I’m Dyslexic!
“I see things from a different
perspective”, “When I am reading,
occasionally a passage will get all jumbled up, but when it happens I have to
read and re-read the passage”, “I know
what I want to say, but I can never find the right words”, “I know what I want to say, but I can never
find the right words”1.These are the common statements to
describe the feelings of dyslexic children.
Dyslexia is an alternative term used to refer to a pattern of
learning difficulties. It is one of a family of Specific Learning Difficulty
that makes children struggle in academic performance, especially problems with
accurate or fluent word recognition, poor decoding, and poor spelling abilities2.
Dyslexia is not a disease, but it is just a barrier in learning that affects individuals3.
In Malaysia, it is estimated that about 45,000 children between the age of five
and six who are dyslexic, and every five children out of 100 are likely to be
dyslexic4.
Dyslexia often co-occurs with related conditions, such as mathematics
impairment (dyscalculia) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), etc2.
Moreover, children with dyslexia may also show weaknesses in areas such as
language development, verbal memory, speed of processing, time perception,
organisation, and sequencing5. It is a lifelong, usually genetic,
inherited condition and affects around 5% to 15% among school-age children
across different languages and cultures2. Children with dyslexia are
always being labelled as lazy or not very bright due to their chronic academic failure.
Nevertheless, having dyslexia does not mean that their ability to
learn is below average6. Indeed, many people with dyslexia are brilliant
and motivated to learn despite a weakness in literacy skills. They are described
to take different mental route or atypical way of thinking7, sometimes
gifted or productive, to learn and tackle the given task. On the positive side,
some dyslexic children have strong visual, curious, creative, and problem
solving skills8 and are prominent among entrepreneurs, inventors,
architects, engineers and in the arts and entertainment world. Many famous and
successful people are dyslexic, such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison,
Leonardo Da Vinci, Richard Branson, Tom Cruise, Lee Kwan Yew, Whoopi Goldberg
and so forth.
The difficulties of dyslexic experience could be reduced by
receiving appropriate intervention and support9. Ding Child Psychology Centre (DCPC) has
developed Dyslexia and Remedial English programmes to help children with
dyslexia. If you are dyslexic, or think
you might be dyslexic, or if you are concerned about others who suspected to
have dyslexic, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to give help.
References:
1British Dyslexia Association. How it feels to be dyslexic. Retrieved
from
http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/dyslexic/dyslexia-and-specific-difficulties-overview#How
it feels to be Dyslexic
2American Psychiatric Association.
(2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th
ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
3Muhammad W., Ruzanna, W.M., Vijayaletchumy, S., Aziz, A.,
Yasran, A., Rahim, A., & Normaliza. (2011). Dyslexia in the aspect of Malay
Language Spelling. International Journal
of Humanities and Social Science, 1(21), 266-268.
4Ministry of Malaysian Education (MOE). (2013). Retrieved from
5Snowling, M. J. & Hulme, C. (2012). Annual research review: The
nature and classification of reading disorders – a commentary on proposals for
DSM-5. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, 53(5), 593–607.
6Snowling, M. J. (2000). Dyslexia (2nd
ed.). Oxford, England: Blackwell.
7Siegel, L.S. (2006). Perspectives on
dyslexia. Peadiatrics Child Health, 11(9), 581-587.
8Chakravarty, A. (2009). Taare Zameen
Par and dyslexic savants. Annals of
Indian Academy of Neurology, 12(2), 99-103.
9Oga, C. & Haron, F. (2012). Life
experiences of individuals living with dyslexia in Malaysia: a phenomenological
study. Social and Behavioural Sciences,
46, 1129-1133.
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