Who died and proclaimed October Dyslexia Awareness Month? Well, no one actually croaked, but tacking onto October’s fairly well-known designation as National Disabilities Month, last year the Baltimore, Md.-based International Dyslexia Association (www.interdys.org) officially proclaimed October Dyslexia Awareness Month. Awareness is key with learning disabilities because if identified early enough, their impacts can be minimized through intervention and effective teaching. As IDA President Nancy Hennessy put it in a press release, “When a child does not learn to read, their lives are affected forever … Academically, socially, economically, and emotionally, these individuals unnecessarily find themselves at risk. Teaching a child to read is a fundamental responsibility of our educational system.”
Not that dyslexia is limited to reading problems. Reading specialist Sharon McMichael, president of the Austin Area Branch of the International Dyslexia Association, said since dyslexia is a language-based disorder, it also has to do with how the brain processes sound. AABIDA is hosting several free educational events this month, including a presentation called “Parenting a Dyslexic Student,” focused on how to communicate with a dyslexic child. Basically, go easy on the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How questions, McMichael said. Because the brain of a dyslexic child needs more time to process sound, direct questions are likely to yield little more than an immediate one-word response, such as “nothing” or “I don’t know,” whereas open statements can cultivate more conversation. For example, “I was thinking about enchiladas for dinner tonight” has more potential to engage a dyslexic child in communication than “What do you want for dinner?” “The kid needs processing time. Just give them five minutes. The world does not end with a little bit of silence,” she said.
According to IDA, some 15% to 20% of the population has a language-based learning disability. AABIDA’s free helpline gets up to 600 calls a month, the most common question being “I think my kid is dyslexic. What can I do about it?” McMichael said. And the calls aren’t limited to area residents. They come from all over the country. The association has even gotten calls from India and Japan, from parents who found AABIDA’s helpline number on the association’s Web site, she said.
AABIDA has actually been recognizing October as Dyslexia Awareness Month since 2003, with an official proclamation from Gov. Rick Perry that year and in 2004. No proc from the guv this year, but that’s not stopping anyone. For a list of events, see www.austinida.org; to leave a message on AABIDA’s volunteer-run helpline, call 452-7658.
This article appears in October 7 • 2005.