Living/Learning/Teaching With Dyslexia
Diana E
Living/Learning/Teaching With Dyslexia: You will
find that my view of life is in large part
responsible for my understanding of the workings of
the mind and the physical brain. I do not intend to
preach, just to
share my experience. I will start in the middle and
go back and forth from there. At age twenty-three I
saw a "Sixty Minutes" segment on dyslexia. Recognition
and self-discovery was quite comforting. At age
twenty-six
I was tested (for free, as a favor to the children's
home in which I worked and the county counseling
facility which provided me with co-alcoholic /
co-dependent therapy) by the institution which tested
and counseled the juveniles I supervised. They
confirmed my self-diagnosis and offered nothing beyond
that, saying I was over-compensating as well
as would be expected. At age twenty-nine my IQ was
tested by a psychologist who said the same thing. My
score qualified me for membership in Mensa. At age
thirty-one I started taking my first daughter, then
two years old, to the library and began a bit of
research on dyslexia. My basic understanding then,
which has not changed but has expanded, was that the
central area of the brain is shaped differently in a
dyslexic, there is constant interaction between the
"left brain/conscious" and the"rightbrain /
subconscious" in the dyslexic, and the perception of
patterns is unpredictable. More recent research shows
differences in the brain on a cellular level as well.
Without the common distinction between conscious and
subconscious functioning, objects are lost in space
and sounds are lost in time. In practical terms, this
is something like trying to put together a jigsaw
puzzle while it is tossed in the air. Reading is
slow because one must reread a sentence until it can
be read in an order that makes sense. Research shows
that in most people a particular area of the brain is
used for reading, but in the dyslexic this function is
not restricted to one area. Cells on the right side
of the brain, and the right side as a whole are larger
than on the left side in a dyslexic. People get the
idea that I am very intense, but a lot of that is just
my effort to recognize visual and auditory input. I
have to really gaze at a face or page or street or
whatever while the parts settle into place. Listening
is difficult and requires repetition
because the first time or two a sentence is spoken it
might sound like gibberish. My older daughter could
not understand anything spoken on television or in a
group until age five, and so I constantly whispered
in her ear, repeating and explaining what was said as
best I could. Now she finds that she must become
accustomed to each new person's speech patterns.
Speaking in clear smooth sentences is sometimes
easy and sometimes nearly impossible. I might say an
entirely different word than the one I am thinking, or
say something that doesn't sound like any word at all.
So it won't surprise you when I say I believe the
most important tools in educating myself and my
daughter have been the development of patience and
self-esteem. Patience I see as the result of
forgiveness and persistence. One must forgive self and
also forgive others for not understanding. One must
stubbornly continue in the face of discouragement from
others. Where dyslexia is concerned, I have learned
and have taught my daughter that she functions a
particular way just as she looks a particular way and
should never feel apologetic about her own nature but
rather should understand that she has the same right
and duty as anyone else to be and do and speak out and
take up space in the world. I
can't tell you anything useful from my own school
years. I was just a perfectionist who used my own
dogged determination to concentrate so hard that I
really didn't get behind, I just had to try harder and
spend more time studying than the others. I did have
the impression of letters and numbers moving and
changing places in unpredictable ways. I did try the
color films and lenses when I first read about that
theory, but did not find them helpful. I do wear
glasses for astigmatism, but they just cut down on
blurring. Over the years print moves less than it did
early on, but everything continues to be jigsaw
puzzles in the air. I have never been without bruised
hands,
feet, knees, and elbows. The physical world is just
never quite where I think it is. The second most
important tool is familiarity, which comes from a
combination of exposure and time. In general, when
presented with new information my daughter would
first resist and have difficulty understanding ("I
can't", "I won't", etc.). Then a day or week or month
later she would suddenly and seemingly with great
inspiration present me with the same
information as if it were her own knowledge or idea,
and often request additional or expanded studies on
that topic. With something that builds on itself over
time, like reading or math, I took tiny repetitious
steps with her, constantly encouraging her and
explaining over and over again that she must stop
expecting herself to know a thing before she learns
it and that such things require years of practice
and development. At age six she insisted on learning
to read, but could only tolerate a very few minutes
daily before crying or screaming with frustration. So
each
day we spent just those few minutes, and I emphasized
her wonderful progress. I used an old library copy of
"Why Johnny Can't Read". I copied all the phonics
exercises from the back of the book. They begin
with pictures to illustrate the sounds of letters.
