1 in 5 children are diagnosed with dyslexia, and my brother is one of them.
Just recently, my family found out that he is dyslexic, and it has been a blessing. Why has it been a blessing? Because he doesn't have to struggle in school anymore. Dyslexic children have problems reading, writing notes, going between the whiteboard and their notebook, and going between a test booklet and a scantron. Now, he will get special accommodations on tests and will be able to use a laptop to take notes. He has managed to get above average test scores on his end of the year exams, and has made it to sixth grade without any major noticeable signs of dyslexia. When we were going through the first few steps of diagnosis, my mom asked him to describe what he say when he read. He ended up finding this picture online, and told her this is what he sees when he reads.
My brother has been seeing this from the time since he was born. It improves when he reads on e-readers or a laptop, but it is still hard. To make it this far and to have done as well as he has, it is truly an incredible accomplishment.
Besides academically, dyslexia can also affect your short term memory. My brother can remember detailed stories from years ago, but probably forgot that I asked him to feed our dogs five minutes ago. Dyslexic children also have a hard time hitting baseballs and can have speech issues. Dyslexic kids can be mistaken as lazy, or they may not seem to care about school. This is because it is so hard for them to do schoolwork not that they do not want to do homework.
My family fell trap to this as well; we always thought he just didn't like school and wasn't listening half the time we talked to him. But it turns out, he just saw the world differently.
Dyslexia is not going to hold my brother back. Being diagnosed will help him get the accommodations he needs. Dyslexia is often called the "genius disease" given the amount of ground breaking people who had it. My brother is now a part of a community that has included George Washington, Albert Einstein, and Walt Disney. These people had some of the greatest, most creative minds in history. No one can say they were not intelligent, and that Mitchell is not as well.
While it was a shock that Mitchell had dyslexia, it is going to have so many positive effects on his learning that we are more excited about his future than ever. My family has been reading more books and learning more statistics than ever before, and are trying to help him as best as we can. I am writing this article because I have learned so much, and I want everyone else to as well.
I want people to catch dyslexia in their family members earlier. Dyslexia has a spectrum; people range from moderate to severe, to barely considered dyslexic. It can also affect people in many different ways. Testing is expensive, but there are lists online of symptoms if you think someone you know may need to be tested. Also, talk to your doctor, ours was a big help for us.
