Olim - Shake hands with dyslexia

Blog 1

Introduction

Olim  - shake hands with dyslexia

Why do Olim, need to meet this learning disability?  Many people with dyslexia go through life without knowing they have it.  Drum roll please.....da da da da and then..... they learn a second language.  Before learning a second language dyslexic people can accumulate enough compensation skills and support to get by.

Learning a second language may not be easy for anyone.  If your child has dyslexia they are at risk for low self esteem, with drawl from school, suppressed cultural identity as Americans and Israelis.  This is especially seen if there is insufficient knowledge of the second language in the home.

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a neurobiological language based, genetic learning disability.  The disability is seen in reading, spelling and writing.  It affects the temporal parietal lobe.  The bridge in the language area of the brain has to work extra hard in dyslexic people.  They cannot automatically translate auditory code to visual as others can.  In the classroom dyslexic children can struggle with letter and word reversals, with phonics ( tiny sounds that make up language), rapid word recognition and phonemic awareness ( how speech makes up sounds).   Other areas of education that can be affected with dyslexic children are speaking, listening, reasoning, mathematical, memory, organization, sequencing, perceptual and motor skills.  These areas are slower to acquire and process because of a poor short term memory and a slower speed of processing words that were not previously learned in dyslexic people.

Dyslexic children are known to be successful adults.  They are creative and can come up with different solutions to problems as shown in the following story.

Once upon a time, a father takes his dyslexic son on a camping trip.  The father's intention is to encourage his son to do better in school.  The father tells his son " I see you are motivated and work hard but...... you have to TRY HARDER."  The son who is trying his best, feels like he is failing.  He responds, "I will keep trying but there are times that I just do not understand." 

During the trip the father falls and breaks his leg.  The son who like many dyslexic children has above average intelligence, great visual spatial abilities, multi dimensional thinking and problem solving skills used his tactile/kinesthetic strengths to creatively solve the problem.  The son finds a large flat wood board.  He then helps his father sit on a luggage bag that has wheels.  The boy slowly pulls his father over the wood board that serves many uses as a bridge from one mountain to the next.  The father watches his son struggle to pull him.  The son does not ask his father to try and walk on his broken leg - to just TRY HARDER and maybe he could walk with it.

Tears fell from the father's eyes as he realized what his son must be feeling in school.  Sometimes, to "Try Harder" may cause more damage. Instead find your wood board that can be utilized in many educational areas to build a bridge to learning.  The son did not give up regardless of the pain it caused him to drag his father home. 

Parents, teacher and students cannot take the easy way out and give up.  There are solutions.  Expectations do not need to be lowered but educational opportunities to demonstrate knowledge and understanding must be provided as a joint effort of the school and home. 

Please contact me with your ideas, comments and suggestions for future blogs about educational advocacy for Olim.
Heather Cohnen