(Editor’s note: October is Dyslexia Awareness Month, and to mark the observance, the photographic work-in-progress titled “IN/Visible One in Five: The Face of Dyslexia,” by author Cheri Rae and photographer Monie de Wit, will be displayed as part of Artwalk on Thursday, Oct. 1, from 5-8 p.m. at 419 State Street, in the Downtown State Street Improvement Association office. /jr).
By Cheri Rae
When your bright and motivated child struggles to read, nothing else seems to matter much. Daily anxiety over schoolwork in class is magnified each evening by homework assignments that add to family stress. It’s an endless cycle of misery that seems like a mystery that never leaves a parent’s mind: “Why can’t this kid learn to read?”
In all likelihood, that kid can learn to read when taught properly. The decade-long push to replace the “balanced literacy” theoretical approach with the Science of Reading, based on solid research, is finally taking hold — and has been documented thoroughly in this publication. But it’s not enough.
Getting proper curriculum in place is one thing; identifying an individual child’s unique learning needs to provide proper instruction is something else. And in 20 percent of the population, persistent struggles in reading, writing and spelling are due to dyslexia. But it has to be recognized in order to gain mastery over it — and in far too many cases, and classrooms, it is not.
State-mandated screening for grades K–2 was finally implemented last school year, but that’s not nearly enough to identify all the dyslexic students who have not been screened over the years and who did not receive the proper foundational instruction they needed. (Sadly, AB 1369, the act that established the California Dyslexia Guidelines and passed in 2015, had a screening provision that was stripped at the insistence of the California Teachers Association.)
Dyslexic struggles are routinely misinterpreted and treated instead as issues of willful refusal, low intelligence, lack of motivation, laziness and poor character in the child — and blamed on poor parenting. A shockingly high number of parents of dyslexic children (including me) report being questioned by an educator: “Didn’t you read to your child at an early age?”
Reading to a child, even in utero, is certainly a lovely bonding experience and good role modeling — but it is not the explicit reading instruction that imparts the skills that must be taught. The widespread assumption is insulting and dismissive to the parent.
Dyslexia defined. The Cleveland Clinic offers a straightforward definition: “Dyslexia is a lifelong, brain-based learning disability that disrupts how the brain processes written language, affecting a person’s ability to read, write, and spell accurately.”
That ought to be enough to at least get an educator thinking in that direction when a child in class is struggling with the written word.
But that’s not always the case, and many dyslexic students remain unidentified throughout their school years — profoundly affecting every aspect of their adult lives as they fail to reach their academic, professional and personal potential, experience negative self-esteem and are left vulnerable to any number of behavioral risks.
The official definition of the International Dyslexia Association, updated a year ago, is much more detailed and specific. It begins: “Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties in word reading and/or spelling that involve accuracy, speed, or both and vary depending on the orthography.”
It adds that early identification is important and that psychological well-being can be affected. Read the full text here.
On a personal note, as a longtime dyslexia advocate, I wish the official definition called out some of the strengths that are characteristic of so many dyslexic individuals. The short list may include creativity; skills at big-picture, outside-the-box thinking; recognition of visual patterns; spatial awareness; and entrepreneurial and leadership qualities.
Words matter. Using the word “dyslexia” matters. Just last week, I was approached by a concerned father looking for help for his dyslexic child who attends school in a local district — a fifth-grader still reading at a second-grade level, with no relief in sight.
He noted that school officials not only will not use the word; they falsely claim they’re not allowed to use it. They will only use the umbrella term “Specific Learning Disability,” a general category that qualifies a student for special education.
This maddening semantics issue has been going on for ages.
It’s confusing and incredibly non-specific to use an obscure phrase that encompasses a range of different learning issues. Administrative refusal to use the word “dyslexia” makes it easier for educators to escape accountability for the way they address it — or don’t. If they don’t identify it, they don’t have to use best practices. Confused parents are left wondering: what, specifically, is this “Specific Learning Disability”? And they never get much of an answer.
The federal Department of Education clarified that use of the word “dyslexia” is permissible in its “Dear Colleague” letter of 2015, updated in 2023. California’s Department of Education provides guidance about ongoing research and best practices in addressing dyslexia.
Dyslexia instruction just has to be understood and implemented at the local level — unaccountably, it is frequently simply shrugged off, and it is the child who suffers the lifelong consequences of this educational neglect.
Validation, Hope and Inspiration. Who, outside of education circles, has ever heard of Specific Learning Disability?
Importantly, there is not a single role model anywhere who speaks of addressing, dealing with or overcoming a Specific Learning Disability. But there are plenty who share their stories of dyslexia.
