The struggles school-age dyslexic children face during their adolescent years can have a negative impact on their self-esteem and self-concept. This negative impact dyslexia has on esteem and concept is carried well into adulthood. A diagnosed dyslexic or undiagnosed child with learning difficulties can encounter many social interactions in school that can harm self-esteem at such an impressionable age.
A poor self-image results from the bullying, teasing, difficulty with schoolwork and the feeling of failure many dyslexic children face. A child with a learning difficulty will view other children who perform well academically as smart and confident. Meanwhile, the literacy struggles leave a child to think he is not good enough and the child often loses a sense of control over academic success.
Tackle the Emotional Impact Early
A child with dyslexia or other learning difficulties can develop behavioral and emotional difficulties, so it is critical to recognize a child’s academic struggle early. It is best to use parental instinct if a learning difficulty is suspected and bring the child for a psychoeducational analysis to appropriately assess the child.
A psychoeducational analysis or test can be performed by a school psychologist or an outside agency. It is best to find out if a difficulty is suspected so the child can receive specific services in school. There are also different resources outside of school available for the child to succeed. Once dyslexia or other learning difficulties are diagnosed, the child can start on the road to improving self-esteem and feeling better.
Getting Involved in the Classroom
The questions remaining involve what can be done in the classroom to help the child improve self-esteem and self-concept issues while struggling with dyslexia. First and foremost is discussing with school personnel about the child’s difficulty. Here are a few suggestions to create a conducive learning environment in school:
- Seating the child near the class teacher, so the teacher is readily available to help.
- Give out notes or handouts, so the child is not copying from the board.
- Classroom activities and announcements are written down for the child and not given verbally.
- Using different color chalk when a lot of information is being written on the blackboard.
- Leave blackboard information on the board long enough so the child is not rushed
- Refrain from having the child read out loud in front of class and give the child extra time for tests
- Rehearse vocabulary, particularly in math with multi-sensory methods
- Improve handwriting skills which in turn improves self-confidence. The child can also benefit from learning keyboarding skills as it enhances skills in reading, comprehension, vocabulary and spelling.
- Avoid using red ink to mark the child’s paper for classmates to see and give credit for every effort.
These are just a few suggestions for the classroom to help a dyslexic child. In a psychoeducational evaluation there will be suggestions for the school and teacher to implement. It may not be necessary to ask for all of these suggestions, but knowing what can be done is beneficial.
Improving Self-Esteem and Confidence at Home
It is important to continue helping a child with dyslexia at home. There are activities to do at home and resources to tap into to help a dyslexic child. The following suggestions are easy to implement at home. Try initiating the following and over time it will become habit:
- More effort is required of the dyslexic child at school. A child may be exhausted at the end of the day. Give the child plenty of time to complete homework.
- Dyslexic children often show great strength in artistic areas, so involvement in an extra-curricular activity can be motivating, increase self-esteem and help develop a sense of pride in achievement. Find an activity that the child enjoys, can perform well and keep at it.
- Read to the child, take turns reading and be a positive reading role model. Allow the child to listen to books on tape and follow through with the book in written form. Build a strong reading relationship.
- Do not emphasize mistakes made on homework. Instead, accept mistakes with good humor and teach the child perseverance through acceptance of mistakes and finding solutions that work for them.
- At any time, if the dyslexic child is being bullied and teased at school, take a pro-active role in remedying the situation, quickly. Keeping the line of communication open with the child is critical.
- Lastly, counseling can help a dyslexic child learn coping skills through therapy and talking to a neutral party about their possible anxieties and difficulties in school is helpful. Try talk therapy or art therapy and find a therapist the child feels comfortable with. A therapist is trained to help with self-esteem and self-concept issues.
Parents are a Child's Best Advocate
A parent who has equipped herself with factual information and resources to help a child with a learning difficulty is a parent ready to make a positive change in the child's life. It is critical to incorporate these suggestions and those of the child's physician, teacher and therapist to establish a plan.
It is important to help the child experience success through his difficulty as soon as possible. A dyslexic child will benefit tremendously from an improved self-esteem and self-concept through a few simple steps. It is critical to not let dyslexia or any learning difficulty a child may have get in the way of development into an emotionally-healthy child.
Sources:
Dyslexia and Self-esteem.(2009). Retrieved October 21, 2009 from Dyslexia Research
Helping Your Child. (June 2008). Retrieved October 21, 2009 from Helping Your Child With Dyslexia
