Dyslexia is not a dirty word (Part 3 of 3)
Suggestions for a teacher who wants some ideas
In the previous parts of this story, I addressed some ideas for students and parents. I wanted to address what we could do with and for our own kids. But I was also a full time classroom teacher for nearly two decades, so I have felt that pain and joy (depending on the moment) as well.
When I first started teaching, I was in charge of creating an Eighth Grade English curriculum. Having been an English major and having struggled with reading as fast as what was demanded of me, I was bound and determined to create a course that was manageable for both me and my students. In my mind, the solution was simple.
When I taught that Eighth Grade English many years ago, I avoided novels. Small steps — short stories instead of novels, for instance — promoted confidence. There are great anthologies out there of short stories for different ages that can promote literacy without being overwhelmingly long. I never had students come in having not read as they only needed to read 5 pages at a time. Everyone, including the kids who struggled, could manage not only the number of pages, but the structure of the stories. They did not get lost in chapters, and they did not forget what they had read earlier. Instead, they all kept up with one another and could all contribute to a discussion. I taught them all about social justice through Truman Capote, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury and many other great short story authors.
There is a time and a place for novels, but if the goal is fluency and a love of reading, the reading needs to be digestible to start. Why create anxiety about being able to finish or being able to remember the whole story? Why not just go for bite-sized morsels of great writing to build confidence and desire?
Graphic novels are also a good option. They feel less “childish” to the older student who has been impeded by dyslexia, and yet they feel easier to get through. For younger kids there are the books of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series; for older kids there are books like “Maus” or “Persepolis” among others. Either way, anything that will promote the love of reading or writing a good story while not exhausting a child will also build confidence. You want your reader to love a good story, whether they wrote it or someone else did. In order for many people to enjoy a good story, though, they need to be sure they can get through it without much ado.
Finally, know that being dyslexic does not affect a child’s intelligence, but it does affect their ability to read accurately. If a student is in 6th grade, but tests at a 2nd grade reading level, assistive technology is the way to be most sure that true comprehension is happening. Giving more comprehensible input by making the chunk smaller combined with supporting the use of adaptive technology is even better. This is true for homework as much as for assessments. With LD kids, you need to be more pointed with your goals as sometimes you cannot assess as many areas at once as you might be able to with your non-LD population. Rethinking learning outcomes can happen without watering them down.
Providing some sort of auditory support (whether it is a human reading, a computer reading, or perhaps a room where they can read out loud to themselves) for dyslexic students is not giving them an advantage; instead, it allows you to assess them on equal ground with non-dyslexic students. Asking a student with a reading or writing challenge to explain answers in a conversation (versus an interrogation, as I often hear about) with you will often lead to more complete answers. Allowing a student to use their strengths to both learn and show what they have learned is not keeping them from achieving; it is allowing them to achieve.
Have I mentioned how important confidence is?
Most children learn to cope with the irregularities thrown at them by dyslexia — they learn to guess better, they learn to recognize their transpositions, and, with any luck, they learn to use tools to make all of it more manageable. In fact, many children are not even diagnosed as dyslexic until well into Middle School because they have been able to hide their struggles. Confidence matters even more in a child who has struggled with keeping up with classmates and the demands of learning to read fluently.
Year after year a child with dyslexia works hard to read all of the same selections their peers are reading. They may spend two to three times as much time as those peers to accomplish what is perceived as a simple task. It is exhausting for a dyslexic brain to decode and comprehend all that is thrown at it in a typical school day, let alone what is sent home. And yet, if reading tasks can be supported so that success is more attainable and less exhausting, a child’s confidence builds and so does their willingness to try.
It is important to remember that dyslexia is not a reflection of a lack of intelligence or a lack of ability or a lack of interest. Our reaction to a child’s struggle, however, can send a message that can be either debilitating or energizing. By helping children, no matter the age, learn to use the tools that are out there, you can help them realize a potential they might not have believed they had. Once they believe they can read, reading itself becomes simpler. That is true facilitation of learning — creating an environment where they can love to learn instead of fear it.
