A Mother and Teacher’s Journey with Dyslexia - Part 1
‘Being different doesn't mean you are flawed. It does not mean you are lazy or stupid. Thinking differently makes you unique and allows for so many different ideas, innovations, and adventures to unravel’. Richard Branson
Dyslexia. It wasn't a word that I had heard of as a young mother. It wasn't a word that was used in either my husband's or my family. It barely even got a mention in my first two teaching degrees. Nevertheless, it is part of our family. It shows itself through fortuitous moments and quirky word switches. Yes it throws challenges and curveballs through schooling, but it has many gifts.
To understand it you must nurture it and be aware of everyone’s unique talent. Only then will you be able to tap into your gift and unlock your potential. This is our family's journey of dyslexia. Well, at least a simplified one from a mother’s perspective!
We were so excited to welcome Mr B into the world. He was a laid-back happy child who was curious of the world around him. Mr B was ahead with his milestones, including walking at 10 months. He loved pulling things apart and putting them back together again. Building Lego was one of his favourite pastimes. He wasn't on a particular time schedule, which was handy when travelling.
Miss R’s personality was different to Mr B’s. She was sweet but liked structure. Time would reveal her love of organisation too (and how foreign it was to my dyslexic children).
Miss H came into the world with a unique heart (see Our Courageous Holly post). Time would show her other special qualities too. Her heart was just the beginning…. .
Mr B started school with a bang. He loved everything about it, the friends and the activities. I was aware that he learnt best through hands-on activities, so I incorporated these into his afternoon homework tasks. Mr B was not picking up reading like I had hoped. He seemed to struggle on the little sight words. He could not remember them. And he moved the book around a lot when he was reading. I organised an educational assessment for him at age 6.
They said he was gifted visually but couldn't complete the auditory test. They said he might be dyslexic but they didn't think so. They recommended seeing a speech therapist. We spent many years at a speech therapist and to be honest I don't know how helpful it was. There was never any mention of dyslexia by the speech therapist.
We moved from one school to another, from the local government school to a smaller private school, and then a larger private school. He made small gains here and there with his literacy. He performed well at sport and other physical activities, he was very social and very artistic. His perception to detail in his drawings was quite exceptional and he was very fast at creating them. He had been progressing well in mathematics until Year 7.
His Maths teacher expressed a desire for Mr B to put his novels down during maths classes so he could focus more on the lessons he gave. Mr B was not a child who liked to read novels so I asked him later what the story was? He said that the teacher made them copy all the writing off the chalk board. “There were so many words, and it was just too hard.” I had never realised how Maths can be like a literacy lesson! It broke my heart.
Miss R did well at school, slowly striving away at all tasks with focus and attention to detail. The only similarity between Mr B and her was that they were both creative, had blonde hair and came from the same parents! Miss H was more of a silent learner. We started her in a smaller school so she could get the extra help with her physical disabilities. She wasn’t making the academic milestones but what emphasis do you place on that with all the medical surgeries she had been through?
Mr B was about age 14 and Miss H about 10 when I was researching for a job application. One of the criteria was to help children with dyslexia so I searched the internet for more information on it. I came across a website that showed what it was like for a dyslexic to read; how the print moves on the page, separates or washes away, see an example here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDFkwkSgjtg.
The penny dropped and I rushed to Mr B to ask him some questions….
Mum: “What is it like when you read a book? Does the print stay still or move? “
Mr B : “It moves.”
Mum: “Does it separate? Wash away? Something else?”
Mr B: “It is together at the beginning but then it washes away.”
I had never thought that print moved on a page for some people!
I asked the same questions to Miss H. The print moved and separated for her too.
We organised a dyslexia assessment through Dyslexia Australia, and it was confirmed that they both had Dyslexia to different degrees. Miss H also had Dyscalculia (Dyslexia in maths). So many things made sense now!
So many questions went through my head:
How have none of the schools that Mr B went too picked this up?
How do I as a teacher not know about this?
How can I help my children?
What can I do to help students with dyslexia?
Are there programs that can help them?
I was told of 2 programs that help people with dyslexia:
Davis Dyslexia program
Orton-Gillingham (called Multisensory Structured Learning MSL in Australia)
See which program we choose in Part 2.