dysTalk Flip - Dyslexia A New Perspective - Dyslexia - Forum - dysTalk

There are many definitions of dyslexia. One of them is: Dyslexia is a learning disability. This is far from the truth. It is in fact wrong. How can one say it is a learning disability when there are many things the dyslexic children learn at a much faster speed than non dyslexic kids. They can solve puzzles (the kind where you fit cut up pictures to form a picture) at great speed. Most of the kids could do them faster than I can. Lee Kwan Yew, Tom Cruise and Jay Leno are dyslexics and I would not dare say that they have a learning disability. Most of our “learning abilities” are no where near theirs.

Another definition is: Difficulty in learning language. This I believe is because most of the people who write on dyslexia are from countries where they speak only English. All the kids I had taught speak and learn at least two languages. They have to learn both Bahasa Malaysia (Malay language)and English. Most of them also had to learn Mandarin in school. I found that all of them had no problem reading Malay and Han Yu Pin Yin (Romanized Mandarin). This prompted me to ask myself as to why they could read fluently (yes fluently) in Malay and Han Yu Pin Yin and yet struggle with reading in English.

Is it correct to say that they have a language disability? I don’t think so. In fact I completely disagree. It would be interesting to find out how many dyslexics have problem studying Japanese. I don’t think there will be any as Japanese spelling is similar to the Malay Language. In fact I recently chanced upon an article about an Australian dyslexic. I attach the web site here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/bilingual-boy-proves-perfe...

I hope the above story adds credence to my findings.

This newspaper report was in 1999. That is 10 years ago.

The questions that arise are :

* What further study did the Dyslexia Associations of the world do about this report.

* If they did not do anything then why not?

It is obvious to me that my dyslexic students are very logical in their thinking and they have a problem, not in learning phonetically correct languages like Malay and Mandarin in Han Yu Pin Yin, but in learning the English Language which is not logical to them.

Another definition is that dyslexia is a lack of coordination between sight and sound. I will let you decide if this definition is correct. If you say that the definition is correct my question to you is, “Why is it then that my dyslexic students can coordinate between sight and sound (can read) Malay and Mandarin in Han Yu Pin Yin with ease?” “Are Malay and Mandarin not languages? How do you explain the story of the Australian above?

Isn't it obvious that the problem is in coordinating the letters in English with the sound that is not consistent with the letters? Anyone, let alone the dyslexic, will not know how to pronounce the word 'quay' if they have not heard it before.

Another question that comes to my mind is, “Who are the people who coined these definitions?” My guess is that the definitions were coined by those who do not know how to write nor speak in any language other than the English language.

In my country Malaysia most of us speak 2, 3, or 4 languages. All dyslexic children have no problem with any of the languages except for English.

With early intervention even the problem with English is eradicated.

Dyslexic children when not taught in the way they should be taught shut off their mind. They shut off their mind to anything that is not logical to them.

For instance they learn the words 'but' and 'cut' easily but I have seen blank faces when I teach them the word 'put'. Many of my students have asked me as to why I spell 'was' the way I do and not 'wos' the way it should be. Recently one of my students asked me why I say the word 'on' one way and say it differently when it is in the word 'station'.

How do I solve this problem? I simply tell then that the English language is not a logical language. In fact I tell them that it is a nonsense language.

(Please don't misunderstand, I know there are rules as to why some words are written one way and yet pronounced another way. But I do not want to burden them with this at this moment.This is not the time to teach rules. In time they will learn the beauty of the English language.)

The dyslexic children are usually called 'stupid' in the classroom environment not only by their fellow students but sometimes by the teachers as well. Soon they begin to believe that they are stupid and go into a shell and hardly learn any more. When I tell them that they are not stupid but the English language is I can see a smile in their faces. Then I tell them to just pronounce the word as I pronounce it and they do it happily. The point is that this thing takes a little time to sink in (on an average about 2 months) but once they understand that the language is not logical they learn just as fast as any other kid. I find that one to one tuition is a must for these dyslexic children for about a year.

I have written all the above and more in my weblog :http://www.parentingdyslexia.com. Please visit my site and read from the beginning so you will have a better understanding of what I am saying. I will also be giving lessons tailored to the needs of the dyslexic children. I hope you will please inform as many parents and tutors of dyslexic children about my blog. It is completely free of charge and I spend a lot of time on this blog to help as many dyslexic parents out there as possible.

As for me saying that English is a nonsense language please excuse me. I find that that statement gives back the lost self-esteem and encourages them to move forward. When I say that they are happy as they now think that they are smart and the English language is what is stupid. I do it just for the sake of teaching them. Feel free to substitute or take that part away.

Thank you and kind regards,

Luqman Michel

19/02/2010 07:41:55
luqmanmichel (Member)