Today, I spoke to a pediatrician that I’ve known and loved for years. He called because of my daughter’s audiology testing. Which by the way, I learned in Orton Gillingham training that every dyslexic child should see an audiologist to rule out hearing issues. We talked about how I was investigating my daughter’s breakdown in spelling. The school team said it was normal for her grade level, but I found a speech pattern in syllabication, which led me to an audiologist. Another tip…if something with your child seems not quite right, investigate further.
The doctor said his daughter often reads the words incorrectly and is a poor speller at age ten. He tells her “work harder and learn to spell.” He said kids will learn to read. Most can’t afford to tutor. True. And grit and perseverance are key. I totally agree.
What I disagree about is children with dyslexia, have neurological brain differences that need a different way of learning. They need structured literacy instruction using a multi-sensory approach. It’s only thru activating multiple senses, do more areas of the brain get turned on and the child has the ability to learn the particular sound, word, or spelling rule. Repetition puts it into memory. A dyslexic learner will need considerably more repetitions than the typical learner.
I scolded my doctor a little and explained that many children get by till 4th grade by compensating and memorizing words. Then reading struggles surface when the child can’t keep it up anymore. Those children could potentially be dyslexic. I hope I planted the seed the next time his child is struggling with reading a word.
This doctor struggled with learning too and his mom was not very understanding. He said, “I wish you were my mom,” because of the way I parent. The majority of parents don’t get their kids help. I’m in the minority. Surprisingly, there are fewer Warrior Parents in my neighborhood than I imagined.
Doctor’s don’t know everything. If your pediatrician doesn’t “get it,” continue onwards and seek support.