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The Importance of Providing Scientific Information to Children with Dyslexia |
Dr. Debby Zambo describes how, with sound, scientific facts, children with dyslexia can build a build better, more accurate conception of themselves and their disability. Without it they rely on personal experiences and put-downs from their peers. Conceptions built from scientific facts provide empowerment, understanding, and self-esteem.
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Provide
the latest, best, scientific information we have to the individuals who need it
most Researchers are making great strides understanding the genetic and neurological causes of dyslexia. But with this information comes the challenge of making it practical and useful. One way to do this is to provide the latest, best, scientific information we have to the individuals who need it most, children with dyslexia. With sound information children with dyslexia can build better conceptions of their disability, their strengths and weaknesses, and themselves. Educators and parents must talk to children and help them understand what science is telling us about the dyslexic brain. Unfortunately, many children are constructing their self-concepts from bad or no information, negative experiences, and put-downs from their peers. A child using this type of information will come to believe he is not normal, defective, and incapable of success. For example, one child told me, "Others are born to read but not me. I'm not a good reader. Reading's no fun. I'm a really lazy boy." This boy has received little information about his disability. Now, compare his words to another child who attends a school where his teachers talk to him about dyslexia and his brain, "I don't really know why, but actually I think it's kind of like a snowflake". Conveying sound scientific, information about their disability is important and talking to children may be just the thing we need to do. Talking to children does not have to be complex and full of medical jargon but it does have to be credible, honest, and at their level of understanding. Interviews To examine these ideas I interviewed a group of children who have been labeled as dyslexic to learn what they knew about dyslexia and their brains. I spoke with eleven children, grades 5 through 9. To add credibility to my findings I also spoke with five of their teachers and one school administrator. The children attend a private school for students with learning differences where several teachers have taken classes on brain-based teaching and many attend special education conferences. The teachers are well versed in the latest scientific information on the brain and dyslexia and they convey this information to their students. They believe this is important to the self-concept, motivation, and academic success of the students at their school. Their story Before enrolling in the private school each child had experienced difficulty in a mainstream school setting. Problems arose because they did not understand dyslexia and this made them feel different. One child said, "When I looked at pages of words I just thought they were like a whole bunch of drawings that people were doing. Writing to me it was nothing. People could tell me that's 'A' and I'd be like "OK that's 'A'. That must be 'A' too," and it'd be like a 'C' or an 'F' or something. I always thought that they were weird numbers. Honestly, I thought I was just really stupid and that it was because I was either lazy or didn't want to try. I figured it had something to do with my brain a kind of disease". The students' views are changing because they are enrolled in a school where they are being educated about dyslexia and their brain. The teachers offer emotional comfort and support by explaining how the difficulties they are experiencing are normal and how others experience the same problems. They present positive role models that have overcome obstacles as inspiration. Charles Schwab The school principal gave an example of this when she said, "When Charles Schwab had a big article on dyslexia in Fortune Magazine. I talked to the high school students about that article." This information is helpful to the student's overall feelings about themselves. But the teachers realize this information goes beyond emotional comfort to instill a sense of self-worth and empowerment. One teacher said, "I think talking about dyslexia makes them better advocates for themselves and I also think it helps them understand their disability better." Another added, "I think the information that's out now that shows the dyslexic brain is actually a different brain, I think that's incredibly helpful. Because they are able to see they can learn to read but not like everybody else because it's a different brain and I think that's a big help." We talk about dyslexia A third spoke of her experience: "We talk about dyslexia all the time. I just tell him the definition and what it's about and how his brain is different. That means it's wired differently than the non-dyslexic brain...He'll always need some accommodations and some interventions and it's important he understand that". Because the teachers explain, discuss, and answer questions about dyslexia the students are developing a better, more realistic conception of their brain and their disability. It's in the genes For example, one child said, "From what I know of it is that it's not like a disease or anything like that. It is passed down through the generations. It's in the genes. I mean it's all, you're dyslexic or you're not. It's just it's there. There's many different kinds of dyslexia, like you can flip things around, you can have trouble putting things together, sometimes the letters are dancing on the page, you can read things backwards. Now they're taking a lot of people who have died and they get permission to do autopsies on their brains. I guess they're like frozen brains and they cut them". Brain regions and neural connections Another child spoke of brain regions and neural connections: "It's actually like a stream of things that have to be connected. It's brain regions like math and science in the brain but they're supposed to be in like a little loop. In a dyslexic's brains a couple of the pieces kind of skim the raft and they're out like up here or here. What your brain has to do is have a school like this one. It helps you get a rescue line up to them and connect them. If you connect everything it works just the same. It may not be the same but it works". A third child spoke about obstacles: "Dyslexia is your brain's wired differently and there's brick walls for some things and you just have to work either around it or break it. I'm dyslexic at reading that means I need a little bit more help. If you have dyslexia the thing you have to find is how to get over the hump, the wall. Basically you either go around it and just don't read and get along in life without it or you break down the wall". A positive effect From the student's words one can hear how much they know about dyslexia and their brain. It is doubtful the students would have spoke of neurons, genetics, or brain regions if their teachers did not talk to them. The students' willingness to discuss what they know and the depth of their knowledge reveals that this information is having a positive effect. Researchers are making great strides understanding the genetic and neurological causes of dyslexia. Educators and parents must take this information and convey it to children with dyslexia. Children with dyslexia need to learn facts based on sound scientific information to build accurate conceptions of their disability in their minds. Conceptions built on scientific facts provide empowerment, understanding, and self-esteem. Dr Debby Zambo |
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