Dyslexia isn’t just an academic and individual problem; it’s also a family problem. Having a child with a learning problem impacts the entire family. Parents, brothers, sisters, and even grandparents become involved, must adjust, and are changed in the process.
The dream of a boy or girl who tops the 1st-grade reading groups and shines in the spelling bee is shattered and replaced by the recognition that years of reading help lay ahead. Millions of families live this reality daily, but not without it taking a toll on every family member and changing them somehow. It’s tough and comes with scars, but fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
In Part 2, we discussed new technologies, especially fMRI scans, which made it possible for scientists to see that the brain is changeable. We now know that the brain of a dyslexic person looks different than the typical reader’s brain, but these differences are not necessarily the cause of dyslexia. The brain differences may well be the result of dyslexia. If a dyslexic person learns to read well, they will eventually resemble a typical reader’s brain.
We also looked at a case study of a then-teenager, now an adult, who overcame dyslexia.
So, how did Pravin overcome dyslexia?
Pravin overcame dyslexia because the leading cause of his problem was addressed. The leading cause, as we now know, is probably not a flaw in his brain. So, let’s look at dyslexia from a different angle.
The situation of a child with dyslexia cannot be understood unless we perceive that they are a human being. An essential characteristic of humans is that they do not know and cannot do anything they have not learned. This, of course, excludes natural body functions, such as breathing, as well as reflexes, such as the involuntary closing of the eye when an object approaches it. Everything else, however, must be learned.
To illustrate how dependent a human being is on learning, let’s look at the story of Kamala and Amala, which J. A. L. Singh and R. M. Zingg documented in Wolf Children and Feral Man. Kamala and Amala were two of more than 40 children who grew up isolated from others since the eighteenth century.
In 1920, as the story goes, Reverend J. A. L. Singh saw a mother wolf and cubs, two of whom had long, matted hair and looked human. After considerable preparations and difficulties, the two human creatures were captured. They turned out to be two girls whose ages were assessed by Singh at about eight years and one and a half years.
The creatures were taken to an orphanage in Midnapore, India, where the Reverend and his wife were stationed. Singh described them as “wolfish” in appearance and behavior. They walked on all fours and had calluses on their knees and palms from doing so. They were fond of raw meat and stole it when the occasion offered. They licked all liquids with their tongues and ate their food in a crouched position. Their tongues permanently hung out of their thick, red lips, and they panted just like wolves. They never slept after midnight and prowled and howled at night. They could move very fast, just like squirrels, and it was difficult to overtake them. They shunned human society altogether. If approached, they made faces and sometimes bared their teeth. With regard to the development of their senses, it was noted that their hearing was very acute and that they could smell meat at a great distance. Furthermore, while they could not see well during the day, they could orient themselves very well at night.
In September 1921, both girls became ill, and Amala, the younger, died.
By means of intimate and devoted contact with Kamala, by softening her skin with oil and massaging her, by feeding and caressing her, Mrs. Singh could win her confidence and create the conditions in which Kamala would be willing to learn from her.
After five years at the orphanage, Kamala demonstrated some intellectual functions. She knew some of the names of the babies housed there; she understood the concept of color; she accepted food only from her plate and knew her glass from among the others. As far as language development is concerned, a visitor, Bishop H. Pakenham-Walsh, provides an outsider’s description of this aspect of her progress: “When I saw Kamala she could speak, quite clearly and distinctly, about thirty words; when told to say what a certain object was, she would name it, but she never used her words in a spontaneous way…. I saw her again two years later … and she had learned a good many more words.”
Kamala needed considerable training to stand erect and could only do so for the first time twenty months after having been found. By January 1926, she had learned to walk erect. Although her movements remained somewhat wolf-like, for the remaining two years of her life, she showed quite clearly that her previous way of walking had been due merely to the absence of ordinary human training.
Amala, Kamala, and every other child enter this world poorly equipped. The knowledge a child needs to become fully human is not dormant. Everything the child eventually knows or can do must be learned.
So, when a child cannot do something, it does not mean anything is wrong with them. They simply might not have learned it yet, and a human being can learn nearly anything, provided that another essential characteristic of the human being is also considered.
Learning is a stratified process
We need to understand the learning principle that human learning does not take place at a single level but is a stratified process. This principle is generally accepted worldwide as a didactic principle. Throughout the world and in various educational systems, it is commonly accepted that a child must start at the lower levels of education and then gradually progress to the higher levels.
This would have been unnecessary if human learning had not been stratified but had taken place at a single level. It would not have been essential to start a child in 1st grade. It would have been possible for the child to enter school at any level and to complete their grades in any order.
A practical example is the fact that one must learn to count before it becomes possible to learn to do arithmetic. Suppose one tries to teach a child to add and subtract when that child has not yet learned to count. That would be quite impossible, and no amount of effort would successfully teach the child addition and subtraction. This illustrates that counting is a skill that must be mastered before it becomes possible to learn to do calculations.
In the same way, children must acquire certain skills and knowledge before it becomes possible for them to benefit from reading courses.
In Part 4, we’ll discuss the skills and knowledge a child needs to master the written word.
Edublox offers cognitive training and live online tutoring to students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and other learning disabilities. Our students are in the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. Book a free consultation to discuss your child’s learning needs.
Authored by Sue du Plessis (B.A. Hons Psychology; B.D.), an educational and reading specialist with 30+ years of experience in the learning disabilities field.
