Are You Dyslexic? Is Your Child?
Are you Dyslexic? Even if you are not – Dyslexia is very common and friends or even family around you could be Dyslexic without you knowing about it. What’s more, they themselves may not know about it! Your child might be dyslexic so whether you suspect so or not please read on for more information about Dyslexia.
What is Dyslexia �
Dyslexia is a congenital (existing at birth but not inherited) and developmental condition. I have also read that Dyslexia can tend to run in families. Dyslexia causes difficulty in learning to write and spell as well as to read. It might also affect mathematics, personal organisation, short-term memory and sequencing. Although its cause has not been confirmed, its effect is to create neurological anomalies (irregularities) in the brain. It is these anomalies that bring about the earlier mentioned difficulties such as when reading, writing, spelling etc�
Why am I writing this?
I’m writing this because I want people with Dyslexia to know that their career futures are certainly not limited. They can basically do just about anything they want to, what they need is to be identified and taught, to enable them to release their talents in wide-ranging careers.
People with Dyslexia CAN be treated and taught, so for this reason people with Dyslexia should not be any less motivated to reach their full potentials! Many dyslexic people have compensating strengths, such as skills of visuo-spatial awareness which make them good engineers and architects. In fact, many enjoy lateral thinking abilities and shine in such fields as the arts, creativity, design and computing. Many creative people have developed their talent having first struggled with dyslexia. What about this for inspiration – some of our most well known world leaders and geniuses were Dyslexic. Take Albert Einstein for instance, he was Dyslexic and look at him, turned out to be one of the best-known scientists of the 20th century!
So no, having Dyslexia certainly does not limit your future careers!
Can it be cured?
There is no complete cure for Dyslexia, at least not at the moment, – I mean who’s to say that perhaps one day a cure will not be a possibility? On the positive side of things, specialist training and commitment can help to alleviate dyslexia and as previously mentioned, some people with dyslexia who as a result have visual, spatial and lateral thinking abilities, may enable themselves to succeed in a wide range of careers.
I think my child may be dyslexic, what should I do about this?
If you suspect that your child is dyslexic, I’d say the best first step to take is to read more about dyslexia, just like you’ve been doing by reading my blog! Secondly, I suggest that you speak to your child’s teacher at school who should be able to direct you as to where and when an examination can be carried out to test your child. Some schools have their own specialist psychologist who can carry out the tests. Depending on the severity or difficulty in detecting the dyslexia (if in fact your child is dyslexic – which they may not be), you could be looking at about two hours during which different writing, spelling, vocabulary and sentence building tests will be carried out. These findings will then help the school psychologist to create a profile for your child. It may not be severe, your child may not even be dyslexic but most importantly do not worry because as you have already read, there are trained specialists who deal with training children to overcome certain aspects of their dyslexia and this will no doubt be an immense support to your child and a boost to help them to get through with their studies with minimal disturbance.
For those who are dyslexic, my own friendly advice to you would be to find a dyslexia support group in your area and enquire for more information on how they can help you or your children. I believe that knowledge is the key to success and a happier life so why not do some research and learn more about dyslexia today!
If you would like me to write or provide you with more information on dyslexia feel free to ask away!
