© theother press Features June 2003 “In order for a person to read, the brain must perform three separate tasks simultaneously: decoding, the task of deciphering words from written symbols; comprehension, understanding what the words mean; and memory interpretation, connecting a word such as “DOG” to the actual animal. Dyslexia is the difficulty in decoding.” Munir Amlani OP Contributor Most of my life I've felt alone in my struggles, unable to articulate the prob- lems I was experiencing with reading and writing. After all, since I didn't know what dyslexia was, I couldn't very well tell people that I had it. Recently, however, I wrote a research essay on dyslexia and I was amazed to find out so much useful information on the sub- ject, not the least of which was that I was not alone. In fact, ten to fifteen per- cent of the world’s population is esti- mated to have dyslexia, most without even realizing it. By that ratio, Douglas College likely has over 1000 _—_dyslex- ics. Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Winston Churchill, and even Albert Einstein are all suspected to be dyslexic, although information to clinically diag- nose them wasnt available during their lifetimes. Richard Branson, the billion- aire developer of Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic Airways, Charles Schwab (of Charles Schwab Brokerage), and John Chambers (of Cisco Systems) are a few other well-known dyslexics. If these people could overcome the chal- lenges of dyslexia and go on to create their own success stories, then surely, | could, too. The first step to overcoming dyslexia is to understand what it is. Dyslexia is defined as “the difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite otherwise adequate intelligence, opportunity, and education’. In order for a person to read, the brain must perform three sep- arate tasks simultaneously: decoding, the task of deciphering words from written symbols; comprehension, understanding what the words mean; and memory interpretation, connecting a word such as “dog ” to the actual animal. Dyslexia is the difficulty in decoding. The very recent discovery of these three distinct brain activities con- tributes to greater understanding of dyslexia. The effects of dyslexia extend far beyond the reading of books. Studies indicate that dyslexia is often accompa- nied by social, emotional, and psycho- logical problems, and may even be the cause of such problems. For example, since dyslexic students are often bright, teachers may misdiagnose the problem as a lack of effort. This, in turn, puts a “Ten to fifteen percent of the world’s population is estimated to have dyslexia, most without even realizing it. By that ratio, Douglas College likely has over 1000 dyslexics”. high degree of pressure on students, with little or no result. The student’s excessive struggle with trying to cope with the disorder, combined with: the lack of improvement, often leads to self-doubt and low self-esteem. In addi- tion, dyslexics also tend to misread social cues, have trouble communicat- ing orally, and are slower to mature socially. These challenges also con- tribute to dyslexics’ feelings of inade- quacy, fuelling their frustration and sometimes even leading to depression. Diagnosing dyslexia can be difficult. Symptoms are rarely consistent, varying from person to person and sometimes even from day to day within the same person. There are books in self-assess- ment available, although home-diag- noses are not clinically accepted. The only diagnosis that is acceptable to Douglas College is one conducted by Page 28 e http://otherpress.douglas.bc.ca an educational psychologist, at a cost of up to a thousand dollars. More infor- mation on testing procedures is avail- able at Student Services. In general terms, there are steps that any student can take to overcome such a learning challenge. For instance, it is recommended that a student should sit at the “focal point” of the instructor's attention. Since an increased response time is often required by dyslex- ic students to for- mulate answers, students are also recommended to obtain information about reading assignments and questions in advance, whenever possible, in order to have adequate time to prepare. Self-organiza- another proven coping technique. Students should use daily and semester-long cal- endars to organize their workload. Large projects should be broken into small steps with individual due dates, to keep the projects manageable. Also, color-coding textbooks with notebook covers has shown to help, as has organ- izing information within textbooks using colour pens, colour highlighters, or Post-it'M notes. A blind person often has a heightened sense of hearing to compensate for the absence of vision. This ability to adapt is due to the “plastic” nature of the human brain, by which one part of the brain compensates for the shortcomings of another in order to accomplish a task. Similarly, it has been found that tion is dyslexics have higher-than-usual aural comprehension. Therefore, the use of taped textbooks, when available, is strongly recommended, as is taping class lectures whenever practical. Other suggestions include using discussion- style study groups, joint-group reading, or reading aloud to oneself, at the end of which the most important points can be tape-recorded to facilitate aural studying. Taping vocabulary words to create audio flash cards for definitions, formulas, and explanations is also par- ticularly effective with dyslexic stu- dents. Furthermore, taping oral direc- tions for projects as well as for tests contributes significantly towards com- pensating for the challenges of dyslexia, although instructors are often reluctant to provide special treatment for anyone. Other techniques that may commonly be used by students, such as mnemonic devices, music, rhymes, and rhythm have shown to be particularly helpful. Research in dyslexia is ongoing and more and more about the affliction is being discovered. Parents and children can take many steps to prevent this challenge from becoming a disability. Teachers and school policy makers are also instrumental and must be diligent in determining those with dyslexia and providing opportunities for special les- son planning and __ preparation. However, this will only happen once administrators and parents alike under- stand what dyslexia is, and what it means to have it. Above all else, young students must be encouraged as much as they are chal- lenged. By building upon their strengths, all students can have a fair chance to compensate for any learning challenges they may face. Rather than be criticized for their inabilities, stu- dents should always be praised for their efforts and breakthroughs. Like Albert Einstein, anyone, adult or child, can achieve greatness despite dyslexia. We all must do out part to allow the Einsteins of tomorrow to flourish.