One letter is learned at a time, and then two-letter
words are read, and so on. In our own books I
underlined all the words she was working on
so that when we read together she was cued by the
underlines to read her part of each sentence. By the
time we got to the more complex and unruly spellings
she was reading so well that we no longer needed the
exercises. She finds now, like me, that it is easier
to express herself in print than with speech because
of the opportunity for editing. At age sixteen her
request for her birthday was permission to apply for
work. I helped her fill out the applications and
coached her for interviewing. She first worked in a
small nursing home cooking, cleaning, and doing
laundry. Next she worked in a restaurant cooking,
cleaning, waiting tables, and
running errands. She learned to listen to a greater
variety of people, meet and converse with new people,
carry out multiple tasks, budget a paycheck, and
budget her time, all in relatively homey atmospheres.
She telephoned me often to ask for help and advice in
dealing with people and unfamiliar tasks. She
decided to take her GED as soon as the law allowed,
at age eighteen. Soon after this she took her ACT. She
attended community college classes full-time for two
years while working twenty to thirty hours per week in
a second restaurant.
She made A's, B's, and C's. Next she worked in a
Walmart store, where many types of work can be learned
and tried. Now at age twenty-two
she works third shift in a pizza factory: dismantling,
maintaining, and sterilizing equipment, and helping
out in any department that needs her. This is not
glamorous
but pays fairly well. She chose not to continue
school. At home, on her own computer, she researches a
vast range of subjects, including dyslexia and
homeschooling (which I tend to think of as
unschooling). She is amazingly creative. She thinks
it's no big deal to make from scratch, with no
pattern, perfectly tailored doll clothes or Halloween
costumes for her younger sister. She bakes without
recipes or by using her own variations on cookbook
recipes. If she makes herself sit still
long enough she can draw anything with nearly
photographic quality. Which brings me to my current
understanding of dyslexia, as not a disability but
rather a way of being. With the areas of the brain so
interactive, the dyslexic is dreamy all the time.
Slipping into meditative states is normal,
effortless, and done without forethought. The
intuitive and creative problem-solving abilities are
strongly emphasized. The subconscious uprush is a way
of life. Sensitivity is dramatic. The dyslexic can't
help noticing everything at once, and sometimes
feels a bit overwhelmed, but they tend to be able to
do and think about several things at once. I
personally can't help responding to all the
stimulation, but my daughter sometimes
pretends to ignore it all. She needs a lot of quiet
time alone. Too much activity is very unsettling for
her. At age twenty-five I began to write a bit of
poetry. Over the years this has developed. I never
consciously compose my writing, and in fact cannot
write about something out of a simple desire to do so,
it's more like a spring-fed stream from the depths of
my soul. I feel it welling up and am agitated until
running it through pen or keyboard. But getting the
job done is a slow process, requiring lots of editing
to correct what I wrote instead of what I meant. I
was thirty years old before I began to feel confident
and capable in organizing my own thoughts and body of
knowledge and experience into lengthy conversations.
Okay, that's as far as I'll go for now. I know this
note is very long, but still there are likely to be
holes in it because I've tried to be brief. Feel free
to ask for more, or to ask me to explain myself.
=====
Diana
__________________________________________________
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find that my view of life is in large part
responsible for my understanding of the workings of
the mind and the physical brain. I do not intend to
preach, just to
share my experience. I will start in the middle and
go back and forth from there. At age twenty-three I
saw a "Sixty Minutes" segment on dyslexia. Recognition
and self-discovery was quite comforting. At age
twenty-six
I was tested (for free, as a favor to the children's
home in which I worked and the county counseling
facility which provided me with co-alcoholic /
co-dependent therapy) by the institution which tested
and counseled the juveniles I supervised. They
confirmed my self-diagnosis and offered nothing beyond
that, saying I was over-compensating as well
as would be expected. At age twenty-nine my IQ was
tested by a psychologist who said the same thing. My
score qualified me for membership in Mensa. At age
thirty-one I started taking my first daughter, then
two years old, to the library and began a bit of
research on dyslexia. My basic understanding then,
which has not changed but has expanded, was that the
central area of the brain is shaped differently in a
dyslexic, there is constant interaction between the
"left brain/conscious" and the"rightbrain /
subconscious" in the dyslexic, and the perception of
patterns is unpredictable. More recent research shows
differences in the brain on a cellular level as well.
