By Mike Styles
My father had dyslexia
He was a very clever man, but he struggled to read, write and spell. Like many other people with dyslexia, he relied on others to do any reading, writing and spelling for him. He ran a dairy farm for 40 years and did some innovative and creative things on the farm. He grew Kiwifruit and tamarillos in Te Horo before anyone knew it was even possible.
How do we reconcile the inability to read and write with people who are capable and intelligent? It is the paradox of dyslexia. Some of the world’s most successful people are known to have dyslexia, including Bill Gates, Sir Richard Branson and Steve Jobs. Some dyslexic Kiwis include Paul Henry – the broadcaster, Scott “Razor” Robertson – the All Blacks coach, and Peter Leitch – the Mad Butcher.
Perhaps the saddest thing of all is that many children still go through the education system without their dyslexia being picked up and addressed.
The 10% of the population who are dyslexic are often mocked
Worldwide the proportion of people with dyslexia is a minimum of 10% of the population. In New Zealand that equates to at least half a million Kiwis. Another 250,000 have related neurodiverse conditions like ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Most will not have been diagnosed or supported for their dyslexia. That means that most will have underachieved at school, and many have dropped out. Many go on to be unemployed or under-employed.
Sadly, people who struggle to read, write and spell are often mocked for their challenges. Many people assume that, because they cannot read well, they must be stupid. It is very sad to know that you struggle with something that other people find easy. The natural response is to hide in the shadows – so people will not mock them. It is called “masking” and many people with dyslexia consume lots of emotional energy to hide their challenges.
Dyslexic students can learn to read
Children with dyslexia can learn to read, but they need different strategies and teaching practices. The new Structured Literacy Program that is being introduced to schools to improve Kiwi children’s literacy levels, does help dyslexic children a lot, although it is not a complete solution.
Perhaps the saddest thing of all is that many children still go through the education system without their dyslexia being picked up and addressed. They go on to believe that they are somehow less intelligent and capable than their peers.
World Dyslexia Awareness Week is the week 7 to 13 October and the theme this year is “People with Dyslexia tell their stories”. Here on the Kapiti Coast, there is a local promotion where young people with dyslexia tell their stories.
To encourage young people to be brave enough to tell their stories, there will be prizes awarded in two categories: under 13 years, and 13 – 19 years
Mike’s book Congratulations – You Have Dyslexia: Great Minds Think Differently is available for $40 + $7.00 packaging and post. Send Mike details at mike.styles@dyslexia-consulting.com and deposit $47 in KiwiBank account M and L Styles 38-9000-0094634-01
When my mother , Doris taught in low decile state schools in the 1930s-40s in Otago she recalled that she personally never saw a dyslexic pupil , only slow readers, although she did have a cousin with dyslexic tendencies. She narrated that as a teacher you lost grading if you failed to have every child in the class reading at a seven year old level when they were seven years old. Inspectors checked this out.
There were a number of factors that contributed in achieving this Scottish ideal of Universal Literacy. Parents owned the home based reading books with phonic lists in the back and there was an expectation the parents or extended family participated fully in sharing in the child’s reading instruction. Intensive phonics (aka Structured Literacy) was the method and every child’s reading was heard orally every day. Immediately a child ‘s reading was detected to be slipping they were given extra tuition by the teacher before or after school or lunch time or during afternoon craft lessons. The parents were alerted and also did extra tuition at home. It was an absolute grind to achieve this literacy level with the less able students.
Forward to the 1970s when Doris used the exact same phonic methods , to teach with the same determination , here on the Kapiti Coast . Because of her success rate she had up to a 100 students per week which over the years included hundreds of dyslexic students for which she was given a QSM in 2000.
I believe Mike has done a good job highlighting the plight of dyslexics and the misery illiteracy imposes on people. However I challenge a couple of his statements.
1) Dyslexics make up 10% of the population. From Doris’ experiences this percentage needs to be halved at least . Phonics, from recent neuroscience research needs to be taught , highly systematically and explicitly at early and later primary school levels especially for dyslexics with emphasis on phonic and whole word spelling , written work and comprehension. No school in this area is doing this thoroughly that I know of.
(2 Dyslexics can have high intelligence but those with dyslexia conform to the normal distribution in intelligence.
(3) Structured Literacy is enough if taught thoroughly if combined with whole word learning which dyslexics are also poor at.
My own child had dysgraphia and dyslexia but as an adult now has none of the symptoms. He excels at IT. Doris also taught a 55year old to read so he could read the bible to his blind mother.
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