Nothing is Permanent Except Change
October 26, 2021
The real world of dyslexia is to continually be adapting and adjusting to new skills, new challenges, different teachers and learning environments, finding new ways to leverage your strengths, and new ways to overcome or accommodate your difficulties. There is no “solution” to dyslexia.
There is no set of rules to follow which will guarantee successful results for every person with dyslexia. Each person who has dyslexia has a unique combination of skills and challenges.
As daunting as this may sound, it is actually an adventure of discovering who you are and what you are capable of achieving. The better you understand yourself and what makes you tick, the better able you are to find environments that support your learning, to advocate for yourself, and to really use those tremendous strengths you have to bring your unique perspective to every situation.
As a parent of children with dyslexia, I view my role as helping my kids discover what makes them tick, and supporting them in finding ways to learn effectively that work for THEM.
It may not make sense to me, but if it works for them, that is what matters.
Give your kids lots of opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities of all varieties. Let them find their strengths, be it cooking (Jamie Oliver), acting (Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightly, Anthony Hopkins), arts (John Lennon, Andy Warhol), sports (Muhammad Ali, Magic Johnson, Jackie Stewart), public speaking (Winston Churchill), politics (California Governor Gavin Newsom), science (Jack Horner – paleontologist, Alexander Graham Bell, Carol W. Grieder – Nobel Prize winner 2009) or whatever catches their interest. Give them time to explore and experiment on their own, find their own entertainment. Expose them to lots of new ideas through audiobooks, documentaries, YouTube learning channels, etc.
There is no reason for their reading challenges to stop them from learning about anything that interests them. They just need help to get started.
The biggest challenge I have had is keeping up with my kids’ ever changing interests, but it is worth the time and effort to do so. Also, don’t get upset when their interests change. This is a good thing because it means they are learning and exploring, widening their world.
Go with the flow and let them have fun following the rabbit trails of their minds.
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