INTRODUCTION
Maybe it is your child, or your neighbor's 4th grader, or a college student you know. Someone with a different learning style, someone with imagination, someone bright and curious who isn't making the honor roll, or who isn't getting that "B+" at all. Maybe it's a co-worker, an adult, who is frustrated because of his or her "invisible" learning difference. We all know someone who has dyslexia. For me, that person was my daughter.
I don't profess to be an expert in dyslexia but I do know what it is like, as a parent, to face the obstacles of educating a child with dyslexia. Most teachers were understanding, often willing to incorporate new learning modes, and accepting of my suggestions. But there were, of course, a few who felt that my daughter's different learning style might topple their school's academic standings. Back then, I didn't have a book like this one and I really needed it.
I needed to find out how dyslexia was going to impact our family. I wanted to know more about the journey our family inevitably was going to take. What I found, though, was a plethora of information on how the student learns, suggested medication, multi-sensory programs, the legal system, scientific studies and academic analyses. But there wasn't a book written on what really matters most: the human side of dyslexia.
So, I embarked on a mission to fill that gap. The Human Side of Dyslexia is a book about real people with real stories, 142 of the 210 people I interviewed; a book with emotions and courage, common sense and tenacity; a book about people with different attitudes from different economic, racial and religious backgrounds. It's also a book about coping strategies that work.
As a parent, how do you cope with the emotional challenges of raising a child with dyslexia and the ensuing financial add-ons? What are siblings saying about growing up with a dyslexic brother or sister? What coping strategies are parents using to get their child through yet another school year? Is the college-search becoming a daunting task? And, what survival tactics are college students employing to get through school successfully? That, and much more, are here in this book. It's your road map to the future whatever grade your child is in now.
My goal is to make your journey as a parent a lot less painful and a lot more light-hearted; as a student to show you a way to cope; as a sibling to show you a caring way to understand your brother or sister. This book will give you encouragement and de-emphasize the negativity that comes with a learning difference. It will become your invisible support system, stories for you to emulate, stories to make you laugh or cry, stories that help you open up conversations with family members.
On the surface this book taps into a highly visible audience of people associated directly with dyslexia. But these human stories also reach out to a broader audience-educators, the corporate world, even newlyweds with hereditary dyslexia. In essence, anyone who wants to know more about the social side of living with a learning difference and the social implications that come with dyslexia. The Human Side of Dyslexia is about life, about people.