Undiagnosed Learning Disability – Dyslexia

I would like to share my personal experience of it with you about my time in school.  Truth be told, I HATED it! I hated school because I was a struggling student with an undiagnosed learning disability, (most likely dyslexia). I was in the lowest reading group, and awful at math- it took forever for me to learn my math facts, and let’s not talk about multi-step math problems.  My teachers would always tell my mom during parent/teacher’s conferences how smart and capable I was, but that I needed to apply myself more.  I tried applying myself, but school was different when I was younger.  There were not as many resources as today, and I never got the help I needed.

Fortunately, today, there are a ton of resources out there, and your child does not have to struggle as I did. The information we have about dyslexia and other learning disabilities today compared to when I was an elementary student is plentiful. 

In fact, I recently learned that one in five children is dyslexic- Woah! Who knew?!  According to Made by Dyslexia, a global charity led by a cohort of celebrities and individuals with dyslexia, 10-20% of the world’s population has dyslexia and can be identified as early as preschool. 

The good news is, that having dyslexia does not mean you’re not smart. All it means is the dyslexic person’s brain processes information differently than the non-dyslexic person. The other good news is that having dyslexia doesn’t mean your child will never learn to read.  It just means that your child needs a different way to be taught to read.

If you have concerns that your child may be dyslexic, here’s a list of dyslexic indicators:

• Struggles with manipulating and holding onto sounds and words, which make reading and spelling difficult
• Difficulty with verbal memory and following multiple-step instructions
• Executive functioning challenges-such as, concentration, and sequential tasks
• Difficulty with math operations
• Struggles with memorization
• Requires more time to process thoughts and complete tasks
• Does not have test scores or grades that reflect the knowledge of what was learned

Does this sound familiar?  If so, reach out to see if one of the talented reading teachers at Dolphin Reading could help. Your child doesn’t have to struggle.