Living with Dyslexia: True Stories

The stories of brilliant C students inspire many parents whose children do not study as brilliantly as they would like. Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Jamie Oliver, Steven Spielberg, business guru Richard Branson, IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad are just a few of the names of those who earned a reputation in school as lazy and dumb, and then disproved it with amazing success in science, business, art. These people have one thing in common: dyslexia.

It is the difficulties in recognizing letters and reading, as well as the “relatives” of dyslexia – dysgraphia (difficulties with writing), dyscalculia (counting errors), ADHD – more often than anything, lead to the fact that children do not get out of twos, get unflattering marks from teachers and offensive nicknames from classmates.

In the world, the problem of dyslexia has been studied quite well: the International Dyslexia Association dates back to 1949. For dyslexic children, there are specialized schools, methods have been developed to correct their problems. All this helps them cope with the school curriculum and reveal their talents: a rich imagination, a powerful memory, the ability to communicate, developed empathy.

The Russian Association of Parents and Children with Dyslexia is only four years old. Its founder, Maria Piotrovskaya, encountered school difficulties with her daughter and, having gone through fire, water and copper pipes, she realized that the problem must be solved in a comprehensive manner. The Association she created conducts educational activities, helps teachers work with children with dyslexia, develops techniques so that children can learn on an equal basis with everyone else.

Recently, the Center for Helping Children with Learning Difficulties has been launched on the Web, which provides free online consultations with specialists to anyone who needs them. We share the stories of children who got a chance for a quality education and the respect of society.

Matthew

Elena, the boy’s mother, says: “Matvey is now 10 years old. When he went to school, I did not understand how you can write so dirty, make so many mistakes. It seemed to me that my son was mocking me. At the beginning of the second grade, our Russian teacher called me for a conversation. She asked me what I thought about Matvey’s work. I replied that now we do little with him because of the addition to the family. The teacher said that was not the problem. She recommended going to a speech therapist. The speech therapist confirmed the dysgraphia.

I started working with Matvey at home, along with weekly sessions with a speech therapist at school. We quickly saw results. And last fall, I learned about the Dyslexia Awareness Week, which was held at the Hermitage. I spoke with professors, speech therapists, neuropsychologists, and parents of children with similar difficulties.

Then for the first time I thought: how does my child feel? How does he live with it? I started to follow the life of the Association of Parents and Children with Dyslexia, and as soon as it became possible to undergo online diagnostics from specialists, we immediately did it. Now we have a route sheet with a description of what needs to be done to help Matvey: manuals, exercises, massage, games. It remains to take and do. “

Speech therapist Elena Kruglova explains: “At the speech therapy examination, Matvey showed himself to be an active boy, ready to work. After conducting speech tests, talking with him and his mother Elena, studying his written works, we selected manuals and gave him recommendations for studying at home. Together with the help of specialists, the sensitive attitude of teachers to the peculiarities of Matvey and the involvement of parents in the correctional process, there will definitely be a positive trend.”

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Yulia, the girl’s mother, says: “When Sonya went to school, she could not put the letters in the right order. The class teacher said: “Everything is bad with you. It’s either pedagogical neglect or something else.” I found a tutor and during the winter holidays I took Sonia to her every day, and I also read with her at home. For two weeks, I tortured the child so much that she began to close her ears and eyes, just not to read.

Thanks to consultations with a specialist in parent-child relations, I realized that my daughter needed help, not screams and reproaches. I helped Sonya with her homework and stopped pushing. And at school there are limits: children must read a certain number of words in a certain period of time. Sonya is terribly afraid of reading. Once she confessed to me that when the children in the class read in a chain, she calculated when her turn would come, and for several people she asked to go to the toilet.

I finished the first class with a lot of stress. In order not to waste time in the summer, I found a speed reading school. After the first classes, the teacher asked if I knew what dyslexia was (I didn’t know), and offered Sonya simpler tasks. We practiced all summer three times a week. Sonya hoped that she would come to school in the second grade, read 50 words at once, and the teacher would say: “Sonya, what a great fellow you are! That’s progress.”

But when the school began to check the reading technique, Sonya was confused. At home, she burst into tears and said that she was stupid and stupid and she was ashamed that I was taking her everywhere, teaching her, but there was no point. I was terribly upset. On the same day there was a parent meeting. I came early to talk to the teacher. I don’t know what had the effect, but I saw in the teacher’s eyes the realization that fast reading is simply not in the power of a child.

The teacher knew that Sonya was studying, she overestimated the grades for dictations and presentations so as not to injure her. As a result, Sonya got triples in Russian. And it was the triples that played a cruel joke with us: in the status of HIA (disabled health) and the adapted program, she was denied because they were not deuces …

The nearest center for psychological, pedagogical and social assistance agreed to organize for Sonya one session with a speech therapist and one session with a psychologist per week, but due to the coronavirus, these classes also stopped. Fortunately, even earlier I contacted the Association of Parents and Children with Dyslexia. Thanks to consultations with specialists from the online center of the association, now I am working with Sonya myself using the manuals that were recommended to us. It is difficult, but there are no other options yet … “

Elena Kruglova explains: “Sonya is a smart girl, but it was noticeable how difficult it is for her to read. She did well with speech tests. It is these situations that are sometimes confusing: why can a speech therapist or psychologist make up a story for a child who speaks normally from a picture, does not confuse sounds by ear?

But for correct writing and reading, the processes of memory, attention, and control are very important. Difficulties with them are difficult to notice, so it seems to parents or teachers that the child is simply inattentive or lazy. Fortunately, speech therapy and neuropsychological examinations help to understand the causes of errors.”

Olga Velichenkova, Research Supervisor of the Center for Assistance to Children with Learning Difficulties, says: “The requests parents and professionals make to our online center reflect the entire spectrum of support problems for children with learning difficulties in Russia. This includes poor awareness, difficult access to assistance, and a lack of specialists. Against this background, pseudo-methods are spreading that promise a quick relief from dyslexia and dysgraphia. The creation of the Center is an important step towards bringing together the efforts of parents and teachers in order to create an accessible and effective system of assistance.”