Without the common distinction between conscious and
subconscious functioning, objects are lost in space
and sounds are lost in time. In practical terms, this
is something like trying to put together a jigsaw
puzzle while it is tossed in the air. Reading is
slow because one must reread a sentence until it can
be read in an order that makes sense. Research shows
that in most people a particular area of the brain is
used for reading, but in the dyslexic this function is
not restricted to one area. Cells on the right side
of the brain, and the right side as a whole are larger
than on the left side in a dyslexic. People get the
idea that I am very intense, but a lot of that is just
my effort to recognize visual and auditory input. I
have to really gaze at a face or page or street or
whatever while the parts settle into place. Listening
is difficult and requires repetition
because the first time or two a sentence is spoken it
might sound like gibberish. My older daughter could
not understand anything spoken on television or in a
group until age five, and so I constantly whispered
in her ear, repeating and explaining what was said as
best I could. Now she finds that she must become
accustomed to each new person's speech patterns.
Speaking in clear smooth sentences is sometimes
easy and sometimes nearly impossible. I might say an
entirely different word than the one I am thinking, or
say something that doesn't sound like any word at all.
So it won't surprise you when I say I believe the
most important tools in educating myself and my
daughter have been the development of patience and
self-esteem. Patience I see as the result of
forgiveness and persistence. One must forgive self and
also forgive others for not understanding. One must
stubbornly continue in the face of discouragement from
others. Where dyslexia is concerned, I have learned
and have taught my daughter that she functions a
particular way just as she looks a particular way and
should never feel apologetic about her own nature but
rather should understand that she has the same right
and duty as anyone else to be and do and speak out and
take up space in the world. I
can't tell you anything useful from my own school
years. I was just a perfectionist who used my own
dogged determination to concentrate so hard that I
really didn't get behind, I just had to try harder and
spend more time studying than the others. I did have
the impression of letters and numbers moving and
changing places in unpredictable ways. I did try the
color films and lenses when I first read about that
theory, but did not find them helpful. I do wear
glasses for astigmatism, but they just cut down on
blurring. Over the years print moves less than it did
early on, but everything continues to be jigsaw
puzzles in the air. I have never been without bruised
hands,
feet, knees, and elbows. The physical world is just
never quite where I think it is. The second most
important tool is familiarity, which comes from a
combination of exposure and time. In general, when
presented with new information my daughter would
first resist and have difficulty understanding ("I
can't", "I won't", etc.). Then a day or week or month
later she would suddenly and seemingly with great
inspiration present me with the same
information as if it were her own knowledge or idea,
and often request additional or expanded studies on
that topic. With something that builds on itself over
time, like reading or math, I took tiny repetitious
steps with her, constantly encouraging her and
explaining over and over again that she must stop
expecting herself to know a thing before she learns
it and that such things require years of practice
and development. At age six she insisted on learning
to read, but could only tolerate a very few minutes
daily before crying or screaming with frustration. So
each
day we spent just those few minutes, and I emphasized
her wonderful progress. I used an old library copy of
"Why Johnny Can't Read". I copied all the phonics
exercises from the back of the book. They begin
with pictures to illustrate the sounds of letters.
One letter is learned at a time, and then two-letter
words are read, and so on. In our own books I
underlined all the words she was working on
so that when we read together she was cued by the
underlines to read her part of each sentence. By the
time we got to the more complex and unruly spellings
she was reading so well that we no longer needed the
exercises. She finds now, like me, that it is easier
to express herself in print than with speech because
of the opportunity for editing. At age sixteen her
request for her birthday was permission to apply for
work. I helped her fill out the applications and
coached her for interviewing. She first worked in a
small nursing home cooking, cleaning, and doing
laundry. Next she worked in a restaurant cooking,
cleaning, waiting tables, and
running errands. She learned to listen to a greater
variety of people, meet and converse with new people,
carry out multiple tasks, budget a paycheck, and
budget her time, all in relatively homey atmospheres.
