With Halloween right around the corner, it is appropriate to cover the scary myths that haunt dyslexia and other learning differences.

Although an estimated 7,000,000 people have a learning disability, the diagnosis continues to generate more fallacy than fact. Below are some of the most difficult myths for students with learning differences to overcome.

Myth 1. People with learning disabilities are stupid.

By definition those diagnosed with LD must have measurable intelligence ranging from average to high average. In fact, most have average or above average intelligence, and some have cognitive skills that distinguish them as gifted.

Myth 2. Students with Learning Disability or Difference (LD) are lazy.

It is safe to assume that some people with LD are indeed lazy. However, this characteristic is neither limited to, nor diagnostic of LD. Dr. Mel Levine claims in his book, The Myth of Laziness, that it is the natural inclination of every human being to be productive. After struggling to understand their differences and acquire compensatory skills, many students with LD work harder than those for whom learning does not require special accommodation. Richard Lavoie’s book and DVD “Motivation Breakthrough” are excellent sources to understand that these students are motivated too, however we need to consider each person’s unique motivational profile is different than our neighbor’s. 

Myth 3.  Dyslexia or a LD can be cured.

Although the market for new interventions seems infinite, science has not yet found a way to reconfigure the neurological programming that causes LD. Students, however, can eliminate many difficulties by using alternative pathways to learning. Embrace accommodations, but be wary of claims that offer a cure.

Myth 4. Students with LD get unfair advantages.

There will always be those who believe that people with accommodations are cheating the system. Some find learning disabilities hard to acknowledge because they are invisible. Nevertheless, it is important to stress that, just as a wheelchair ramp provides access for people with physical disabilities, learning accommodations give students with LD equal access to knowledge and education.

Myth 5. Everyone is a little Dyslexic.

No. Dyslexia is a diagnosed neurological condition/disorder. You either have or you don’t.  Yes, there is a spectrum of severity of impact, however the public needs to not through the diagnosis around loosely.  When you meet someone and they say my son has autism, it is not appropriate to reply yeah I think I am a little autistic too. Why do some folks feel it is okay to reply this way to a person with dyslexia?

The general definition of dyslexia is:

A language processing difficulty, which manifests in a person’s ability to read, spell and write.

What does this mean? Practically speaking, it means that, when a person reads or writes, they may jumble letters around. Because of this, they may confuse the meaning of certain words.

For instance:

• A dyslexic person might read a word and process its meaning backwards. E.g. – the word “dog” becomes “god.”
• A dyslexic person might confuse consonants. E.g. – “b” becomes “d” or “q” becomes “p.” In these cases the word “box” might become “pox.”
• A dyslexic person might ignore or confuse punctuation marks. E.g. – the word “it’s” becomes “its.”
• A dyslexic person might have difficulty recognizing numbers. E.g. “6” gets confused with “9.”
• A dyslexic person might have difficulty deciphering multi-syllabic words or rhymes.
• Dyslexics might leave out ‘small function’ words such as: “that,” “is,” “an,” etc. Or they confuse such words with other words: E.g. – the word “were” becomes “where,” etc.

Dyslexia is therefore a learning disorder. But these examples only scratch the surface. A more comprehensive list of the symptoms of dyslexia would certainly include:

• obstacles with reading and writing.
• problems with mathematical computations.
• problems with auditory processing.
• difficulty applying organizational skills.
• poor memory.
• sensitivity to light.
• delays in visual and/or phonic processing.

It is very important to remember that unlike other disorders whose symptom are universal and d, dyslexia manifests itself from patient to patient in shockingly different ways. A dyslexic person can experience any number of the above symptoms, and to varying degrees. For this reason, it’s accurate to say that – just as with snowflakes – no two dyslexics are ever alike.

 Modified Source: By Marcia Brown Rubinstien, MA, CEP (from www.smartkidswithld.org)

http://www.ldrfa.org/?pID=13