Papers On Dyslexia

Taking Another Look at Dyslexia There are a lot of preconceived and misunderstood notions when it comes to the word of dyslexia. Dyslexia can affect reading, writing, and spelling; which is neurological and effects the person throughout their lives. To look at what people are saying about dyslexia here are three different sources talking about it. There are several different viewpoints when it come to the topic of dyslexia, as well as how many affected by it. In a newspaper article from the New York Times names the upside to dyslexia, where Annie Paul takes a different twist on the viewpoint of dyslexia. From a book called The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald Davis. Both Paul and Davis take the viewpoint of dyslexia as a gift and not just a disability.
Finally, in the article by Molly Ness and Gena Southall, they are taking a look at the knowledge and beliefs the teachers have about dyslexia. However, Ness and Southall talk about the misconceptions and how the lack of knowledge and beliefs help her teachers today.
Each of these three articles point to the fact there are still a lot of misconceptions and a lack of knowledge and understanding of dyslexia. Even though there has been a lot of research done in the last decades on the topic of dyslexia, there are still these misconceptions, missing understandings and preconceived notions.
To take a look at the topic of dyslexia here are three different sources and how they address the topic of dyslexia. Each of the sources are different types of sources; they are a book, newspaper article, and a research paper. The first is a book written by Ronald Davis, who wrote the book The Gift of Dyslexia, where he talks about how dyslexia is a gift and not just a learning disability that is misunderstood. He went on to
develop a system that he calls “The Davis Dyslexia Correction Program” (Davis 49), where he helps dyslexic’s see the gift of dyslexia and shows them how to unlock their reading potential. The next source is a research article named "Preservice Teachers' Knowledge of and Beliefs About Dyslexia." Molly Ness and Gena Southall explain the lack of knowledge in the United States education system that is not training teachers to understand dyslexia and other learning disabilities and how to handle them in the classroom, which is leaving students unprepared going forward in life. They explain that if teachers were better trained in these areas, and how to teach them, they would be better at preparing those students for life. The last source is an article that ran in the New York Times newspaper in February, 2012. The news article name is "The Upside of Dyslexia" where Annie Paul, the author, is saying there might be an upside to dyslexia that society was unaware of before, and how dyslexic’s can see things that others take longer to see or not at all. These three sources all have in common that there is a lot of miscommunication, no understanding, and knowledge when it comes to the topic of dyslexia, and is inviting everyone to take another look at dyslexia and other learning disabilities to see what the community as a whole might have missed. Davis, Ness, Southall, and Paul answers this questions of how many people have dyslexia definitely.
This question’s answers will differ, from different people and researchers. Ronald Davis, the author of the book The Gift of Dyslexia has this to say: “There is no definitive diagnostic test for dyslexia” (120.) Paul “estimated that 15 percent of Americans are affected” (Paul), and Ness and Southall say “dyslexia affects approximately 5 to 15 percent of the population” (36.) Each of these sources has a different view and statistics to say about it; this could be due to that fact that dyslexia falls on a spectrum scale and not everyone who is dyslexic shows the symptom to the same extents as others. The one thing that they can all agree on is that dyslexia is passed down through family trees, but it does not affect everyone. Davis has a theory on why it does not affect everyone in the family. His theory is “Being born with this genetic code doesn’t give them dyslexia, it only makes it possible for them to develop it” (Davis 73); he goes on to state that the person has to trigger the gift (dyslexia) in the first year of their life. His theory is not supported by Paul, Ness, and Southall, who do not give an answer to how a person become dyslexic; all they say is that it happens. So, to answer the question, no one knows what percentage of the world's population have dyslexia and society may not find the answer to this question for a long
time.
Davis, Ness, Southall, and Paul each express that misconceptions that comes to one's mind when they hear the word “Dyslexia.” People tend to start to see someone with the label of dyslexia as someone who cannot learn and will never be able to go on to college, compared to someone who is struggling to read and spell, who does not have a label attached to them. “Munch confusion exists within the field of education” (Ness & Southall) as well in the general population. The research and experiments that are being done today [is showing some remarkable evidence that people with dyslexia can be superior learners] (Paul); this bit of information is not well-known. The information most readily available is not the latest studies and information on the topic of dyslexia. Davis has this to say: "Today there are many different theories of what dyslexia is and what causes it" (8.) With differing theories on dyslexia, people can see why there has been misconceptions about the topic of dyslexia. Davis, Ness, Southall, and Paul all say that dyslexia is complicated to fully understand and fully grasp at what it means to being dyslexic. For someone who has dyslexia; they tend to want to know what does it mean to be dyslexia. According to Paul “dyslexia research has taken a surprising turn … people with dyslexia have skills that are superior to those of typical readers.” In other words, in the field of dyslexia research they are starting to see a positive side of dyslexia. “Dyslexic often develop compensatory strategies and can be academically and professionally successful” (Ness and Southall 37.) The strategies or workarounds that dyslexic tend to develop over the cores of their life time can turn in a positive gift. The positive side of dyslexia is often unnoticed by the world and when they find out that a person is dyslexic and doing amazing things they world is shocked that they are dyslexic. This shock would not happen if the world could see the gift that is dyslexia. “Like its negative aspect, the gift of dyslexia is developmental. It has to grow. It must be created by the dyslexic” (Davis 99.) What Davis is saying is that the dyslexic in not born with a special gift, but being dyslexic they have the ability to unlock their own personal gift that is dyslexia. Dyslexia is complicated in its nature and still has yet to be fully understood.
In conclusion each of these three sources are taking different viewpoints when it comes to dyslexia. Ness and Southall are saying that their is a lot of confusion when it come to understanding dyslexia in the United States education system and they tend to see dyslexia as a learning disability. On the other hand, Paul and Davis see dyslexia in the positive side of things. They are seeing is as more than just a disability; they are seeing the gift that is hiding in it. Paul takes the stance that they are born with that gift or the upside of it. Davis hold the belief that they are born with the genetics for dyslexia, is does not mean they will have it. Each dyslexic has to unlock this ability. The gift that is dyslexia, has to be nurtured over time and though the dyslexic’s lifetime; it just does not happen overnight they have to work on it. Society as a whole needs to take the time to understand what is dyslexia and how it can make a positive impact on the world today; just not the the education field, but in every field.