Learning to live with dyslexia

By CATHERINE MASTERS

Kendal Mullane did not know she was dyslexic until she was 13. She has spent years thinking she was dumb and "slow."

Now 15, Kendal says her old school in Remuera actually said as much to her mother, Nicki Mullane: "They told mum I was a slow learner and that I would eventually pick up ... "

She did not miraculously pick up and the teasing by classmates continued, leaving her self-esteem in tatters.

When a teacher finally realised there was something not quite right about the bright young student, Kendal's life took a turn for the better. She was put in touch with Speld (Specific Learning Disabilities Federation), underwent psychological assessment and was found to be dyslexic.

"I'd never heard it before," Kendal said yesterday. "I thought it was like some disease that I had caught ... "

Once diagnosed she was able to access a reader-writer - a person who would read her the questions in examinations and write down the answers for her - and her grades shot up.

She cannot read the Harry Potter books just yet. Her dream? To become a paediatrician.

According to Lyn Robertson, the vice-president of Speld, Kendal's story is typical of thousands of children.

Often the words written on a dyslexic child's school report are along the lines of "Johnny must try harder," but those words are gutting to the child.

The trouble is, little Johnny tries harder than any other child in the class but still cannot improve. He does not see the letters on a page as do the rest of the class, he just sees a series of meaningless marks and he falls behind.

His parents may not realise he processes information differently to other children - and the teachers at his school may have put him down as a slow learner.

Dyslexia affects at least 7 per cent of the population, according to Speld, an organisation which supports families and tutors children and adults with learning difficulties. But, says Mrs Robertson, teachers going through training college get no education whatsoever about children who have learning disorders.

Because these disorders are hidden it is as if they do not exist, she says.

"It's very, very hard to understand something that you can't see ... that's why they're different from your child who has a broken arm or broken leg.

"Something has gone wrong with the computer wiring. They've got the information there but pulling it out is very difficult.

"Parents of a child with learning difficulties need to understand their child. Any support at home is wonderful. It saves the child."

Mrs Robertson says at school children with learning difficulties like dyslexia are often punished for not being able to learn.

They become frustrated and may act up, or may become very withdrawn. They are told by the other children they are dumb and the result is low self-esteem - even to the point of becoming suicidal. Mrs Robertson, who is also a tutor with Speld, told of one nine-year-old child who put a knife to her own throat because she believed she could not achieve.



"Because a child will process more slowly for various reasons ... they get frustrated and teachers get frustrated with them.

"If they're given a time factor and a reasonable expectation of work then these children can perform and do perform.

"We have children who are dyslexic who grow up to be doctors, teachers, dentists, the whole shebang.

"There's no doubt about it, they have the ability to do it if we can channel their learning in such a way that they can learn."

Instead, in the school system a dyslexic five or six-year-old will be placed in remedial reading classes if the teacher feels they are behind.

But this gives them more of the same learning process and while the one-to-one tuition may help them improve, it is not the right way for them to learn.

"So they will fall back and they will need more remedial reading next year."

Mrs Robertson says it still happens that a dyslexic child will end up aged 16 or 17 and still be undiagnosed.

She tells of another nine-year-old girl she saw this week who was going to be kept in at school during her interval and lunch hour until she had completed all the work set by her teacher.

"She's a slow processor and she can't work fast.

"This is a punishment for her [because they think] she's naughty and lazy."

The child was not naughty and she was being punished doubly through being kept in and also by missing out on the much-needed rest and relaxation of her breaks.

The child is also punished at night with the amount of homework she is expected to complete, says Mrs Robertson.

The girl's mother helps her with her maths, which she finds very difficult, then has to complete her normal homework.

"This is where I ask the parent to write a letter to the teacher saying, 'My child has worked extremely hard for the past two hours, she has done as much as she is able to do. Please accept this as sufficient.'

"You really do need to negotiate ... you have to be a pretty feisty parent. If you then get nowhere, see the principal, or ask your Speld tutor to explain that the child was not being disobedient, but in fact was crying out for help.

"Then I tell the parent again, please find out more about why your child is like this. Please understand it, don't be cross, it's not deliberate."

Parents, too, can get counselling through Speld.

Di Grant, the national president of Speld, says it is a "national scandal" that for more than 30 years the learning needs of thousands of children have been neglected, or not even recognised.

"There is a real link between this neglect and the fact our jails are overflowing with people who have literacy problems.

"There is also a link between the loss of self-esteem that is suffered by children as young as six when they don't meet the expectations of teachers ... expectations which are, perhaps, not realistic."

What parents can do


* See the class teacher.

* Have the child's hearing and eyesight checked.

* See the principal of the school and ask about an assessment by a psychologist.

* Ask your family doctor or a paediatrician for help.

* Do not be ashamed of your child's disability.

* Be satisfied with minor achievements.

* Contact a Speld office near you.

* Try to understand your child's problem.

* Speld's Auckland office can be contacted at (09) 624-3771.


Links


Speld