This is Elsa. She is 9 years old. And what I have just described has been her life. She is extremely athletic, outgoing and intelligent. She has lots of friends. Elsa is so articulate that unless you were her teacher or her parent, you would never guess Elsa has struggled so much learning to read and write. And until the end of the third grade, everyone that has had anything to do with her education seemed to be baffled by her struggle when she was clearly such a bright little girl. Everyone, including her teachers, have been surprised to discover Elsa has a reading disability called dyslexia that has made learning to read and write a challenge that for her that might be comparable to the most difficult chemistry class I had in college that made me change my major (I am not a scientific thinker!) Dyslexia? You say. Really? Isn't that some disorder where you see print all mixed up and you mix your B.s and D's? Actually, that is NOT what dyslexia is at all. But because of that stigma, if you have a child that is struggling to read, the last thing you would imagine is that it could be dyslexia. But actually, if your child is struggling learning to read, write and spell, chances are high that Dyslexia is EXACTLY what the problem is. Studies and research commissioned by congress for the past twenty years and longer have shed some incredible light on why learning to read and write is so challenging for some very bright people. In fact, you will probably be surprised to discover that dyslexia is actually a reading disadvantage that effects 20% of the population. (did I just say TWENTY PERCENT?!) Yes!! TWENTY PERCENT. And that is a fact that has been studied and proven to be true by the National Institute of Health and reading research institutes at various Universities including Yale. Think about that number. TWENTY PERCENT! That means that in every classroom, there are a handful of students who are struggling to read and they are actually dyslexic. What is significant about that is that MOST schools are not using reading programs that are effective for someone with dyslexia. MOST schools won't even utter the term dyslexia and MOST teachers don't really know what it is. Even though modern science has proven it and it has been acknowledged in legislation on a National level and in many states. But educators are not being educated about dyslexia! What is tragic about that is there is much scientifically proven evidence that supports certain types of instruction to be highly effective for a child/teenager/adult with dyslexia.So, how do I know this?
Well, back to Elsa's story - Elsa always had great teachers who genuinely cared about her and encouraged her, but even her teachers at school and the reading specialists who have worked with her through the years were seemingly baffled by the combination of Elsa's intelligence and yet inability to read and write well. They did what they could to encourage her and often reminded me that she was "young" in her grade and would probably eventually grow out of it. Although to my knowledge, no one in my family had struggled with learning to read and write; that was not the case in Mark's family. In fact, Mark himself had dealt with the same challenges as a child - to the point that he was held back and repeated the third grade. Somehow, I figured, Mark was able to battle through school and eventually went through 8 years of college to earn a doctorate and do very well (although I he worked harder than anyone else in his class to do it). I assumed Elsa would eventually mature and be able to succeed in school. Since the school wasn't giving me any definitive answers about what the problem might be, other than "she's young for her grade- maybe she will grow out of it," my plan of attack was to make grade school as pleasant an experience as possible, so that even if she was struggling, it would not be an attack on her self confidence. I was always reminding her that her dad had the same challenges, and he was the doctor in the house - she COULD do it! Go team! This plan was working pretty well until last year. The third grade. (which I have since learned is a pivotal time in elementary school). The first part of the third grade, it was obvious the year was going to be more challenging. Instead of learning to read, the focus was changing to "reading to learn." Elsa was still learning to read! She wasn't ready to read to learn on a 3rd grade level. She was doing hours of homework every night just to hang on by her fingertips. Many nights she would have break downs at the kitchen table - she was so overwhelmed. She felt stupid, and humiliated. Sometimes I wasn't sure if she really had a problem, or if she just needed to get more focused! Many nights when Elsa was saying her prayers, she would pray for help with her reading. She prayed with confidence that help would come. And come it did.
Last spring, my friend Heather, sent me a link to a webcast on dyslexia. I wasn't that interested in it because the year before, at a meeting with Elsa's teacher, the principal, the reading specialist and the counselor, I had asked, "Could the problem be dyslexia?"
