What Is It Like Being Dyslexic?

Did you know that students cannot outgrow dyslexia? Dyslexia is a neurobiological difference that people are born with. For parents, once your student has a dyslexia diagnosis, learning all of the new information about this learning disability can be empowering. However, all of this info can also be overwhelming. One of the most important ideas to consider as a parent of a dyslexic child is the child’s personal experience and perspective. Discovering some of the daily difficulties your dyslexic student faces can help with empathy and overall understanding of your child’s daily life. Read on to discover some answers to the question: What is it like to be dyslexic?

Reading and writing can be most challenging. Dyslexia presents problems for students with all of the subskills that are needed for effective reading and spelling. Things like hearing and manipulating sounds, attaching letter names and sounds, and phonological memory all present a challenge for students who are working on reading and writing in class each day. Typical classroom settings require students to rely on their ability to use all these skills rather quickly when doing read-alouds, independent reading and writing work, or note-taking. 

The anxiety is real. Imagine that you’re a student who is struggling with the challenges of dyslexia, and then you’re called upon to read out loud in a group of your peers. Reading in class requires a student who has issues with decoding text, visual tracking, new vocabulary, and sequencing of events to showcase these difficulties in front of friends and peers. This can be anxiety-inducing for many students with dyslexia, and in turn, it can lead to avoidant behavior or embarrassment. When your dyslexic brain is working so hard on all of these skills, it is hard to include inflection and expression in reading, which can lead to even more anxiety around reading. Dyslexia on Demand works with students in one-on-one sessions to improve all of these reading skills, aiming to both find success in academics as well as in reducing anxiety around academic performance. 

Listening presents a challenge as well. Imagine being a student who needs to take notes on a science field trip. Not only do you need to navigate the social world of a field trip with your friends, you need to follow instructions to take detailed notes on a worksheet. For a student with dyslexia, tuning out the noise of other teachers and students can be extremely difficult. All of the extra sounds in the environment can make it so easy to lose focus and so tough to understand the concepts that you’re being asked to learn. In short, a dyslexic student’s brain can be exhausted at the end of any school day—whether they’re on a field trip or in class. Filtering out irrelevant stimuli, shifting attention, and working on inner language skills can be so taxing on a dyslexic student. 

The dyslexic experience is not one size fits all. It is important to note that dyslexia can be mild to severe—and anywhere in between. This points to why testing and a diagnosis is so important. Students can have mild deficiencies in certain areas and excel in others. At Dyslexia on Demand, we work with Certified Academic Language Therapists (CALTs) who look at individual students’ testing data; from there, we can target and adjust our dyslexia therapy program to students’ specific needs. Our dyslexia therapy programs put less emphasis on the curriculum and more emphasis on the quality and caliber of the interaction between students and CALTs. CALTs can make adaptations for different deficits in students. 

Handwriting can be hard too. Very often, dyslexia can occur in students alongside dysgraphia. This makes copying notes or writing quickly quite difficult. This makes functioning in class each day that much harder. 

Dyslexia is for life. It is important to understand that dyslexia does not go away. That said, it’s wise to take advantage of the great tools and technology that can be used alongside dyslexia therapy. Things like assistive technology and accommodations in the classroom can be so helpful to address students’ specific needs. 

It’s not all bad. Students with dyslexia can be exceptionally intelligent—even though their learning disorder may make them feel otherwise. Dyslexic students often have amazing listening comprehension skills, empathy, warmth, adaptability, and resiliency. 

How can you help? As a parent, you’re aware of many of the frustrations that dyslexic students face. 

Accommodating and supporting your student is key. Perhaps the best way to support your student with dyslexia is with a strong dyslexia therapy program. With proper therapy and intervention, the experts at Dyslexia on Demand can work with your student to overcome dyslexia and to create new neural pathways in the brain.

Discover more at Dyslexia on Demand. Visit our YouTube channel to learn more, or go to our website to book a free consultation.