Dyslexia

As I've mentioned before, I have some of the most interesting conversations with my Y friends.  After an hour of dancing, lifting weights, or spinning, we will sit and have coffee and talk.  Friday our conversation went from the troubles of one woman's dyslexic son, to which health care program to sign up for during the Medicare open enrollment period.  As a  teacher for 21 years I taught many children who were dyslexic.  Some had never been identified, but I was pretty sure that's what their problem was, as they were bright and articulate, yet struggled with reading and spelling.  I believe there was a stigma attached to that diagnosis years ago, and parents were reluctant to attach a label to their child.  There is so much that can be done to help dyslexic children, it's a shame not to give them all the tools available.

Miriam, a friend from the Y, has a high school son that she was telling us about.  He is dyslexic, and struggles to keep up in some AP classes because of all the reading.  He gets tapes of the texts he is reading, and listens along with the tapes.  What a great idea.  I didn't even realize that this option was available.  The problem is that it's time consuming, and in higher level classes there is a lot of reading.  Miriam also told me that she had heard that there is a font designed for dyslexics, which is supposed to increase reading ease and speed.  It's called Open Dyslexic font, but in the research I did, scientists did not find it any better than others.  They found that Lexia Readable, Verdana and Helvetica were the preferred fonts by dyslexics.  They also found that italics were the most difficult for dyslexics to read.  It has to do with the spacing of the letters, and also letters placed straight on the page are easier to read.  Miriam also told me that her husband and brother in law are both dyslexic, verifying the notion that dyslexia is hereditary.

The key to success in helping the 2.8 million school children that deal with this condition, is early diagnosis.  There is so much new information on the subject, and many new ways to help kids.  They can learn to read and write and continue into higher education in any area they choose.  Early diagnosis, patient teachers, and patient, loving parents will help them, and for that matter, all children. (BTW, reversing letters is NOT a sign of dyslexia.  It is common place for young children to reverse letters.)