Gifted+Students+with+Dyslexia

Gifted Students with Dyslexia



** What is dyslexia? **

What do you think of when you hear dyslexia? Most people think of mixing up letters when reading or not being able to read at all. Although these may be aspects of dyslexia, dyslexia is much more than this. Dyslexia is a neurological disorder that causes an individual's brain to process and interpret information differently. The brain of an individual with dyslexia has a larger right-hemisphere than the brain of a person who does not have dyslexia. It primarily affects an individual's ability to read, write, and spell. These difficulties are often displayed in a poor spelling and/or poor phonological awareness. Meaning, the person is not good at understanding the structure of how a word sounds.

**The Facts on Dyslexia**


 * It is the most common of all known disabilities
 * Affects at least 1 out of 5 children in the United States
 * Only 1 in 10 children with dyslexia qualifies as having a learning disability
 * Affects both boys and girls equally
 * It is hereditary

**Symptoms of Dyslexia **

Children can begin to show symptoms of dyslexia very early in their schooling. It is important to detect dyslexia as early as possible so that the child does not get too far behind in reading, writing, and/or spelling. Some symptoms for young child include delayed speech,mixing up words with more than one syllable (i.e. aminal for animal), early stuttering, difficulty mastering tying shoes, and confusion over left and right. As a student with dyslexia begins to read he or she may be able to read a word on one page but then cannot recognize or pronounce the word on the next page. Additionally, reading may be slow and laborious for the child. Their reading may sound choppy and a sentence is read as individual words with no flow. Spelling is typically a difficult task for a dyslexic child. A child with dyslexia may repeatedly misspell frequent sight words. They may also misspell words when copying words from a board to their own paper. Handwriting dysgraphia is one of most common symptoms of dyslexia. Handwriting dysgraphia is simply a difficulty in writing legibly but it is caused by neurological problems not a lack of intelligence. One indication of handing writing dysgraphia is an unusual pencil grip. Younger children may also carefully watch the tip of the pencil or pen on the paper. Dyslexic children may have difficulty writing on a straight line, appropriately spacing words on the page, or learning to write in cursive. A student can show symptoms of dyslexia that are not related to reading, writing, or spelling. These symptoms may include confusing directions, messy or unorganized belongings, memorize random meaningless facts (i.e. dates, times of events), or inability to remember sequence of events.

As with any learning disability, symptoms of dyslexia can vary drastically from one student to another so it is important for teachers to have a deep understanding of the wide range of symptoms for dyslexia.

**Stealth Dyslexia **

Dyslexia in gifted students can be very difficult to detect and often goes undetected, which is why it has earned the name "stealth dyslexia." Gifted students with dyslexia are often able to compensate for their dyslexia because they are gifted. In some cases the giftedness of the student may mask the dyslexia. The student may be capable of performing well above grade level in some subjects but the dyslexia forces the student perform at their grade level. The dyslexia tends to go unnoticed because the student can hide the dyslexia with their gifted skills. Students who are learning read may be able to compensate for the dyslexia by be able to hear a sound and match it to a word without having to actual read the words. Gifted dyslexic students also tend to have an large gap between oral and written communication. Students may be able to go a long time in school without actually learning to read. Similarly, students' dyslexia may mask or hide the giftedness of the student. Poor reading comprehension is a common manifestation of dyslexia that may hide a student's giftedness. For a twice exceptional student, their poor reading comprehension maybe because of their dyslexia, not because he or she is not capable of comprehending the material. Dyslexia can mask giftedness or giftedness can mask dyslexia so it is crucial for teachers, and parents, to understand that a student can be dyslexia and be gifted. Teachers must be careful to not make the assumption that if a student is gifted then they cannot have dyslexia. Dyslexia can hinder a gifted student from performing to the best of their ability and teachers need to be aware of this fact. Teachers must also be aware that a student who has dyslexia can also be a gifted student. A student whose dyslexia is detected at a young age may have a label of having a learning disability. If teachers and a school are not careful then this label could stop a child from receiving proper and necessary gifted instruction.

**Famous Dyslexic People** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: left;">A student who is diagnosed with dyslexia may believe the myth that they cannot not read or write or are stupid. Students may think that because someone is dyslexic that they cannot be gifted but teachers and parents need to show students that this is simply not true. One way of encouraging twice exceptional dyslexic students is to give them examples of famous people who were very smart and were dyslexic. The following is just a few famous dyslexic people.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Tony Bennett <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Edgar Allen Poe <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Anderson Cooper <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Agatha Christie <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">John Lennon <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Mark Twain <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Walt Disney <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Charles Darwin <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">John F. Kennedy <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Whoopi Goldberg <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Terry Bradshaw <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Nolan Ryan <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Thomas Edison <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Keira Knightly <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Orlando Bloom <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Jay Leno <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">Cher

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;"> Here is a cool video about a 13 year-old genius who is a twice exceptional student!

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**<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">Resources ** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">Bright Solutions for Dyslexia, Inc. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">Handwriting Solutions <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">National Center for Learning Disabilities <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">Middle Tennessee State University Center for Dyslexia <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">Lexicon Reading Center <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">Davidson Institute for Talent Development