A dyslexic child is a bundle of mysterious enigma. The more one unravels the truth the more layers of mysteries wait to be uncovered. With each secret uncovered one cannot help but discover oneself being gradually and intensely falling in love with this child. He is brimming with bliss and talent. He is sharp, intelligent and has a high degree of IQ, yet paradoxically, he struggles to read and write and to maintain a pace in academics like the rest of the children. Written words don’t make sense to him. 

On the exterior, to an onlooker, he may come across as an normal healthy boy lost in his own world, who is lazy and hyperactive. However there is a volley of emotions he is surcharged with. Gifted with an intensely thinking mind and huge areas of strength, in brief he is like the precious porcelain artifact with dire need to be handled with utmost delicacy. Emotionally sensitive there lies the lurking fear that if he is not handled with enough compassion and understanding he may crackle and break.

Each one of us yearns for an atmosphere of tranquility and harmony. However the need is manifold in these children. Shower them with the requisite conducive atmosphere and then watch them bloom and unleash a bundle of beautiful joyous surprises for you.

Dyslexic children are visually multidimensional thinkers. They are intuitive and highly creative and excel at hands on learning experience. They think in pictures. Paradoxically, it is hard for them to understand letters, numbers, symbols and written words. These children often substitute similar letters or words for the correct ones and may mix up the order of words in a sentence. Skipping words or lines are the signs of a dyslexic child. Dyslexia can affect a person’s ability to read individual words and to understand the meaning of a sentence.

However this is certainly not a problem of great magnitude. It can be brought into control with a tremendous amount of patience, perseverance and innovative methods. They can learn to read, write and study efficiently when they use methods geared to their unique learning style. Innovative and out of the box thinking are sure shot techniques which will not only generate interest in the child but fling open the doors of learning for them. Each case of dyslexia is unique because it results from a combination of an underlying talent or predisposition and environmental influences and unsuccessful learning experiences. As a result, no two dyslexics will have the same set of symptoms.

Challenges
The challenge lies in finding innovative means to offset the problem by successful use of visual thinking at an early stage. This gift works well for recognising real life objects, but not printed symbols such as alphabets and words. Disorientation is turned on by confusion, so the stress and invalidation typically encountered during the early school years compound the problem. Mental tricks are adopted to give the appearance of learning. Loss of self-esteem causes many dyslexics to adopt ingenious methods to hide their learning disability.  

Since the child is inherently gifted with superior intelligence at a tender age, the child suspects something wrong, hence he becomes increasingly confused which produces more disorientation. He is bewildered and lost in a world that  fails to understand or  has an answer to his predicament. Everybody seems to be upset so the cognitively challenged child also gets upset which results in giving rise to behavioural problems.

Restoring a person’s self esteem is truly the most important part of undoing dyslexia and other learning problems, including ADD and hyperactivity. Unlearning the lesson that they are stupid is the most important lesson that parents and teachers need to impart to the child. A cardinal principle that should be deeply drilled into the minds of adults is to fully erase words like ‘stupid’, ‘dumb’ ‘idiot’ and ‘challenged’ from their vocabulary. Never criticise these children for their mistakes or imply something is wrong with them. Gain an understanding of how dyslexics think and emphasise their strong points. Find appropriate methods to help them learn to read and write and study. Some bright kids aren’t ready to start reading until they are eight or nine. They will catch up faster without the burden of self doubt.

Emphasising strengths
Teaching to their interest and strength is the best way to ensure the child’s success. Encourage them to read even those books you may consider to be too lowly or insignificant for their age. It may be a video game, sports, comic book or any subject that captures their interest. Repetition is one of the tactics to help them reinforce their lessons. In tutoring kids, treat symbols and words as games or puzzles to be solved. Make language interesting. The lighter the atmosphere chances of success grow manifold. 

Language skills are dandy, but there is much to be said for real life skills and experimental learning. Give the child credit for these abilities. And you may discover that behind their learning disabilities is a genius in disguise. Or at the least they will be blessed with a high level of intelligence and ability.

Create  an environment which generates positive vibrations in the atmosphere. Though attending school each day may be like a battleground and a mother may dread it even more than the child, the solution is not to let your body language reveal your true feelings.

On no account criticise the teacher before the child. It will amount to discrepancy and disrespecting the teacher adversely deflating  the progress of the child. A line of communication can be drawn. Since most teachers are not well qualified or trained quite a few  gaps will have to be bridged separately. Render unflinching support to the child by never failing to stand by him.
Sincere efforts should be made to drill into his psyche that the only real failure is not to try. Even if things do not go well, if they have made an effort then they are not failures. The attitude of “keep trying” can foster resilience, a trait that will serve them well in life. Self advocacy is another important skill that helps build a healthy self esteem and empowers the child.

Extra effort
It is important to understand just how much effort it takes for these kids to even show up at school. The effort these kids put into an assignment is often many times that of other students, even when their results are disappointing.  Never fall short of words to praise them for each stepping stone. They are very capable individuals who need mental challenges. This is especially true in their areas of strengths. They may learn differently but if engaged they can learn better than most. The only trick is to  speak of  things that interest them, and then learning will become a pleasure.

Only when parents and educators fail, do these children fail. Adults tend to become complacent and comfortable with conventional and rudimentary style of teaching and apply brakes on creativity. Accept the challenge and let open the flood gates of innovation  lying within. A chance for you to grow with the child and discover a side of your personality you never knew ever existed.