There are too many people with dyslexia that have needlessly suffered. Dyslexic children feel isolated and different at an early age. As they grow older, they learn to hide their differences in many creative ways. Many submerge into themselves to avoid calling attention to their differences.
Then other children, and even some adults, may label them as stupid when they are intelligent. More aggressive peers may bully them for being different. Many submerge into themselves to avoid calling attention to their differences.
Dyslexia doesn’t go away as dyslexics enter adulthood. Hopefully, thoughtful instruction has led to great reading skills and tools to overcome the other dimensions of dyslexia. But the pain is usually there in some form for a lifetime.
What a shame! If family members and teachers devoted as much time to emotionally supporting dyslexic children as they do to reading skills, dyslexics could have avoided a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety.
Children and adults with dyslexia are some of the most courageous people in the world. It takes a huge amount of energy to deal with the many dimensions of dyslexia. Dyslexics not only have to learn phonics or other reading techniques. They have to develop personal techniques to help them consistently follow written directions, overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles with solving math problems, and grow planning skills while not understanding the concept of time.
Dyslexics also have gifts which often go unused because of the ever-present pain and need to divert attention from their differences. What a waste!
We need to do everything we can to emotionally support people with dyslexia, no matter where they are in life. We could use the unique perspective that dyslexic people provide to solve the problems we face.
Dan is author of the Loving Your Dyslexic: A Heart-to-Heart Discussion of How to Help Children and Adults with Dyslexia
