The world needs your dyslexic child!
There are more than 7 billion people on earth and 1 in 5 of them are dyslexic.
We know from research that dyslexic thinkers possess many of the critical skills required in today's workplace. Dyslexic thinking is often an outside-the-box approach to resolving problems and evaluating information. Unfortunately, many of these skills are not spotted or supported in schools.
Parents, your child feels, sees and hears more than you think.
Most likely, your child knows when they are struggling and that they are 'different' than their peers. They are confused as to why because they know they are talented in other areas of their life such as music, sports, art, creativity, building things, and theater to name a few!
Knowledge is power. For you and your child.
It is not only liberating but empowering for your child to know what causes their reading, writing, and or spelling struggles and that they are not the only one.
Let them know that 1 in 5 have dyslexia. In a classroom of 30, that’s six students.
As parents or guardians, how do we help our child with dyslexia feel accepted in school and outside of school?
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As their parent or guardian, learn everything you can about dyslexia, dysgraphia- (handwriting) dyscalculia-(math) www.understood.org, www.interdys.org
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Learn how to advocate for your child with an IEP or 504: www.utahparentcenter.org
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Celebrate each small victory with reading and spelling such as: three spelling words
correct out of 20, knowing how to spell two sight words out of ten.
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Let your child hear you talking to others about their gifts, talents and strengths (not their inadequacies).
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Find ways outside of academics that your child can find success: Chess club, theater, sports, music, art, learning about Science and animals. This can balance the struggles
with schoolwork and build their confidence through success outside of reading and writing.
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Praise their reading and spelling efforts — don’t criticize.
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Dyslexic children can have good and bad moments and days. Remember, they are
having to try five times harder than other kids to keep up with school work, which can chisel away at their self-esteem.
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Have fun together as a family, play games such as Spot It, Left Center Right, BLINK, Checkers,Chess, and puzzles.
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Watch the movie: Rescued by Ruby, which is a great movie about a K-9 unit trooper with ADHD and dyslexia.
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Don’t expect perfection. Close enough can be a huge success.
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Help your child understand what dyslexia is and how they can advocate for themselves.
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Come up with a script they can say when someone criticizes them about their dyslexia.
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Make sure your child understands having dyslexia is just a different and really cool way their brain learns.
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Praise your child’s strength and skills. Don’t let learning struggles be the main focus.
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Remind your child that lots of talented people have (or had) dyslexia, such as Albert Einstein. It’s pretty cool to be in the same club as Einstein! Do some research with your child about the talented successful people who have (or had) dyslexia.
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Let them know to “Dream Big” and to not let their dyslexia stop them from going to college or getting a trade.
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Tell them all the time how much “ you love you them” and you’re in this together forever!
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Be their calm!
From a few parents perspective:
You are in the trenches with your child currently but you will not stay there. They will climb out and shine and when they say the funniest things, laugh with them. When they mix things up, laugh again. It’s okay. Celebrate that they have dyslexia because it’s a gift and you wouldn’t want it any other way!
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Celebrate that they can get up and go to school every day even though it’s so hard. Celebrate that they turned in their assignment on time.
I love watching my son play the game Rummikub. When we all think there’s not another move we can make, he can find more! He can grab the tiles and finish the game. Of course, he has already won, but it’s amazing that when we think that’s all, the out of the box thinker can see so much. —Kristin E.
I think for me, it comes down to three things, celebrating the small wins (I’m really trying to be present to see those), appreciation for where our students were, and where they are right now, and refocusing our own expectations and perspective. —Mariah K.
We celebrated and still celebrate the little wins. The fact that she is the only 19 (teen) that has been employee of the month because she CHOOSES to do her best at whatever she can. She gets to choose who she tells that she has struggles and ALWAYS encourages me to “tell my students about her journey “.. so they know it’s gonna be ok. And little wins ... like knowing that ANYTHING you learn is one more thing .. building a foundation one block at a time no matter how big or how small. -–Hollie S.
https://www.lifehack.org/396379/how-celebrate-small-wins-achieve-big-goals#how-to-celebrate- small-wins
Shelley Hatch
Executive Director
Dyslexia Center of Utah