Dyslexia Essay, Research Paper

Dyslexia

For Children

Jimmy?s Story: Jimmy was a 10 year old boy who had done well in school through the third grade. Once he got the fourth grade he was having trouble following the readings as fast as the other children could. He was mixing up words and confusing letters. He was very upset so he told his mom and she decided to check out what was happening. She took Jimmy to the doctor and the doctor had Jimmy take some tests and the doctor discovered that Jimmy had dyslexia. This didn?t mean that Jimmy was stupid, it just meant that he had trouble reading certain words. Jimmy would have to see a special teacher to fix his problem.

Facts about dyslexia:

1.Children who are dyslexic are not stupid

2. Dyslexic is a word used to describe children who have trouble putting words together or spelling

3. Although many people may think so, dyslexic people do not see things backwards.

4. Many dyslexic children seem to have good creative skills like drawing, painting or playing a musical instrument.

5. Dyslexia can have more of an affect on one person than it does another or it may have less of an affect on one person or the other.

6. Experts think that 10% of all children have some degree of dyslexia and only 4% have a really bad case of dyslexia. This means that if you have dyslexia, you are not the only one. There are many other children who work with dyslexia everyday.

7. No two dyslexic children are alike. Children who have dyslexia are just like everyone else except they have to work through their reading and writing a little harder.

8. Many famous people have worked through dyslexia for example: Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb; Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain and Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America.(1)

Causes of dyslexia:

There is no real answer for the cause of dyslexia. Dyslexia is not contagious so you can?t get it from someone else, it is not in something that you eat and it is not a cough or the flu so it won?t hurt you if you have it. Doctors think that dyslexia runs in families, so it might get passed down from your mom or dad when you are born.(1)

Solving dyslexia:

The best known solution to dyslexia is working with a special teacher and working hard. There are some medicines that are available (ritalin and adirol) that will help you concentrate better but the way to getting past dyslexia is all in the hard work.(2)

Do I have dyslexia? :

Not every child with reading, writing or speech problems is dyslexic. If you are seeing any of these problems tell your parents.

1. family members who have dyslexia

2. having trouble reading or spelling

3. spelling a word different ways without finding the right version

4. confusing left and right

5. trouble rhyming words

6. having trouble understanding time and tense

7. having trouble following directions on man occasions

8. having a poor attention span(2)

Many dyslexic children have a hard time with language, memory and basic math. Some children may have behavior problems but these can be cured with the right kind of teaching for dyslexia.

What should I do?

If you are struggling with what you think could be dyslexia, talk to your parents first. If the problem still arises talk to a teacher or guidance counselor at your school.All learning problems are easiest to solve when they are discovered early. Sometimes a parent or guidance counselor may notice a problem that your teacher may have missed. (1)