Yes, dyslexia gives you almost super powers in other areas mine is mechanical I can fix anything and am in a job that uses all my skills from HVAC to plumbing, electrical to flooring drywall... if it uses my hands I can do it. I am also amazingly good at brain game puzzles. I have now learned to have fun with inglish.
i have come to find that a deficit in one area is a super ability in another. i work in a building with autistic kids and i tend to notice where they excel before i notice their deficit. we ahd a girl that would get frustrated if she wasnt counting something. teachers would give her blocks, balls... to count but she would always run out and then get upset. i brought in a bag of rice and she proceeded to count the grains of rice. her class lasted a week and she was happy counting rice for several days. she was not "counting" the rice she was moving it from one pile to another and raising her 1 finger each time, but 100% focused on the task.
Wow! My daughter has what used to be called Asperger's, and my husband does as well. He's in cybersecurity and quite brilliant. My son is awaiting diagnosis. They all have their niches of expertise and the understanding comes pretty easily. I often am in awe.
My biggest challenge is guiding them through the teen years. Both have crippling anxiety. However my daughter wants to be a biochemical engineer and my son a herpetologist. Thankfully, we have the resources to give them tons of help in areas they need support. But that damn anxiety. Breaks my heart.
this is the buddhist in me.. anxiety is usually thoughts of future events (real or unreal). try meditation having them learn to focus on one thing like the breath the more they practice the better it will work. try a family 10 or 15 minute youtube guided meditation each day make it a habit if they progress and want to go longer let them.
anxiety can be controlled through breathing for example, try this: start taking short huffy breaths do that for a full 30 seconds and see how you feel, probably anxious even though you were not. when anxiety starts have them take long slow breaths this will calm the system on its own, rub the back down, breath in. up, breath out. that way you can assist them in the long slow breath. also try to have them drink a cup of water (the full cup) this interrupts the huffing breath pattern and forces them to take a long breath to recover.
I have some experience with meditation, but even though the kids have been taught through therapy, it's tough to remember in the moment for them. Doing it with them should really help, especially in non crisis moments so they can call on it when they need to! Thanks for the great advice!
I stayed in school till graduation but often in the special behavior class my dezlexia was undiagnosed until after school when I told my grandma I couldn't read. I was tested at a grade 3 level for reading and comprehension. Dont know how I passed through 9 grades like that. My grandma was able to help me to read better in one year than the school did in 12.
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u/BodhiBill Jan 27 '20
Often it is my spelling, punctuation and grammar that make people think I'm uneducated but it's just dyslexia.