|
Dear mother
started store several weeks i have growed considerably I don't
look much like a Boy now hows all the fold did you recieve a Box
of Books Memphis that he promised to send them languages
Your son AL
(19 yrs)
Al
was Thomas Alva Edison whom we know as the inventor of the
electric bulb, the gramophone and 1,300 other patents. Al was
thought to be a dunce as a schoolboy and got thrown out of the
public schools of Michigan, USA!
His
mother, to whom he wrote the above letter, was a women of great
determination and undertook the painstaking job of teaching
Edison at home. Yet this brilliant scientist never really
mastered basic skill of writing, spelling and arithmetic. Edison
was Dyslexic.
What is
Dyslexia?
This
website tells you about children like Edison, and several such 'poor
school performers'. These children suffer from the
neurological disorder called Dyslexia-more technically called
Specific learning disability. They do not have mental
retardation.
The
word Dyslexia comes from the Greek language, meaning '
difficulty with words' the concept was enlarged to learning
disabilities because in many children the difficulty is not only
with words but with other skills of learning as well.
In the
league of the bright and famous
In
History there is a long list of famous Dyslexics, which includes
names like Thomas Alva Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert
Einstein, Woodrow Wilson and Winston Churchill.
Churchill was prime minister, a great orator and won a Nobel
prize for literature. Yet his school reports showed a boy doing
miserably in class. His father wrote of him, "I have an
idiot of a son".
But,
dyslexic Churchill was fortunate to receive a special coaching,
entered the Royal Military College were he did not need much of
writing skills, and the rest is history.
Einstein was capable of the most advanced scientific thinking,
but he failed at school where he had difficulty in learning to
read. Even as an adult, writing continued to be a problem for
him.
How
common is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia was thought to be a rare disorder, but current
statistics in the west and India show that 10 per cent pf
children are affected by this handicap. It is an alarming
thought that a school of 1,000 children at least 100 could be
Learning Disabled!
Fortunately, mild forms of Dyslexia are more common than severe
forms. Boys are affected three times more than girls because of
genetic reasons.
Why
diagnose Dyslexia?
It is
important to detect and diagnose Learning Disabilities early in
childhood because it is of great consequence for the parent, the
teacher and above all the affected child who then receives
special remedial coaching
- If Dyslexia is
correctly diagnosed, it gives the parents the relief that it
is a 'disorder' entity, and not their fault or their
child's
- Having a
name for scholastic problem helps the teachers to go 'easy'
on Dyslexic children. It also helps them to teach these
children with patience, using 'teaching
strategies' developed
for remedial teaching.
- Above all, the
relief is for the child. When it is explained to him
why he cannot perform well in class in spite of his efforts,
it removes his anxiety.
There
are several reasons why Dyslexic but intelligent children are
born with this invisible handicap. The next page examines some
of these causes. |