She telephoned me often to ask for help and advice in
dealing with people and unfamiliar tasks. She
decided to take her GED as soon as the law allowed,
at age eighteen. Soon after this she took her ACT. She
attended community college classes full-time for two
years while working twenty to thirty hours per week in
a second restaurant.
She made A's, B's, and C's. Next she worked in a
Walmart store, where many types of work can be learned
and tried. Now at age twenty-two
she works third shift in a pizza factory: dismantling,
maintaining, and sterilizing equipment, and helping
out in any department that needs her. This is not
glamorous
but pays fairly well. She chose not to continue
school. At home, on her own computer, she researches a
vast range of subjects, including dyslexia and
homeschooling (which I tend to think of as
unschooling). She is amazingly creative. She thinks
it's no big deal to make from scratch, with no
pattern, perfectly tailored doll clothes or Halloween
costumes for her younger sister. She bakes without
recipes or by using her own variations on cookbook
recipes. If she makes herself sit still
long enough she can draw anything with nearly
photographic quality. Which brings me to my current
understanding of dyslexia, as not a disability but
rather a way of being. With the areas of the brain so
interactive, the dyslexic is dreamy all the time.
Slipping into meditative states is normal,
effortless, and done without forethought. The
intuitive and creative problem-solving abilities are
strongly emphasized. The subconscious uprush is a way
of life. Sensitivity is dramatic. The dyslexic can't
help noticing everything at once, and sometimes
feels a bit overwhelmed, but they tend to be able to
do and think about several things at once. I
personally can't help responding to all the
stimulation, but my daughter sometimes
pretends to ignore it all. She needs a lot of quiet
time alone. Too much activity is very unsettling for
her. At age twenty-five I began to write a bit of
poetry. Over the years this has developed. I never
consciously compose my writing, and in fact cannot
write about something out of a simple desire to do so,
it's more like a spring-fed stream from the depths of
my soul. I feel it welling up and am agitated until
running it through pen or keyboard. But getting the
job done is a slow process, requiring lots of editing
to correct what I wrote instead of what I meant. I
was thirty years old before I began to feel confident
and capable in organizing my own thoughts and body of
knowledge and experience into lengthy conversations.
Okay, that's as far as I'll go for now. I know this
note is very long, but still there are likely to be
holes in it because I've tried to be brief. Feel free
to ask for more, or to ask me to explain myself.
=====
Diana
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Buy the perfect holiday gifts at Yahoo! Shopping.
http://shopping.yahoo.com
Sarah Carothers
Dear Diana,
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing all that out and explaining what you see, feel, read, etc. I had no idea until I read your post what it's like to have dyslexia. I can only say again THANK you for opening up my eyes. I still don't know if my dd is dyslexic (I would suspect to some degree she is) but this kind of information is priceless.
Sarah
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing all that out and explaining what you see, feel, read, etc. I had no idea until I read your post what it's like to have dyslexia. I can only say again THANK you for opening up my eyes. I still don't know if my dd is dyslexic (I would suspect to some degree she is) but this kind of information is priceless.
Sarah
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Leslie
Diana E,
Thanks for posting this great interpretation of "dyslexia" and your personal experience!! I have a brilliant son who deals with many of the issues you describe and who I feel I understand so much better after reading your post. It's so difficult for him to describe his experience and he was so excited to read your post with me! He knows he's different and sometimes he feels confused/concerned about his intelligence or lack of in the eyes of some. A mothers reassurance isn't always enough. Reading about someone's real life experience, not a text book definition, had a very positive effect.
....Speaking in clear smooth sentences is sometimes easy and sometimes nearly impossible. I might say an entirely different word than the one I am thinking, or say something that doesn't sound like any word at all.....
This really rang a bell with him! We used to say that he was reluctant to accept that words had been created before he had a chance to create better ones.<bg> We've always enjoyed his unique way of making meaning and seeing the world, he's expanded us all!
Leslie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Thanks for posting this great interpretation of "dyslexia" and your personal experience!! I have a brilliant son who deals with many of the issues you describe and who I feel I understand so much better after reading your post. It's so difficult for him to describe his experience and he was so excited to read your post with me! He knows he's different and sometimes he feels confused/concerned about his intelligence or lack of in the eyes of some. A mothers reassurance isn't always enough. Reading about someone's real life experience, not a text book definition, had a very positive effect.
