Parents

A Parents Responsibility

Dyslexia is an ongoing difficulty that has to be managed by parents and teachers together. Parents specially should be keenly aware of the symptoms and many manifestations of a Learning Disability, and initiate immediate action if they suspect anything.

The Dyslexia Association of India recommends a comprehensive test if need be. This assessment can serve to put at ease many a worry that may be plaguing a parents mind. It can serve as a platform for them to be able to understand what is actually going on in the child’s academic sphere and how as the first line of defense you as a parent can help your child. We would like to share with you, that an assessment with the Dyslexia Association of India is a Not For Profit activity. In fact it is time and money well invested. Its is an investment in knowing the strengths and weakness of your child and making an attempt to understand the child better.

As a parent there are several important facts to consider where you child is concerned.

Early intervention and diagnosis is an absolute must. Several conditions can induce dyslexic type tendencies as far as academic performance is concerned. Hearing Impairment, Poor vision, Glare from the board, bright light, supersensitive hearing.

Making sure the child feels valued and loved. This is just not the parents responsibility, this is important at school too. Remember your child will spend more time with other adults and their peers than they spend with you.

A dyslexic child will probably not be able to remember the stuff he needs for school the next day. It is important to work with the teacher to make sure you know what he needs for school. A good teacher will help; remember it is in their interest too to make sure the day goes smoothly! Help pack their school bag. Routine can be good.

Remember a Dyslexic child will also have strengths that you may not, he or she may be artistic, musical. They are of course just as intelligent as their non-dyslexic peers! Its just works differently. Their long-term memory may be better than yours. They have to operate in visual and imaginative environment, as adults we get out of practice. If they have to research something for school, get the video or tape. Good teaching is not just talk and chalk

While the symptoms relating to Dyslexia have been described earlier on, parents may want to keep the following in mind where their children are concerned. These three issues are the basic building blocks of academic performance and any difficulty usually shows up here first.

Reading

Reading and the problems that the child may display.

Hesitant and laboured reading, especially out loud

Omitting or adding extra words

Reading at a reasonable rate, but with a low level of comprehension

Failure to recognize familiar words

Missing a line or reading the same line twice

Losing the place or using a finger or marker to keep the place

Difficulty in pin-pointing the main idea in a passage

Finding difficulty in the use of dictionaries, directories, encyclopaedias

Writing

Writing and the problems you may see.

Poor standard of written work compared to oral ability

Poor handwriting with badly formed letters

Good handwriting but production of work extremely slow

Badly set out work with spellings crossed out several times

Spells the same word differently in one piece of work

Has difficulty with punctuation and grammar

Confuses upper and lower case letters

Writes a great deal but loses track of the main idea. Wanders off from the main point.

Writes very little but to the point

Has difficulty taking notes in lessons

Finds organization of work and personal timetable difficult

Clearly knows more than he can commit to paper

Mathematics

Mathematics and the issues associated with Maths.

It is not Mathematics that is the problem with the child. Mathematics being a pure language is fairly straightforward. It is the same problems that we see in the other subjects across the curriculum that is the main issue.

So what are the main issues?

Difficulty remembering tables and formulae

Finds sequencing difficult

Confusing signs such as + and x

The child can think at a high level in mathematics, but needs a calculator to remember basic facts

Misreads questions that include words

Confuses directions - left and right

Finds mental arithmetic at speed very difficult

Does not put the number in the tenth and hundred’s place correctly and the decimal under the decimal when adding or subtracting.