Powerful Hollywood uber-agent Ari Emanuel is currently on a wide-ranging media tour for his book, “Roll the Call.” He recently told PBS News that he wrote it to inspire parents of dyslexic children, recounting how his struggles with dyslexia helped him achieve great success in life.
Just a few pages into his book, he describes how at his high school in his middle-class suburb he was subjected to the familiar taunting and humiliation experienced by many dyslexics. “Circling him, chanting his name, calling him stupid. ‘Nyah, nyah, R—— Can’t read.’ Hurts to talk about — still.”
Ouch. It reminds me of how a neighborhood kid mocked and shamed my athletic, baseball-loving son: “Well, maybe you can hit home runs, but at least I can read.”
Emanuel is only the latest of countless successful dyslexics from virtually every discipline who have shared their stories of overcoming reading-related humiliation to reach high levels of personal and professional accomplishment. A few recent examples:
Director and storyteller extraordinaire George Lucas, who considered himself a “bad student” and was bullied in school over his dyslexia, used his dyslexic big-picture visualization to establish the innovative, newly opened Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.
Sir Richard Branson, of the Virgin Group, refers to his dyslexia as his “secret superpower” and has established the comprehensive charity Made By Dyslexia to promote what he calls the “Brilliance of Dyslexic Thinking.”
Spider-Man himself, actor Tom Holland, is the highest-grossing actor of all time. When he recently appeared on Amy Poehler’s podcast, he said he is “heavily dyslexic” and noted that he is “petrified at the concept of reading cue cards” — the reason he has never accepted an invitation to host Saturday Night Live.
Hometown dyslexic heroes. Paul Orfalea’s dyslexia was never identified when he was in high school, where he claimed he “majored in woodshop.” As a student at UCSB, he famously established Kinko’s, applying his entrepreneurial insights and people skills. He has been incredibly generous to the dyslexia and education communities for decades.
Charles Schwab was the captain of the golf team at Santa Barbara High School (class of 1955) — a student who charmed his teachers but had difficulties with his schoolwork. He was not identified as dyslexic until he was in his 40s, while advocating for his dyslexic child. The financial wizard credits dyslexia with his ability to visualize and process concepts, and established a center to teach parents how to advocate for their dyslexic children.
Kami Craig was a standout member of the women’s water polo team at Santa Barbara High School (class of 2005) and at the University of Southern California, where she graduated in 2010. She was a silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and a gold medalist in London in 2012 and again in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Her mother was a terrific advocate who arranged for instructional support for Kami’s dyslexia. Today, Kami is a motivational speaker and a strong dyslexia advocate, noting that “dyslexia has gifted me with resilience, work ethic, intuition, relentless courage and creativity.”
Cheri Rae is the director of The Dyslexia Project and the author of DyslexiaLand: A Field Guide for Parents of Children with Dyslexia. You can reach her at TheDyslexiaProject@gmail.com
Ms Rae, If only it were that simple.!!!! The act of learning to read is complex and nobody really know exactly what the secret is. Parents who read regulary and often to kids DO have more successful readers. BUT it is no guarantee. If there were a so-called "science of reading," can anyone think teachers/educators wouldn't have latched onto it? The battle between the whole word method vs sounding the word out - letter by letter has gone out since public school began. Some languages are far easier to learn to read in, for example, Spanish where the letters don't have a variety of sounds, i.e. an A always sounds the same, neither long, short, nor in between. English is among the most difficult sound to symbol alphabets. Just look at the silent letter in English, like the H. We don't hear THE H in the word FIGHT, AND WE DON'T HEAR THE LETTER G either. Our own word, English has a soft S vs the usual hard S. Complicated indeed. So sounding words out is only one of the many techniques a good teacher educator uses. Your examples of these super-stars as victims of dislexia, would be absurd if it weren't so counter-intuitive. All of these people discovefed that they had other talents that were less dependent on reading and more dependent on visualization, on gifted motor activity, on hand-eye coordination, on memorization. As a school psychologist with LAUSD, I encouraged parents to please spend as much time on your child's strengths as on his weaknesses. I say HIS deliberately bc boys are far more prone to reading difficulties. Don't ask me why? I wonder to this day why Jon read less well than his little sister. YOU are right Ms Rae, that SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY was devastating to my little neighbor, but with a lot of support and that means more than tedious "sounding out" practice, Jon did learn to read, It never became his favorite subject, but he loved math while his little sister was just OK in arithmetic. Also look up the original meaning of the word dislexia. It was a medical term for stroke victims who'once did read, but could no longer due to the damage to the brain. Children don't have dislexia, they have specific reading learning disabilities.
I am a proud dyslexic and look forward to tomorrow’s exhibition, thank you Cheri and Monie!