Do you know anyone who is the parent of a dyslexic child? If you do, you’ve probably heard about the tears and heartache they have to deal with at home. Every. Day.
Little Suzie comes home, dejected, discouraged, and disheartened, with yet another heart-break story. At the end of which the tears flow, with outbursts of, “I don’t want to go back to school,’ punctuating the sobs.
Unless you have witnessed a scene like this, you won’t understand the palpable fear and abject horror that engulfs some of the most brilliant children, because their teacher didn’t see things the way they did, and ridiculed their answers in class.
As I write this, a TikTok video comes to mind. Perhaps you saw it too. And maybe, it was created for humor, but it immediately brought the plight of our dyslexic children to the top of my mind.
A father was working through a mathematics problem with his daughter. He starts by saying, “I’m explaining to you. Why are you not understanding?”
Then he proceeds to state the math problem, “I have 5 apples. I take away 2. How many apples do I have left?”
The little girl repeats while counting on her fingers, “So you have 5 apples. You take away 2. So you have 2 apples.”
Raising his voice, he repeats, with his hands in the air and fingers spread out, “I take away 2. Five… I take away 2 (curling down the thumb and index fingers). Count my fingers.”
Crying, the girl says, “I don’t know, then. You say you took 2 apples, so you have 2 apples, Papa.”
In exasperation, the father raises his arm and exclaims, “Where are you finding these numbers? Five…I take 2. What’s left?” Then rubs his forehead.
He proceeds to count out 5 apples (3 red and 2 green) while placing them on the table. One, two, three, four, five apples. Grabbing one green apple with each hand, he says, “I take 2 apples. How many do I have?”
“You took 2, so you have 2 apples, Papa.” The tears are flowing now.
Thus the scene ends with the father frustrated and upset, and the child crushed and crying.
Although this may seem humorous to some, it is a lived experience for many dyslexic children. Non-dyslexic parents, ignorantly, explain concepts to their children over and overusing the same words and illustrations, not understanding that the abstract language they are using is causing confusion and disorientation in the child’s mind. The more confused and disoriented the child becomes, the less likely she is to process and comprehend what you’re trying to teach her.
When teachers are unaware of possible differences in perspective from that of their students, and hammer away to get their point through, they may instead birth a hatred for school.
After all is said and done, the main goal of teaching must be to instill a love of learning, rather than to require that concepts be grasped in exactly the same way as the teacher.
Has your child suffered, similarly, in school?
Did you have any unpleasant learning experiences as a child?
To view the TikTok video, click here: https://bit.ly/33yGEtN
Florence, such a heart-ripping subject. I was that kid. It took me decades to get over being belittled for my intelligence and broader view of questions posed. Thank you for this post!
Oh, Kebba! I’m so sorry you had to go through that pain as a child. Thank God for kind people along the journey of life. They help to restore worth in broken children. I’m so happy you are an overcomer. Are you dyslexic?
There is a lot said about learning disabilities and less about learning style, and less about learning ability. Have you read much about teaching disabilities? Teaching style is easily studied but what about teaching ability.
How many parents have a new appreciation for the classroom teacher when they have to help their children with online learning?
I spent a year teaching electronics and related math and science in a community college. It was the most challenging job I have ever had.
Blog on!
Thanks, Doug, for your perceptive response. As a state-licensed and ASHA certified speech-language pathologist, I have thought about and taught on learning styles, learning abilities, and teaching disabilities. 😊 Effective teaching is challenging and takes deep thought and careful preparation. Not many people are willing to put in the time and effort to excel as teachers. Usually, those are the ones who criticize and negatively label our children who learn differently from how most educational systems are set up.