Give them roots and wings

Samuel learnt to talk very late. Even at age two, he was still speaking in single words, and tends to call me “papa” instead of “ma ma”. I stopped work some years back primarily for him, because his inability to read at age 4 started to worry me.

It worried me because we did read a lot to him, but he was not interested in printed words, and did not like to sing (he merely hums). He also exhibited difficulties in speaking fluently, and mimicking speech. Anything I taught him was forgotten nearly in the next instant. He was bright and engaging in all ways, but could not speak, read, or write well.

But it was not until this year, after three years of struggling to teach him, that I confirmed my suspicions – Samuel IS dyslexic. It is always satisfactory to finally find out the reason for certain behaviours, but what caused me greater relief was that I also found the remedial method at the same time (blessings of God come in many forms).

I will share more about Samuel another time, but I want to share some things about Dyslexia which I found out along the way.

When I talk to people about Dyslexia, they always think of letter reversals, i.e. b vs d, and p vs q, and the mirror images of ‘3’ and ‘S’. But the condition is much more complex than that.

I came across this list of Cognitive weaknesses for a Dyslexic child which I found particularly informative and useful:-

1. Difficulties with phonemic awareness, which is the ability to break down and manipulate the small units of sound in words, such as the three separate sounds for the “c”, “a”, “t” in the word “cat”.
2. Problems with word retrieval or rapid automatic naming, which is the time it takes for a verbal response to a visual stimulus or cue, such as quickly saying the names of letters printed on a chart of names of objects when a picture is shown.
3. Poor digit span, which is the ability to store a short sequence of letters or numbers in short-term memory.
4. Difficulties with sequencing or concepts of order. [i.e. before/after]
5. Visual perceptual confusion, such as the inability to distinguish letters such as “b” and “d”, or perceiving letters out of order, such as confusing “was” and “saw”, or “from” and “form”.

(“When your child has Dyslexia”, Abigail Marshall, Adams Media)

I liked this list because I could immediately recognise some of the problems which Samuel struggled with, and as I learn more about the subject, they also helped me to identify solutions to his problems.

Samuel has some difficulty with phonemic awareness but it is not very serious. He was slow in recognising rhymes but by about 6, he was able to rhyme. He had serious problems with rapid automatic naming and digit span, or short-term memory. Up till very recently, he was struggling with these two, and they were the main cause of his inability to learn.

He has difficulties with sequencing, but it is getting better, as he matures cognitively. He has some problem with visual perceptual confusion, in particular with “b” and “d”. Although it is not very severe, just confusing “b” and “d” creates sufficient problems for him in reading and spelling.

After some intervention, things have greatly improved for Samuel. He has now acquired some fluency in his reading, his ability to retain information is much stronger (so his learning is much smoother), and most importantly, he is now motivated to learn because he is finally seeing some success.

Although it is still not too late for Samuel, I wish I had known more about Dyslexia, and also found the intervention method earlier on. Now I want to do my part in helping as many people (children, youths, adults) as I can who have Dyslexia and are feeling hopeless or stupid. Dyslexics are not stupid or lazy. They simply have a brain condition and it can be overcome.

Now whenever I have a chance, I will share with my friends about Dyslexia, try to do some informal diagnosis of their children or friends’ children’s condition, and encourage them to get the child tested and consider special education. I hope to also share more about Dyslexia on this blog as I learn more about it.

Why do I do this? If you are a mother, you would know how it pains your heart, to see your child live as Sisyphus did, always trying, but never succeeding. You would also know how it feels when you finally find a way to help your child, and you see that lovely smile on his/her face, because finally, he can do it.

I went through both, and I do not want anyone else to be stuck in that dark tunnel now that I know that there is a way out.

So if what I wrote on this post sounds familiar to you, and you suspect that someone whom you know is Dyslexic, do something to help him/her. The condition can be overcome.

In case you didn’t know,
Albert Einstein was Dyslexic