Can anyone tell me anything about childern with dyslexia? Does it cause emo and scholastic problems?

Question

I am not Writing a paper. I am trying to learn because i believe that my 10 yr. old daughter might be dyslexic. she has had problems with reading writing math as lon as i can remember but she is a very intelligent child. She will write words backwards or how they sound. For example... "wrong" was wrote "roung" this is a sight word in the fifth grade. And her teachers keep calling her lazy so I am trying to help her by educating myself. Any help or advice on how to get the schools to cooperate would be appreciated. Thank You

Answer 1

Yes, it can cause emotional and scholastic problems

As to what causes it, I have no idea; evidence is pretty strong that it is a minor brain defect.  It is not your child's fault and they are working hard to adapt to it and still function.

I have a minor case of dyslexia and I have been known to spell no as 'on,' or to as 'ot.'  Stupid errors I know, but I still made them.  I was never diagnosed with dyslexia; I just have a clear and obvious symptom.  Frankly, I didn't know about it until long after I left school.  I was reading at a college level years before my piers but, my mother thinks I was over compensating for a reading problem.  In advanced cases of dyslexia the person really reads the sentence "I want to do that." as "tatht od ot tnaw I"  I don't have the problem, I only have a few odd twinges of it when I write and type.  I use my word processor all the time and thank God for it every time I check an answer in it before submitting it to Yahoo Answers.

I had a huge handwriting problem as a child and it wasn't until I was in high school that someone noticed I was never taught how to hold the pencil properly and so my handwriting was malformed.  I had to attend special education classes because the school district was worried I had poor coordination.

Emotional problems; yes, it is very hard to be a person with a disability, especially one that is not recognized.  It is also very harmful to your grade point average when you can't read or write properly.

I have been tested and have a genius level IQ (barely) but I was pretty much a B student, at best.  My performance is school didn't reflect my IQ because I had a minor learning disability and despite the school district's attempt to diagnose it they did a very poor job.  Hopefully you won't have to face that with your child, but don't be surprised if you do.

You need to find out what is wrong with your child and it can be a wide range of things, complicated by a whole host of other things in the volatile cocktail of puberty.  For me math was my Achilles Heel.  It took my father a lot of work to teach algebra to me.  The poor literal rocket scientist had to dumb himself down to my level to beat it into my head.  He did a good job, although it was hard for both of us.  I needed the extra help and in the case of algebra we could identify the problem.  In the case of my writing no one bothered to look at me write until I reached high school.  My mother blames the previous school district who was trying a new teaching method using the TV.  Still the teacher could have looked at my hand and adjusted my grip properly.

You are going to have to work just as hard as your child; to find out what is going on with them and to find a solution for their problem.  The longer it takes you to do that the worse things will be for him or her.  Luckily, we know more about those problems then when I was a child so you have a better chance than I ever did.  Just remember that the fault is not with them, it is something out of their control.  Good luck in your fight.

According to Wikipedia:  

"Dyslexia is a type of reading disability usually manifested as a difficulty with written language, particularly with reading and spelling. A person diagnosed with dyslexia is called a dyslexic; and a dyslexic by definition has adequate intelligence. Evidence suggests that it is a result of a difference in how the brain processes written and/or verbal language. It is separate and distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as deficiencies in intelligence, non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or from poor or inadequate reading instruction.  These symptoms may coexist with or overlap with characteristics of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Auditory Processing Disorder, Developmental Dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and/or dysgraphia. However, dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are not correlated developmental problems.

Evidence that dyslexia is a neurological syndrome is substantial. Research also suggests an association with biochemical and genetic markers.  However, experts disagree over the precise definition and criteria for diagnosis, and some advocate that the term dyslexia be dropped altogether and replaced with the term reading disorder or reading disability (RD). Because reading skills occur on a continuum with no clear distinction between typical readers and dyslexic readers, some experts assert that the term dyslexia should be reserved for the two to five percent with the most severe reading deficits.

Dyslexia is a lifelong disorder, and its persistence across the lifespan is a distinguishing characteristic. Although there is no cure for dyslexia, appropriate remedial treatment and compensatory strategies can mitigate its effects."

