Dyslexic Parenting

Genevieve Dawid is both a dyslexic and a parent of a dyslexic. Her daughter, like herself took many years to be diagnosed with dyslexia and then receive help. Genevieve’s goal is to convince you that dyslexia is a gift and not a burden.

I have dyslexia and I am proud of it. However I wish society had more of an understanding and less of a misconception about what dyslexia is. I have read all sorts of research about the scientific reasons that may cause dyslexia. Whilst the articles and reports make excellent reading and seem very informative, as a parent of a dyslexic I am more interested in the day to day practicalities of living with this condition.

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that manifests primarily as a difficulty with written language, particularly with reading and spelling. Dyslexia is the result of a neurological difference but is not an intellectual disability. Most people with dyslexia have average or above-average intelligence. (source:Wikipedia 2007)

As my daughter started school I asked teachers at three different schools that she attended, “Is my daughter dyslexic?”. As my daughter was very bright and a beautiful writer and reader, they all stated that I was reading into something that simply wasn’t there. Her father, a non-dyslexic, was also adamant that our daughter was dyslexic. It was only after a £250 test and starting college, that it became fully apparent that she was dyslexic, dyspraxic and had acalculia. Only then did she begin to receive the support she needed: extra time during examinations and excellent support when she started university.

When I was a child, dyslexia had hardly been heard of. My parents invented ways of learning which were ground breaking and really helped with my learning. However, if diagnosis and support isn’t offered by schools, dyslexic children are definately at a massive disadvantage to their peers who are without the learning difficulty.

I have recently written a self-help book, called “The Achiever’s Journey” for dyslexics (and non-dyslexics) based on my work as a professional mentor. Throughout the book, I am able to share some of the brilliant philosophy my parents passed on to me, which taught me to deal with my dyslexia and dysphasia. It is in part a biography of my life: how I have succeeded with dealing with dyslexia and also my progress in life and in my career. The five-point philosophy identifies personal challenges, provides a plan and ways to implement specific methods of dealing with problems. There are also tools to track, progress and change. In the book I also talk about transcending the mind. This is a when a person (child or adult) draws like a mirror image of their mind. Seeing the end products can provide a valuable insight into how to identify their problems.

Whilst writing my book I discovered many independent organisations that offer help and advice for dyslexics. I desperately do not want the next generation to suffer like myself and my daughter. I shudder to think how many people have suffered with dyslexia in the past and lived without the relevant support and may have never reached their full potential. Luckily enough these organisations are helping more and more dyslexics fulfil their capabilities. I am an international lecturer now and unbelievably an author; something I thought I would never achieve!

So if I can do it, believe me anyone can! Just go for it.

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Genevieve Dawid is a published author, successful consultant and mentor. Her early life challenges of dyslexic parenting led her to explore some unique ways of coping with dyslexia.

Lyn recommended that we send Stephan to a special school, even though the government is trying to phase them out and integrate children with special needs into mainstream schools. She also recommended that we try Abeille Ruche in Monte Vista. Unfortunately they are already full for Grade 1. They only have 10 children in a class, which would’ve been great if I could afford the private school fees.

Lyn also recommended that we start Stephan on NILD therapy to help “kick-start” the area of his brain which isn’t functioning properly, but that we first wait for the speech therapists report.

Then we contacted the department of education guy again and he and Lyn had a meeting. Then he and the psychologists at the Department had a meeting and it was decided we’d make an application for Tafelberg school, but only once we had the speech therapists report. Since it took 2 months to get an appointment we were only seeing her after all the other tests.

We first took Stephan to have his hearing tested. We didn’t expect anything to be wrong, but you test just to make sure. It was extremely frustrating and I began to see how it was going to be when Stephan goes to school. We gave him the instruction, “When you hear the sound you must push the button. Do you understand?” He answered, “Yes.” We pushed the button for the sound and he didn’t do anything. “Did you hear the sound?” “Yes”, “What must you do?” and then he pushed the button. Eventually we tried getting him to give me a block to indicate he had heard the sound, but that didn’t really work either. We are going back on Thursday to try again. They have determined that there is nothing physically wrong with his ears. All the little bits work the way they’re supposed to. It’s just a problem getting him to follow the instructions because he truly doesn’t understand. He’d love to do what you’re asking just to please you, but he really doesn’t get it.

From there (we were by now almost half an hour late for the speech therapy assessment) we went to see the speech therapist. Taking down the background took a little longer than expected, and having been half an hour late to start with, she unfortunately was unable to complete the assessment. She managed to do the language assessment part and could report back to us that Stephan has a considerable language delay. She said we speak too fast at home, so we are now all trying to speak a little slower. I asked her why I didn’t notice that Stephan had a language problem. She said it’s because I’ve been around him so long that I know his “short hand”. In order to keep up with us Stephan has learnt to speak fast as well, but is skipping out sounds in words. Since I know (most of the time) what it is he’s trying to say, I will often finish off or correct his sentences. She told me to allow him enough time to do this for himself. I also didn’t understand how he can’t have a big vocabulary because we read to him every night and he LOVES books. She says it’s great that we read to him and we must continue to do so, but we should also ask him questions about what we’ve read and we should explain words to him in order to help him build up his vocabulary.

Having done an immense amount of research on the internet I wanted to know if an FM system would help him. An FM system is basically like a hearing aid that he would wear and then the teacher or a parent would wear a transmitter. This helps the sound go directly from us to his ears. It would cut out all the background sounds which are a little like static on the radio for Stephan and interfere with his ability to hear what is being said. She said it was definitely an option and would be better if we did both ears. Stephan would need to wear it whether he’s in a class with 9 other children or 26 other children. It would help him to concentrate his listening. (I have spoken to Discovery and they are willing to pay for it, which is a relief as it is horrendously expensive).