So I would like to take a minute to talk about Dyslexia. After reading Maryanne Wolf book, and looking at part three of her novel, "When the Brain Can't Learn to Read." In this section she talks about children with Dyslexia, and the struggle this children have when it comes to reading, and theories and reasons how the brain is effected and different theories on why dyslexia happens....(just in case)....
Dyslexia (according to dictionary.com) Dyslexia is -any of various reading disorders associated with impairment ofthe ability to interpret spatial relationships or to integrate auditoryand visual information.
Dyslexia (according to wikipedia.com) a broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and spell,[1] and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, and/or rapid naming.It is believed that dyslexia can affect between 5 to 10 percent of a given population although there have been no studies to indicate an accurate percentage.
Now I have always had an idea of what dyslexia is. I know of it, but honestly never to the time to look farther in to the cause, or effects of dyslexia. To tell the truth, I felt like it didn't effect me so why should I care. Never even thought about how it could be a part of my classroom, or how I might need to help students who might have it. So when I was reading this section of Wolfs novel I has overwhelmed with all the information that was presented to me. I think however, the hardest thing for me to digest was the the struggle individuals have when they are diagnosed with dyslexia. Jackie Stewart quotes,
"You will never understand what it feels like to be dyslexic. No matter how long you have worked in this area, no matter if your own children are dyslexic, you will never understand what it feels like to be humiliated your entire childhood and taught every day to believe that you will never succeed at anything."
And its so true!! How can you relate to this person? How do you help them? I can't start to comprehend the struggle a student in a classroom might growing up, feeling unequal to his peers, as if he wont succeed. I am going to become an art teacher, so reading really is not a major requirement in my classroom. So how do teachers, that deal with reading, help students with dyslexia? How do you help them succeed without them feeling different from everyone else?? Any ideas?
I think it is just important to let the student with a learning disability know that they are smart and their opinions and ideas a valued in class. These students need to know that we as teachers are more than willing to help the in any way and not to be ashamed to ask for help.
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