Different learning styles

I was saddened while talking to a friend the other day to hear that a method that helped her son read was disallowed at the new school he has started attending. He has dyslexia. Children with this learning difficulty should be encouraged to use any kind of method that helps them, whatever it may be and however bizarre it may seem to everyone else. In this case, it was allowing her child to run his hands through rice grains as he attempted to read. How on earth could this harm the other children in the class?

Having five children with dyslexia myself, I know how much the school curriculum is geared towards reading. If one has difficulty in this area, then one is going to have difficulty throughout their whole schooling, regardless of what resources are thrown their way. Back when my children were at school, dyslexia wasn’t recognised, although it was clear that each of my kids suffered from some type of learning difficulty, which differed between them all.

If I had any advice for parents of these children it is to not worry, as they will go on and do well in life, as my children have done. These children are no less intelligent than their counterparts, it is just that learning through the written word is difficult. They learn other skills such as memory to help them get through the school process, all skills which help them once they get out of the school environment. And often they are gifted in other areas of their lives, such as being good at sport or art.

Imagine if there was a race and every time one child ran, he was on the outside and had to run through deep mud, while the other kids were running on firm ground. Of course, he is going to be hindered, but does this drawback make him any less of a runner than the other kids? Of course not. This is what it is like for a dyslexic child in school. Now imagine he leaves school and he’ll probably choose a job where there is as little mud as possible. He will excel because now he is on the same footing as the rest of the people. In the past, he has had to struggle so much more than the others, so without this hindrance, he flies ahead.

But knowing that things will be better once these children leave school, doesn’t help in the here and now. Self-esteem can be a big casualty, with often the children left feeling they are dumb. My child with the biggest difficulties, was actually the most intelligent of them all. He would clock the video games well ahead of the others and seemed to comprehend anything he heard with a deep understanding.

But the obstacles these kids have means they need their teachers on side, something that all of my kids had. But starting a new school, and being refused the one thing that could possibly help seems not only mean, but as if that particular teacher has no understanding of how these kids work. If I were her, I would be encouraging anything at all that could possibly help my new student.

It is hard enough being new to a school without the disadvantage of dyslexia let alone a teacher who doesn’t seem willing to compromise her teaching methods. But the positive thing I think, is that there is only one more term of school, and hopefully next year, this child will have a wonderful and understanding teacher who will do all that she can to help.