Anyone Help with Dyslexia?

My daughter who is now in college has mild dyslexia. She was in MTA in elementary school, but she hated it and was eventually exited out of her 504 plan because she was doing well enough in school. She reads a lot slower than her peers and when she reads out loud she sounds like she can't read well at all. She was also in the "gifted" range (many dyslexics are). For her the best thing was to understand what it meant to be dyslexic and have the confidence not to let it bother her. Her testing and abilities were well above average she just had to give herself extra time to read and know when to ask for extra time from the teachers.

She wouldn't read a book by choice until about 8th grade when she finally found a book that she liked...since that she has read a lot by choice and loves Language Arts. She is actually good writer - just not great at spelling.

If her dyslexia had been worse or her confidence lower it might have been more of a struggle, but giving her the information on what dyslexia was and allowing her some choices in how to deal with it she did beautifully.

I am unfamiliar with the method you mentioned, but I am dyslexic. I would say be honest. Tell her the testing showed she was smart and gifted, but that it also showed that she learns just a little bit differently and needs a tutor to explain things differently from the class room teacher.

It took me a long time to get the help I needed and to understand that I wasn't broken, I didn't need to be fixed, I just needed to be shown a different way of doing things, a way that suited me best. Good on you for getting her help now.

I haven't hidden this from my boys. It's a medical condition that has "no cure" just a work around. Being dyslexic is NOT stupid - most people who are dyslexic are pretty darn smart!!

My boys have a tutor - to help them both work around being dyslexic - as neither my husband or I are dyslexic and can help them figure out a way around it.

Having tutor is NOT by ANY STRETCH of the means - one being stupid - far from it - it is individualized attention to help strengthen things we aren't our top/best at....

I don't know what method our tutor uses. It helps for me to be out of the room when they are with the tutor so I don't distract them.

Hope that helps!!

For eye issues you go to an eye doc....I don't know why you're not doing that already...

If you check with the doc's office you can find out if they do therapeutic stuff for vision issues. Our's does. We see him once per year and with my oldest grandson he did one eye test and found that his right eye was so bad that his brain was no longer accepting information from it.

He had us do exercises with him to fix the issue. He did them for several months every day and when they were done his eye sight is normal and he doesn't even have to wear glasses anymore.

Eye docs take care of eye problems. Not pediatricians or therapists.

I am dyslexic so are 2 of my kids. I think you are stressing out about this a bit too much. Instead of focusing on her disability focus on her abilities.

I am not familiar with the methods you are talking about. But you need to be honest with her. Tell her she is very intelligent but her brain processes information differently than most peoples' brains. It will not stop her from learning or becoming whatever she wants to in life but somethings just may be a little more difficult.

Some famous people who are dyslexic: Jay Leno, Whoopie Goldberg, Tom Cruise (can not read at all) Henry Winkler.
In history: Leonardo Di Vinci and Albert Einstein

You may want to consider signing her up for Tae Kwon Do. The movements using both sides of the body some how help dsylexics.

Dyslexia is by no means stupid. My daughter was ID'd dyslexic formally in 3rd grade, so 8 years old. I did a lot of research on it. I read Overcoming Dyslexia, by Sally Shaywitz, PhD, co-director of the Yale Center for the Study of Learning and Attention. She and colleagues performed functional MRIs on individuals; these are MRIs that are taken while the patient is actively reading and they discovered that the brain IS working to process the information, just different parts than non-dyslexics use. It is fascinating that our brains are as individual as we are, finding different pathways to process the information coming in. My daughter sees in 3-D in ways I could only hope to! Glad she is interested in architecture and design! Yes reading is slower for her, and reading out loud is challenging. But ask her to explain fractions and she can do it in her sleep. In any case, she is an avid reader now that she's in HS.

So to offer advice and answer your questions, I would explain to your daughter that the tutor(s) will help her to review what she is learning in school that is compatible with her brain's processing style.

By the way, my daughter has rarely missed classes over the years. She finds that being in the moment and participating in the lesson helps to cement the knowledge better than if she just reads the texts and handouts. Love that her school is very hands on in all subject matter.

Best of luck to you and yours. I know your daughter will be awesome!