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Joleen finds reading difficult,
and she is working on her reading skills. But, somehow,
it is as if she is not improving. In her own thinking,
she feels that she is smart. But how come she can't read
just like the others? She is suffering from a problem
known as dyslexia.
Dyslexia is
a kind of learning problem among kids. Dyslexia makes
it difficult to spell and read for them. Although the
problem starts inside the brain, it does not necessarily
the kid is dumb. Those who suffer from dyslexia are commonly
talented and smart.
However, this
should not be a disappointment to a child. With a helping
hand and support from the child's loved ones, a dyslexic
child can still gain much improvement in reading and spelling.
How Does
The Brain Process Reading?
Dyslexia can
be understood by learning something about reading. When
you are reading, you are actually exercising your brain.
These steps listed are all happening in your brain at
the same time as you read:
1) Recognize
the way different speech sounds compose words.
2) Concentrate
on the printed symbols, like the letters or the words.
3) Correlate
the speech sounds to each letter.
4) Blending
of the sounds of the letters smoothly to form words.
5) Having eye
control as you go on reading across the page.
6) Building
of images and ideas of what you are reading.
7) Having a
comparison between the known and the new ideas.
8) Retain these
ideas in the memory.
And these dyslexic
kids tussle over the first steps, making it too difficult
for them to do the rest. It's no wonder why the kid's
brain gets tired easily as they put some effort in trying
to read something.
How Kids
Develop Reading Skills
Most of the
children learn how to read by knowing how speech sounds
form words. Then, as they recognize the sounds, they connect
them to each of the alphabet letters. For instance, they
learn that the sound of the letter "b" is "buh". Then,
they will begin blending the sound to make words, as they
learn "b" and "at" creates the word "bat". Finally, there
is no need for these kids to say the sound of the words;
instead, they can easily determine the words they have
come across with formerly. On the other hand, this is
really difficult for children with dyslexia. They find
it hard to retain the simplest words they have encountered
a lot of times and to speak out longer and multi-syllabic
words.
What makes
this so hard? Dyslexia is characterized by the trouble
in processing the letters and the sounds in a person's
brain. As a result, the breaking of words into individual
speech sounds is really tough, just like b-a-t for the
word "bat". If that is hard, connecting each speech sound
to the alphabet letters, such as "buh" for letter "b"
and blending those to form words become even harder.
You can notice
for a dyslexic kid, he is somewhat slow in reading and
speech mistakes are more common. Mixing up the letters
in a word is also common.
How is it
to have Dyslexia?
You can expect
kids with dyslexia to have a little problem recognizing
letters with their specific sounds before they enter kindergarten.
After some time, the teacher might notice that the child
is indeed smart; it is just that his reading skills that
are problematic. Or even parents can notice that their
child is striving hard. So, an advisable thing for you
to do is to visit and consult a specialist to deal with
the problem appropriately.
These specialists
in learning disabilities can determine the learning problems
a child may have and they can determine the appropriate
solutions for these. Upon noticing some of the signs of
having the disability, you may bring your child to a specialist
then let the child undergo some tests. These tests are
specially designed to determine the problem, so that a
proper diagnosis is established. To help your child learn
the easy way, the first step should then be to identify
if your child does have a learning disability of some
sort.
How to Make
Reading Easier ?
If the proper
way of teaching is executed, majority of the children
with dyslexia will be able to read normally. There are
chances that they will learn other ways to remember speech
sounds. Take this for instance, letters "p" and "b" are
named as brother sounds or "lip poppers". In order to
produce the sound, you need to press both of your lips
together for you to create the sounds.
Teaching kids
how our mouths have to move to create particular sounds
is one way to help the child read easily. Now, these learning
specialists have formulated numerous special tasks or
activities similar to this, to teach dyslexic kids how
to read properly.
Flash cards
or recorded classroom sessions, as well as homework and
assignments, are better than writing notes. They also
need the support of their parents and private tutors in
helping them stay focused.
It is also
important to have extra time in taking some tests to give
them some time to finalize and show their teachers what
they have done and learned. Using computers is also a
good tool for learning. You can simply download certain
programs or lessons from the internet with "read along"
audio, or just save them on your iPod or MP3!
Giving Importance
to the Feelings of Kids with Dyslexia
Frustration,
anger, and sadness are often felt for when children find
spelling and reading are too hard. They also do not like
to be different by joining another reading group or by
seeing a special tutor aside from his regular teacher
at school.
However, this
is essential in helping them make great changes. If you
don't know yet, some of the most successful and talented
people are dyslexic. Tom Cruise is one of these successful
people. These people did not let their condition stop
them from reaching their dreams at all!
Children
with Special Needs -> How does kids with Dyslexia
Read ?
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