If you have chosen a career as an educator, you may be overwhelmed with different types of children and their learning styles. One of the most frustrating parts of teaching is giving all you can to help the child learn without first understanding if the child has some learning difficulties. Fortunately, there are short courses that you can enroll in, such as the Orton Gillingham training for educators to help you understand and help your slow-learning students better.
What is Dyslexia?
Children learn in different ways. Some children are quick to learn, while others may take a long time to understand specific topics. Some children have difficulty learning not because they are lazy or are uninterested in the topic but because their brains are “wired” differently. One type of learning difficulty is dyslexia.
Dyslexia is a learning disorder in which students have difficulty reading because they cannot identify or decode letters and speech sounds correctly. Dyslexic students have difficulty associating the correct sounds with the letters and have difficulty associating numbers and symbols with their definitions.
What you Ought to Know About Dyslexia
Dyslexia was first thought to be connected with poor vision; while some dyslexic students have poor eyesight, the condition is more complex than having blurry vision causing students not to read the words properly. Here are some things you ought to know about dyslexia.
- Dyslexia is not a made-up condition: Studies show that 15 to 20% of school-aged children suffer from a type of dyslexia. Dyslexic students are hard to cluster into one group since their disorder may range from mild to severe. Some children may have trouble expressing their thoughts verbally or in writing, while others may be verbally gifted but have trouble comprehending written words.
- Starts at a Young Age: You can spot dyslexia at a young age, as early as 4 to 5 years. It is best to spot this disorder early to prepare the necessary interventions.
- Can Cause Low Self-Esteem: Dyslexic children who were not diagnosed may develop low self-esteem from always trying to catch up to their peers who finish assignments on time and who learn new materials quickly. Dyslexic children may feel stupid or slow and may shy to participate in reading activities inside the classroom.
- Dyslexia is a lifelong disorder: There is no known cure for dyslexia. Children diagnosed with this disorder will continue to have difficulty with language-based learning. However, you can train dyslexic children to read through evidence-based intervention programs such as the Orton Gillingham training.
In this course, educators are trained to teach using a multisensory approach for children with dyslexia to connect the different areas of their brain to understand specific concepts. Since dyslexic children have trouble visualizing abstract concepts, teachers are trained to teach by giving visual, kinesthetic, and auditory examples.
When dyslexic children use the different parts of their brain and their senses, they will decode written words and develop their understanding of specific concepts. Students with dyslexia need to be accommodated and given modifications to succeed in life. Educational institutions can implement these interventions by providing dyslexic students extra time and a reader when taking tests.
Likewise, parents can help their children too by getting involved in the intervention programs such as taking Orton Gillingham training to help their children at home.
It is important to acknowledge that dyslexia is real and that many children are affected by it. Likewise, knowing how to accommodate children with dyslexia will help bring about positive change in the long run.