Answer 2

you sound like you are looking for information to write a paper.  Of course dyslexia can make a child have poor self esteem, have emotional and scholastic problems.  Anything that makes a child feel different or left out can cause these problems.

what you need to look at is the definition of dyslexia.  a lot has changed in recent years.  Look in the DSM-IV -TR - which is where psychiatric disorders are categorized for definitions of different parts of learning disorders.

google auditory process disorders - many people think that this is the basic problem in dyslexia.  there are actually very few people who turn letters around, or can't decipher the letters.  Many have slow auditory deciphering - they can't relate the squiggles on the paper as letters with sounds.  

the phonemes - the little parts of words - are not easily recognized - by the time the student figures out what another person has said, they've missed the rest of the conversation.

Research programs like "Fast Forward" that work to recognize this type of learning disability.  Work by Paula Tallal.  Also look at Linda Moodbell for work in this and other dyslexia issues.  she and Nanci Bell - have many learning programs - "Earobics" to train the ear via computer games.

good luck - it is a very interesting area of research

Answer 3

Dyslexia does not cause emo or scholastic problems -- not having the tools (strategies) for overcoming the challenges can certainly contribute to those things though.  There are many ways you and your child's teachers can support him/her.  You can request that your child be tested for dyslexia or other learning challenges and the school would then write in IEP if your child was found to have identifiable learning challenges.  An IEP is an Individual Education Plan, which just outlines what services your child is entitled to receive to help address the challenges he or she faces.  It is great that you are educating yourself and learning how to support your child rather than buy the 'your child is lazy' ridiculousness.  Many people learn better using tools like books on tape (audio), hands on activities, and other 'non traditional' ways of navigating and understanding the world.

Just as a note, my husband is dyslexic, and he also is a perfectly well adjusted individual with a PhD and successful career -- he had challenges and still does, but he has learned ways to overcome those challenges and they don't impede his success in life.  

Best of luck with your quest to support your child and understand his or her challenges.  I hope you can find support in the school.

Answer 4

A person with dyslexia and as the mother of two children with dyslexia if you believe that you daughter has it you should have her evaluated to prove or disprove this. Unless you are trained to teach children with dyslexia it is very hard and it's bound to be frustrating for both of you. I think that your best bet would be to make sure that she has or doesn't have dyslexia and than find a school where they can deal with these disabilities. Often when a child has one and is evaluated it's found that they have more than one.  When my daughter had her evaluation we found out that besides being dyslexic she also had a nos  a non specific reading disability which means that they aren't sure what causes it.  She also had processing issues and fine motor skill issues.  And yes of course these issues can cause both emotional and academic problems.  My daughter could not keep up with the other kids in her class even though she has an IQ of 127 overall.  Which is on the very high side of average. She was being made fun of in school because she was having trouble keeping up even though she was given a resource room, Which really did nothing to help her because her teacher didn't know how to teach  a dyslexic child how to read or how to write.  And because she had trouble reading she also had trouble writing because of the spelling and English grammar issue. So of course you daughter will have issues if you can't get the help that she needs.  Especially with the teachers calling her lazy. You really have to stop that no matter what the out come of the tests.  You really have to have her evaluated privately so that you have a private and a non bias evaluation to present to the department of education.  With out that it's unlikely that you will be able to get the dept of ed to admit that your daughter has a learning disability much less  dyslexia because they won't have teachers trained to deal with that issue.

Answer 5

My htb has severe dyslexia. Its not curable but can be managed and he can read fine. Slowly, but fine.

He went to a special school and did some very intensive guided learning programs to get where he is today. He is super sensitive to being called stupid but learned early on to stick up for himself and that every kid gets picked on for something. There aren't many who would dare call him stupid!

He responded by being really good with his hands, which he still is, and in his adult life he just gets on with things and doesn't care, he writes me poems and sends cards to my parents,bad spelling and all, it's not the end of the world.

Answer 6

It often causes scholastic problems, as reading is so difficult to learn, and that affects the learning of several subjects (science, social studies, even math!). It can cause frustration & a dislike of school, especially if students are teased or humiliated about the problem.