thought “here’s another one who will give me homework and will make me read”, as he told me a while later…
“But madam it wasn’t like that, we were playing with the letters, we were making them out of modelling clay, we were cutting the difficult words while reading, we read lists with almost similar words, we made posters with grammar rules, we draw pictures on top of the difficult letters so that I can remember the spelling, we were writing with many colours, we did jigsaw puzzles and handcrafts and I was at last happy. I learned a little how to read and spell, I like History and experiments, and now with my tablet I can write large texts with the spell checker and I am not ashamed to present them.”
He is in the fifth grade now, almost excellent at reading and writing, and above all confident and he wants to study Chemistry. A child who at the age of 8 didn’t want to go back to school…
2. “It was really difficult for me, but I didn’t want to upset my mum”
Κ. is third grade pupil and his teacher noticed that he couldn’t read even the simple instructions of the exercises in the language book. He was bad at spelling, didn’t participate in class a lot, but he was good in math and music. After his assessment, both by a public body and by me, we began with the intervention. He was very easy to work with.
“I knew many things were difficult for me, but I didn’t want to upset my mum. I try to understand what the text is saying, but I get tired from reading the words and then I forget what I have read. I also don’t remember how the words are spelled. When I write down my ideas I want to feel free and not to have to think of all the letters and the signs (punctuation marks) and where to put them. I don’t participate in class because I don’t remember the details. Even though I read them many times yesterday, I don’t remember the correct order in which things happened.” “During the lesson with the specialist I read lyrics! It’s nice to learn both how to read and nice songs at the same time.
For every written composition, I draw the subject first and this way I put the things I want to write in order.
I like keeping a journal and writing freely without having to care about anything, but also for the school subjects now I check the things I have written and I add what is missing or I make corrections. I still have trouble with the rules, but I will learn them little by little. To learn History better, I watch videos and I have learned to make an outline with the most important things. If the teacher asks, I know that I can look at my paper, so now I raise my hand to answer.”
teacher asks, I know that I can look at my paper, so now I raise my hand to answer.”