Personal Essay: Overcoming Dyslexia

I’m a senior at the University of South Carolina Upstate and have been diagnosed with dyslexia since childhood. This label could have caused for a disastrous college experience, but there has always been something in myself pushing beyond the stigma.

What do: Bella Thorne, Tom Cruise, Mohammed Ali, Kevin O’Leary, Steven Spielberg and Tommy Hilfiger all have in common? They are all successful people who have dyslexia. There are many more people around us that live with dyslexia and have found ways to make themselves successfully function in society.

Ever since I was young, I knew something was different about me. I’ve always had an active imagination and would write all kinds of stories, sometimes through pictures and sometimes through words. Not until I was in first grade did I notice my writing was different than my friends. It didn’t bother me though because I was too young to realize something was wrong; I was just different. One weekend, after playing restaurant with my mom and brother, my mom contacted my teacher to talk about some concerns she had with my reading and writing. She was told that I seemed to be progressing on an age-appropriate level with my peers and that nothing appeared to be wrong. But my mom persisted, and insisted that I be tested for a reading disability. My dad is dyslexic and my mom, knowing it can be passed down, was watching for the signs in my older brother first and now me. After testing, one of SV’s school psychologists announced that my results showed I had a learning disability. I then went to my pedestrian to talk about it and then to a special learning center in Sewickley for further

The teacher walked to the front of the room with her book in hand and as she got closer to the front, Paul got lower in his seat. He knew what was coming next; it was time for the class to read the next chapter. The teacher would start reading and then call on different students to read as they moved through the chapter. This scared Paul right down to his toes. He had read in front of the class before, but it was what followed after class that worried him the most. The taunts from the other students like “retard” or “are you stupid or what?” This type of relentless teasing would continue until gym class where he could hold his own ground again. He did not have any problems in gym; class he was good at sports

I am a student that has had to work hard for as long as I can remember in achieving my goals, dreams, both personal as well as academically. After many years of testing, I was diagnosed with dyslexia in my sophomore year of high school. Dyslexia is a congenital language process disorder. It can hinder reading, writing, spelling and sometimes speaking. Dyslexia is not a sign of poor intelligence

A.About five to six percent of American public school children have been diagnosed with a learning disability; eighty percent of the diagnoses are dyslexia-related. But some studies indicate that up to twenty percent of the population may have some degree of dyslexia.

According to Hull Learning Services (2013), dyslexia continues to be a subject of great debate. The word dyslexia is originated from the Greek dys- meaning ‘difficult’ and -lexia meaning to do with language. There are multiple definitions of dyslexia, because the matter in which in manifest in children and adults vary greatly. Definitions of dyslexia often focus on difficulties with the processes of writing, reading, spelling and general organization of everyday tasks. Dyslexia has been defined as the inability to acquire literacy despite normal intelligence. Other definitions have described dyslexia in terms of a list of symptoms. The symptoms often included are laterality problems; reversals in numbers, letters and/or words; reading

For dyslexia to be recognised as a Special Educational Need and the requisite educational support given, an ‘official’ assessment by a dyslexia specialist or educational psychologist is required. These assessments are mainly completed following a referral to the Local Authority usually by a SENCO or parent. This assessment results in a report which outlines not only the child’s difficulties and ways to improve, but also the strengths the child has. It is argued that identifying the strengths of the child is vital to developing a plan to assist a child with their weaknesses. Peer (2006) amongst others is keen to dispel the myth that dyslexia is linked to intelligence; in fact the contrary can be said. Often dyslexic learners have very well developed interpersonal, creative and oral skills, if these skills can be harnessed as a means of developing weaker areas it is argued progress will be made.

     Cau yon reab mwat I aw mriting? If yon caunot reab it waybe is is decanse this is hom a persou with byslexia wight reab somethiug. A person with dyslexia has a very difficult lifestyle to live. To understand dyslexia you must be aware of the causes, effects strategies, and teaching methods for coping with the disease. “Dyslexia means having difficulty with words in reading, spelling and writing – in spite of having normal intelligence and ability” (Make the Connection).

According to the article “A New Perspective Dyslexia” the author informs us about information that teachers and parents, who be stuck in the myths of dyslexia. This article will give you information that will might save our world’s next great inventor, engineer, or scientist. It starts by explaining on how this article will surprise you by learning that you, or someone you might know is dealing with this disorder and also to inform us news that we can share with others about it. It informs us that dyslexia is not news because we know what is, what to look for it in a person, and how we can help people with this disorder. it make us guess what this disorder this is by telling us some hints like how it is not rare, and how it affects about five

According to the Dyslexia & Learning Disability Centre in Las Vegas, Dyslexia is an ability within the sensory mechanism of the nervous system to perceive the world with a multidimensional view. However it comes with poor word reading, word decoding, oral reading fluency and spelling. Though with appropriate teaching methods, dyslexic individuals can learn successfully throughout their lives. Also, when properly trained and informed, a dyslexic can use their

Dyslexia is a lifelong struggle with constant challenges with reading and speaking. About five to ten percent of the United States population deals with the learning disorder dyslexia (Van den Honert, n.d.). It is a neurological condition that is mainly caused by genetics but there are some rare cases in which it is acquired. Dyslexia interrupts the normal processes of reading and speaking (Van den Honert, n.d.). All of which are used in daily life and this makes life and school so much harder for dyslexics. They must learn to live with the condition for their entire life and there is not really a treatment for it. With the constant struggle and reminder of their

Some of us in the world may have problems with reading, spelling, and other academics. You might not know why they cannot read or spell as well as you can because they have a disorder. This disorder is called dyslexia. People with dyslexia struggle with: listening, reading, writing, spelling, and even handwriting. However, having dyslexia doesn’t mean that they are not intelligent. Some of the greatest minds in the world have or had dyslexia. One of the most fascinating reasons for dyslexia is the dominate ear. Even though they may be different doesn’t mean that they are stupid. (Hotz, Sollier)

Growing, developing and learning are the facts of life for all children. Each day children are faced with many new concepts and various challenges. Can you imagine how it feels for a child to face not only new challenges life has, but to face these challenges while living with a learning disability? These challenges are met not just when they begin school either. Students suffer from learning disabilities from the moment they begin learning, not when they start school. Learning disabilities are real and they affect millions of people. “One such disability that affects over approximately 15 percent of the total American population is dyslexia” ( Nosek 5).

One of my primary focuses was to find out how different literatures dealt with Dyslexia and how best to support the child. Dyslexia can be described from a number of different perspectives as we see in Ball et al (2007) who explain that it can be “how one learns (Cognition), what parts of the brain are involved (neurology), what genes are involved (genetics) and behaviour (p14). Their book entitled ‘Dyslexia: An Irish perspective’ is very relevant to my research as it gives a great insight into the history of the special education sector in Ireland. It also looks into some of the key debates that are facing the educational sector today.