I have very mild dyslexia. It manifests as terrible hand writing and not mixed up spelling or difficulty reading. I was constantly reprimanded by teachers until an expert assessed me and diagnosed me.
I do not feel that dyslexia is brought on by punishment I just think it is an abnormality from birth.
I can however see how dyslexia would lead to being told off and punished. It can be seen as being idle.
I may have misunderstood the article but I thought it was indicating that children with dyslexia are often subjected to physical abuse because of the people who punish them for not being able to learn like the others in the one size fits all family or classroom.
The public school system is the worst place for children who have special learning needs. I'm not just talking about learning disabled... .even the ones who are exceptionally gifted have special needs too. Many dyslexic children are exceptionally talented, very creative and intelligent as well. I've always advocated the " Mastery Learning' model for schools and classrooms. Thank goodness you were diagnosed early on. Dyslexia was unheard of when I was in school.
Dyslexia is something that I know a little bit about having had a dear friend who had it and I studied LDs when I was in college. My friend who had dyslexia had wonderful parents who were extremely attentive and supportive and helped him to achieve. That's the key. They didn't know about dyslexia but they did whatever they could to help him while he was in school and prepare him with skills to become self reliant. This was not the case for my husband. My husband went his entire life without a diagnosis until he met me. I only suspected it because of the more obvious symptoms ( reading and comprehension problems, senses like smell were very distorted, motor skills and balance were abnormal and he literally did everything backward) and I suggested he go to a doctor/therapist and he did get the diagnosis. Much of his BPD/NPD and Passive Aggression stems from him struggling in our ' normal' world and being punished by his parents for not performing up to their standards. He survived by creating destructive coping behaviors. My husband is a very angry man- not on the surface- very much so underneath his facade. He targets me with his repressed anger that he has for his parents and all the people in his life who neglected his needs.
There is a physician in Kentucky or Tennessee that created a wonderful program for dyslexics in the state school system. I wish I could remember his name. Anyway, he is dyslexic and is a surgeon! He made the point that it's absolutely critical for children with LDs to have supportive parents like he did and not parents and teachers who shame and bully and beat them. Parents with dyslexic children need special training as well so that they can help their children.
I can't imagine being a parent that would bully my own child for not learning something yet it happens all the time. I think some parents are so insecure about themselves that when their children have special needs, these self absorbed parents are too preoccupied with their own issues and don't have the patience or emotional capacity to help anyone else. What a horrible lonely,fearful home and world for a child with special needs.
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