By Bonita Wilborn
In addition to October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, it is also Dyslexia Awareness month, as designated by the Alabama State Board of Education, as was stated in a memorandum to County and City Superintendents of Education, from Eric G Mackey, State Superintendent of Education.
Dyslexia is a type of language-based learning disability, which refers to a cluster of symptoms that result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading. Dyslexia is the most common cause for reading, writing, and spelling difficulties. According to current statistics, 1 in 5 students are affected by Dyslexia. That’s a staggering 20% of the population.
Students with Dyslexia often experience difficulties with both oral and written language skills, such as writing and pronouncing words. Dyslexia affects individuals throughout their lives; however, its impact can change at different stages in a person’s life.
Dyslexia is referred to as a learning disability because it can make it very difficult for a student to succeed without phonics-based reading instruction that is unavailable in most public schools. In its more severe forms, a student with Dyslexia may qualify for special education with specially designed instruction and accommodations.
The exact causes of Dyslexia are still not completely clear, but studies show differences in the way the brain of a person with Dyslexia develops and functions. Dyslexia is neurobiological and genetic, meaning that individuals inherit the genetic links for Dyslexia. Chances are that one of the child’s parents, grandparents, aunts, or uncles was affected by Dyslexia.
Dyslexia is not a disease, and there is no cure for Dyslexia, but it can be treated. With proper diagnosis, appropriate instruction, hard work, and support from family, teachers, friends, and others, individuals who have Dyslexia can succeed in school and later as working adults. Dyslexia is not due to either lack of intelligence or desire to learn. With appropriate teaching methods, individuals with Dyslexia can learn successfully.
The impact that Dyslexia has is different for each person and depends on the severity of the condition and the effectiveness of instruction. Some individuals with Dyslexia manage to learn early reading and spelling tasks, but later experience their most challenging problems when more complex language skills are required, such as grammar, understanding textbook material, and writing essays.
People with Dyslexia can also have problems with spoken language and may find it difficult to express themselves clearly or comprehend what others mean when they speak. Dyslexia can affect a person’s self-image, where students end up feeling less intelligent and less capable than they actually are, and become discouraged about continuing school.
But there is hope! If children who have Dyslexia receive effective phonological awareness and phonics training in Kindergarten and 1st grade, they will have significantly fewer problems in learning to read at grade level than do children who are not identified or helped until 3rd grade or above, who will likely remain poor readers throughout their lives because they do not receive appropriate Structured Literacy instruction with the needed intensity or duration. But with the appropriate instruction, even as adults, people with Dyslexia can learn to read, process, and express information more efficiently.
To begin the process of getting your child, who is possibly suffering from the affects of Dyslexia, diagnosed, there are a few steps you must take. Since the average teacher has not had access to the necessary training to be able to screen the student, and historically there has been little known about the condition, the chances of your child being accessed at their school is slim and none.
However there is a teacher in DeKalb County who has a taken the time to undergo a significant amount of training on Dyslexia.
Christa Sims is the mother of a child who suffered from Dyslexia. She said, “Being an educator myself, I just couldn’t understand why we’d sit for hours every night trying to do homework, but I simply could not help my child understand or be able do well on spelling tests.” Christa taught second grade at Moon Lake Elementary, but because of her personal experience with a child who suffered the affects of Dyslexia, she saw a great need for additional training.
Christa enrolled in a 1-year course from Orton-Gillingham Academy at Greengate School for Dyslexia in Huntsville. After that, she completed a 2-year course in Multi Sensory Structured Language Education. All of that training gained her a Master’s Degree, so she is sufficiently trained to be able to screen a student to access whether he/she exhibits the symptoms of Dyslexia. To receive a diagnosis, she would then refer the student to Greengate or other facilities specifically trained to made a diagnosis.
Christa is hosting a Dyslexia ADD/ADHD Parent Support Group. The first meeting will be October 22 at 6:00pm at the Rainsville Library. For questions or more information contact Christa Sims at 256-605-3106.