No, I was told. She scores too high on the assessment testing. Oh, I thought. At that meeting, we decided to "watch her" and I was given a packet of things we could work on at home.
The e-mail link was to brightsolutions.us - a website that is packed with information on dyslexia, including a webcast called "Could it be dyslexia?" I will admit, that I didn't think that was her problem, so it took me two months before on one particularly perplexing homework night, I finally clicked in to the web cast and watched the presentation on Dyslexia. I was stunned. Elsa wasn't just dyslexic, she was a TEXTBOOK case of Dyslexia. She had so many signs of Dyslexia it wasn't even funny - and the number one sign was a family history of reading challenges. Among other things, Elsa also had difficulty sounding out words and writing legibly. She had had challenges memorizing and recognizing in isolation letters of the alphabet. Her spelling was terrible and erratic. She could memorize words for a spelling test and get them right one week and the next week she couldn't spell any of them again. She struggled to memorize math facts. She had a hard time copying from the board. She had a hard time focusing. But she was so intelligent in every other way. She is extremely articulate and bright. I kept thinking "something just wasn't clicking" when is came to language. As it turns out, and as modern science has demonstrated - dyslexia is caused by a difference in what pathways in the brain are being used for reading. And this is already determined by birth. People with dyslexia are often of higher-than-average intelligence, but when it comes to reading, they have difficulty decoding words. As with everything, there is a very good reason for that. And that should be exciting for every parent who is struggling with a dyslexic child because there are many great programs out there to help people with dyslexia become GOOD readers and spellers. Even more exciting was the news that there was a lot that could be done to help and that she could conquer her struggles with reading, writing and spelling. Along with the news that there were effective ways to teach Elsa, there is also a new understanding of the strengths that people with dyslexia have. Focusing on those strengths and using them to offset the disadvantages has been so freeing! Elsa has blossomed this year. In a year that typically for the dyslexic child who is not getting the right kind of help, can be devastating, Elsa is finally getting some traction.
There are many different reading programs that are proven to be effective for dyslexic readers. I have been tutoring Elsa now for nine months and her progress has been astounding. Her confidence in school is blossoming. She is so EMPOWERED to know the truth about her learning disabililty. Even though it is extra work for her, (and me :)) I know the tutoring she is getting is helping her so much, she thanks me after every session we do together. She now knows that she is every bit as intelligent as the person in her class that breezes through assignments. She now knows that with the right help and with a good understanding of her strengths, she can use those to navigate the weaknesses. Our experience has been so positive since she has been diagnosed that she is very open with her peers and she wants others to get the same help that she has received that has finally given her hope! We are now sharing what we have learned with teachers in our school and they are becoming informed and enlighted and looking to start some more appropriate programs for reading instruction in our elementary school. Afterall, it would effect about 5 students in every class!Because Elsa is in the fourth grade, what we are doing now is "catching her up". I tutor her a minimum of 2 hours a week. In the summer we will tutor for an hour each day. Hopefully by the end of 5th grade she will be reading on grade level. If we had known in kindergarten what we know now, I could have been working with her all along and she wouldn't have ever fallen behind in school. I share this story because dyslexia is something that effects all of us in some way. Being dyslexic can so often be devastating in our education system which has not caught up to what is known by modern science. If Elsa's experience sounds familiar to you, you would be well rewarded to check out Susan Barton's website at brightsolutions.us - She has basically dedicated her life to educating people about dyslexia and helping to teach those that are. She has a phenomenal amount of info on signs of dyslexia and what to do about it. If you have a child that is struggling with reading, please take a look. The longer you wait, the further behind they will be. You can help them! If you personally struggled with learning to read and this sounds familiar to your experience, please, take a look! And know that your children have a 50% chance of the same challenge. If you are a person interested in an emerging field that needs advocates, please, take a look! What is known is quite astounding!
