1 Comorbidity: dyslexia and emotions, self-esteem, and mental health
Sally Shaywitz in her book Overcoming Dyslexia (2020) acknowledges that ‘for many affected children, dyslexia has extinguished the joys of childhood’. Dyslexia, despite being a learning difficulty, has a significant connection with emotions. Literacy skills, which are fundamental to teaching and learning today, are intertwined with society’s perception of success in education and the workplace. There seems to be a general consensus that if you are not a strong reader you will never be successful, though of course this is not the case.
Activity 1 What is success?
Write a few words considering the question: what does success mean to you?
Examples could include: walking 10km; eating something you have never tried before; earning money; getting a promotion; etc.
Low self-esteem may start in school, where rote learning (which is heavily based on memory and repetition) and procedural learning (which relies on rules and procedures) can be much harder for those with dyslexia to master, due to working memory and speed of processing weaknesses. Most academic skills rely on these styles of teaching and learning, so it can be easy for a dyslexic child to fall behind at an early stage. And while awareness of dyslexia has improved over the last decade, even the best interventions often fail to address the social and emotional challenges that make up the full picture of dyslexia.
Self-worth and identity are some of the most vulnerable aspects of a person. In the case of a child at school age, it is essential for teachers to nurture dyslexic students’ sense of self. Family support also plays a key role, for instance reminding a child that dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence, and exposing them to successful individuals who have also overcome these challenges. Moreover, a dyslexic person should be encouraged to talk about their dyslexia and analyse how it affects their day-to-day experiences. Helping a person to recognise their own experiences and advocate for themselves will help them to remember that they are more than their dyslexia – much more. Remind people of their strengths and give them opportunities to use them whenever possible. In education, if an assignment is especially challenging for a student with dyslexia, provide them with alternative options if possible, or make sure that there is a broad variety of assessments, so they can demonstrate their talents in other topics (art, design, engineering, architecture, physics, sports and/or creative arts, to name a few possibilities). If an employee is struggling to read a full set of instructions, break this down into numbers/bullet points and short sentences, or develop a graphic/chart. Most importantly, give a dyslexic person a multitude of opportunities to show what they are good at and to express themselves and explain how they are feeling. (Week 7, about dyslexia in the workplace, will explore this further.)
Watch this five-minute video called ‘Things not to say to someone with dyslexia’ produced by BBC Three:
Video 1: Things not to say to someone with dyslexia [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] (open the link in a new tab/window so you can return here easily)