I love being dyslexic. I can
rearrange a room in my head all day long, just moving stuff around without
having to scratch the floors to see if things fit. I can re-watch a movie in my head or reread a
great book.
My dyslexia is where my
creativity gets to play and explore new options.
Dyslexia
is just another way of processing, or learning.
It has had such a bad rap for so long and I think it is because of the
school system. History continues to
provide data that educating a varied population in one uniform way is not only
illogical, but detrimental because “individuality” is too large of a variable
to effectively mainstream. We dyslexics
are outnumbered and therefore most of the time our processing “needs” are not
incorporated into the educational format.
The school system does not have the luxury of time to incorporate that
into every subject every day.
We simply need more time and
ways to expand on ideas and for repeated practice.
Dyslexics
are not dysfunctional in that it is not a mental disorder that can be corrected
effectively with medication (I say
effectively because medications can do everything and anything, but is it
always necessary? Medication for
dyslexia in a school environment appears effective because it is altering in
order to conform to a standard processing style.) Here is where I could insert all the
brilliant people who were and are dyslexics and have changed history….You can
do your own research. To this I say,
“See! The public school system is
dysfunctional, not all these brilliant people!”
“Dyslexia is neurologically
based but its treatment must be educational” (Virginia Berninger, 2009)
Indeed
brain scans have shown that the dyslexic brain is different. Sally Sahwitz is the leading “expert” in
dyslexia at Yale and you should definitely check out her research about "transforming dyslexia from a liability to an asset". If you like to turn pages and highlight, then read her book!
Another favorite author is Virginia Berninger. For you speed readers, here's what her book says about dyslexia and how to remediate difficulties associated with it:
·
There
is a basic, foundational “insensitivity to the sound structure of
language” coupled with a faulty retrieval system (95)
o
You
need to draw attention to the sounds of language, at least 15 minutes each day
by:
1.
Playing
rhyme games in order to recognize that words have parts
2.
Comparing
sounds in different words
3.
Pulling
words apart, changing the beginning or ending sounds (175)
o
You
need to work with words by segmenting and blending syllable groups by:
1.
Comparing
and matching sounds in different words
2.
Pulling
words apart by requiring segmentation
3.
Writing
the sounds (associate the sound with the letter, not “what letter makes this
sound”….because one letter may make many different sounds!)
o
PRACTICE
is what will create the neural circuits to remediate the phonological weakness
§ Since the neural pathways
are amiss---instruction must be relentless and amplified in every way
possible in order to penetrate and take hold (256)
If
you want more information on dyslexia:
** Notes in blog above are from this book!
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.