Dyslexia is best thought of as a problem with information processing. Dyslexic children will struggle with reading, writing (which can include mathematics and musical notation) and spelling. They may also have short-term memory problems, which can cause difficulties with tasks such as remembering telephone numbers long enough to write them down, with copying notes from a blackboard into a book, with personal organisation and staying 'on task'.
Dyslexia tends to run in families, and it's now generally accepted that there is some physical difference in the brains of dyslexic people. The condition is three times more common in boys than girls. It can occur at all levels of intellectual ability, and also can vary from mild to severe. About 4 per cent of the population of Britain is severely dyslexic, and some 350,000 schoolchildren may be affected. At least 20 per cent of children who have special needs are likely to be dyslexic.
Dyslexia can have an 'up' side, though. Many dyslexic people excel at other areas than using the written word. They can be very creative, with good lateral thinking and problem-solving skills, and may excel in fields such as the arts, design, architecture, and computing. Many have excellent spatial awareness skills.
Listen to parents
Kalsang Youdon is a primary school teacher in north London who teaches children with special needs, and also privately tutors children who have dyslexia. She agrees that while severe dyslexia is easy to spot, it's harder to see in children who are only mildly affected. 'I think the biggest clue to dyslexia is when there is a gap between the child's spoken performance and their written work. The child may be bright and lively in class, with lots of ideas, but written work is much poorer than you would expect.'
The classic signs of dyslexia are fairly well-known. They include putting letters and figures the wrong way round, difficulty remembering tables and the alphabet, leaving letters out of words or putting them in the wrong order, making mistakes in speech that swap letters, such as 'par cark' instead of 'car park', needing to use fingers to make simple calculations, and taking a long time over written work.
Kalsang Youdon believes that it is important for teachers and carers to listen to the parents. 'It tends to be the middle-class parents who notice something isn't quite right early on, so they tend to get labelled "pushy" and "ambitious". Teachers sometimes think that the problem is the parent's expectations, rather than the child. But many parents are very perceptive about their child and their concerns should be taken seriously. By the time the problem gets so bad that the school takes action, a lot of valuable time may have been lost.'
If a child is dyslexic, it is vital that their abilities and difficulties are identified as soon as possible so that the right teaching provision can be put in place.
However, while most children with severe dyslexia will now be diagnosed and helped, those with mild to moderate dyslexia may not be so lucky. Many of these children receive criticism from the very start of their school life for being erratic, lazy, lacking in concentration and being careless. Children will be told off for not listening or failing to follow a series of instructions.
While it is well known that dyslexic children have problems reading and writing, it is not so well known that many have difficulty with maths as well. This may be because of the problems with left-right experienced by many dyslexics, so that columns of figures get muddled and numbers reversed. Many dyslexics have trouble following the sequence of verbal commands usually given for solving mathematics problems. Some who are good at mathematics use unusual, intuitive methods to solve problems rather than relying on taught methods.
Another way
Because of their difficulties with handling words, it is very important that dyslexic children get as much opportunity as possible at the pre-school and nursery stage to experiment with sand, water, counting bricks, and so on, as these can stimulate the child's mathematical understanding without going down the verbal route. Dyslexic children can often understand concepts such as addition, subtraction and equivalence in a non-verbal way.
Dyslexic children usually need extra help with reading, writing and mathematics. They will need more practice at doing what comes naturally to other children. They may also need to be shown alternative ways of handling maths questions, perhaps using physical props. Parents can reinforce any extra work that is done in school.
* Case study: three in a family
Gail has three sons, all of whom are dyslexic. Her oldest child, Nathan, was talking early, but she noticed that while other children at the nursery began to recognise their names on the coat pegs, and individual letters, Nathan didn't. When he was rising five and went into the reception class, she began to suspect he was not making the progress towards reading and writing that other children were. She asked the teachers about it, but they felt she was being over-anxious. 'I really did get the feeling that they thought I was a pushy, middle-class mother,' she says.
After a year or two, however, Gail began to be called in to discuss Nathan's behavioural problems and lack of concentration in class. She felt that perhaps this school was not the right environment for him, as there were a number of disruptive children in the class. She moved him to another school, but the same pattern was repeated. Then she met someone with a dyslexic child who urged her not to wait to find out what the problem was. Gail arranged to see an educational psychologist. By the time Nathan was six she had a report diagnosing him as dyslexic.
Gail says, 'I asked the school for extra support, but was told that unless Nathan was two years behind where he should be, they could not give extra support. So I engaged a private tutor. The results were terrific. In six months Nathan went from a reading age of three to a reading age of nine. His confidence increased and he immediately became much more settled and happy in class.'
Gail says that it was not easy accepting that her child was dyslexic, even though she now realises that she is herself. Even more of a blow was the realisation that her other two boys also had the same difficulties. 'We tried everything on offer to find a cure. We tried coloured glasses through a special clinic at a London hospital. The colours vary from child to child - Nathan's were indigo, Freddie's bottle-green and Oliver's pink - but they didn't like using them. Nathan did read faster, by about 15 words a minute, with them on, but he kept losing them. Oliver simply refused to wear his glasses because they were pink!'
'We tried primrose and fish oil tablets to help concentration, and a glass paperweight thing with a line down it which Nathan liked to help with reading. We tried 'brain-gym' exercises, a homeopath and flower remedies. I have also read up on this new theory by Dr Levinson that dyslexia is to do with inner ear dysfunction. Astronauts become dyslexic in space and anti-motion-sickness medication can help. But I've now resigned myself to the fact that there is no cure. The only thing that's helped the boys is extra support through tuition.'
Hints to help them
* Boost self-confidence; focus on achievements and give encouragement
* Play games like 'Simon said,' going from simple to complex instructions
* Use songs involving memory and sequencing such as 'Old MacDonald had a farm', and rhyming songs
* Give instructions in small steps, rather than a long sequence
* If the child has a short attention span, have them sit near an adult
* Use physical props to help children solve maths problems
* See also 'From babble to books' (Nursery World, 19 April 2001).
For further information:
The Dyslexia Institute, 133 Gresham Road, Staines TW18 2AJ (01784 463 851) The British Dyslexia Association, 98 London Road, Reading RG1 5AU (0118 966 2677 admin, 0118 966 8271 helpline)
