Not a week (perhaps not a day) goes by where I don’t have parents coming to me concerned their child has “dyslexia.”
I will ask, “Why do you think she has dyslexia,”
Commonly the response is a variation of, “Well, I think there are these ‘was/saw’ and ‘b/d’ reversal things. Also sometimes I see him writing a ‘p’ for a ‘g’ so, yeah, there are those reversals.”
The characteristic responses reveal our deeply held mythologies as to what we believe dyslexia to be. We seem unable to shake the beliefs from our mental tree.
As we head into the July 4th holiday, try this experiment with some of your relatives and friends by asking, “Hey, Aunt Abigail (or whomever), what do you know about dyslexia? What do you think it is?”
My prediction is that 99 – 100% of the responses will be some variation of, “Isn’t that when you read upside down and backward…You know, like the letters and words are upside down or reversed or something, right?”
The predicted answer will come from all walks of life regardless of the person’s level of education and experience.
How the mythologies became part of our collective mental consciousness is well beyond my pay grade. Perhaps you have some idea and I would love to get your view.
Please let me know if my prediction is accurate or not and we will pick up after July 4th with Dyslexia Mythologized Part II.
Copyright, 2021 www.shutdownlearner.com
Questions or topics email Dr. Selznick. Not in the South Jersey area? For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – rselznick615@gmail.com.