Expectations

It’s funny how in our Western culture there are just some things you expect will be a “definite” in life, like being able to read and write! In our culture, learning to read and write is easily available. But, being able to take advantage of that availability does not mean that reading and writing will be learned easily.

My expectation was that my children would learn to read and write, just as I did. But two out of three of my children struggle with reading and writing! They would probably like to read. But they can’t - easily. It’s a uphill struggle for them. Therefore, they read little and they write little.

My wake-up call is continually telling myself that reading to learn and writing to convey knowledge is not the way for them! They need alternatives and so I am on a journey to find those alternatives.

Thingy

Dyslexia can display itself in many different ways, so it seems. For instance, it can look different in different people or the mix of traits displayed can be different in each dyslexic person.

Our daughter has issues with word retrieval. She often cannot find the word she is looking for and so, when she talks, "thingy" and "umm" are very common words in her vocabulary.

Before we understood the issues surrounding our daughter's communication we probably did not help her to converse with ourselves or other people and were too hard on her form of articulation.

Now it is endearing to hear her speak about "thingy". We know it's okay. If we can help her find the right word, that's even better. And it enhances the conversation on both sides.

Does she know? I think she does, although we have not talked about it specifically. Conversation is so automatic, just like word retrieval - for most of us!