....Speaking in clear smooth sentences is sometimes easy and sometimes nearly impossible. I might say an entirely different word than the one I am thinking, or say something that doesn't sound like any word at all.....
This really rang a bell with him! We used to say that he was reluctant to accept that words had been created before he had a chance to create better ones.<bg> We've always enjoyed his unique way of making meaning and seeing the world, he's expanded us all!
Leslie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Elsa Haas
Many, many years ago, I read a book called Reversals, by a woman who
considered herself dyslexic and had only learned to read well (after having
sort of snuck her way through school, relying a lot on her memory) when her
husband found out she couldnt.
I dont know whether Id recommend the book now or not, since I read it long
before I had any ideas on the subject. But I do remember that when she was a
little girl, her grandmother used to have her read aloud and then throw the
book at her head when she made a mistake. I wondered, even way back then (I
was a teenager) just what was cause and what was effect in her particular
case.
I love stories told from the inside of whatever disability or other
condition is under discussion. Thanks for yours, Diana. Tell us more.
Elsa Haas
-----Original Message-----
From: Leslie [mailto:leslie@...]
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2001 12:02 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Living/Learning/Teaching With Dyslexia
Diana E,
Thanks for posting this great interpretation of "dyslexia" and your personal
experience!! I have a brilliant son who deals with many of the issues you
describe and who I feel I understand so much better after reading your post.
It's so difficult for him to describe his experience and he was so excited
to read your post with me! He knows he's different and sometimes he feels
confused/concerned about his intelligence or lack of in the eyes of some. A
mothers reassurance isn't always enough. Reading about someone's real life
experience, not a text book definition, had a very positive effect.
....Speaking in clear smooth sentences is sometimes easy and sometimes
nearly impossible. I might say an entirely different word than the one I am
thinking, or say something that doesn't sound like any word at all.....
This really rang a bell with him! We used to say that he was reluctant to
accept that words had been created before he had a chance to create better
ones.<bg> We've always enjoyed his unique way of making meaning and seeing
the world, he's expanded us all!
Leslie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
considered herself dyslexic and had only learned to read well (after having
sort of snuck her way through school, relying a lot on her memory) when her
husband found out she couldnt.
I dont know whether Id recommend the book now or not, since I read it long
before I had any ideas on the subject. But I do remember that when she was a
little girl, her grandmother used to have her read aloud and then throw the
book at her head when she made a mistake. I wondered, even way back then (I
was a teenager) just what was cause and what was effect in her particular
case.
I love stories told from the inside of whatever disability or other
condition is under discussion. Thanks for yours, Diana. Tell us more.
Elsa Haas
-----Original Message-----
From: Leslie [mailto:leslie@...]
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2001 12:02 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Living/Learning/Teaching With Dyslexia
Diana E,
Thanks for posting this great interpretation of "dyslexia" and your personal
experience!! I have a brilliant son who deals with many of the issues you
describe and who I feel I understand so much better after reading your post.
It's so difficult for him to describe his experience and he was so excited
to read your post with me! He knows he's different and sometimes he feels
confused/concerned about his intelligence or lack of in the eyes of some. A
mothers reassurance isn't always enough. Reading about someone's real life
experience, not a text book definition, had a very positive effect.
....Speaking in clear smooth sentences is sometimes easy and sometimes
nearly impossible. I might say an entirely different word than the one I am
thinking, or say something that doesn't sound like any word at all.....
This really rang a bell with him! We used to say that he was reluctant to
accept that words had been created before he had a chance to create better
ones.<bg> We've always enjoyed his unique way of making meaning and seeing
the world, he's expanded us all!
Leslie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
ADVERTISEMENT
<http://rd.yahoo.com/M=178320.1681224.3270152.1261774/D=egroupweb/S=17050819
72:HM/A=879173/R=0/*http://www.fastweb.com/ib/yahoo-76f>
Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
To unsubscribe, set preferences, or read archives:
http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom
Another great list sponsored by Home Education Magazine!
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sharon Rudd
Dear Diana
Thankyou
Sharon
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Thankyou
Sharon
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