Recognizing
Dyslexia TEXT: Kathleen Lanfear
W hen it comes to learning letters, if a
child just can’t seem to hang on to
them, parents take notice. Children
in a Montessori early childhood
classroom, ages three to six, are introduced to the letter
names and sounds. If by the end of a child’s second year,
at around age four or five, a child has not mastered the
letter names and sounds when all the other children
have, then the parent needs to be proactive.

A specific language disability, also referred to as
dyslexia, is a brain-based issue that makes it hard to
learn to read accurately and fluently. It’s a life-long
condition and it’s a common learning issue. It’s NOT a
problem of intelligence. People with dyslexia are just as
smart or smarter than their peers.

People with dyslexia may have trouble with rhyming,
decoding (sounding out words), recognizing common
words (sight words), spelling, writing, reading smoothly,
understanding what they read, solving word problems in
math and learning a foreign language.

If you suspect a problem, you can help in several ways:
1. Get your child tested. The optimal time to
start is kindergarten through first grade.

2. Once diagnosed, look for a Certified
Academic Therapist. The program that will
address the issue of dyslexia is a multisensory
structured language program; one that is based
on the Orton-Gillingham Approach. The tutoring
sessions should be a minimum of three days a week.

3. Talk to your child’s teachers. Teachers in
a classroom setting can offer accommodations that
28 January 2018 washingtonFAMILY.com
“Childhood is not a race to see how
quickly a child can read, write and
count. It is a small window of time
to learn and develop at the pace
that is right for each individual
child. Earlier is not better.”
— Magda Gerber
will help students with dyslexia. Accommodations
in a classroom could include giving a student with
dyslexia more time on a test or reading the test out
loud to the student.

4. Utilize assistive technology tools. These
tools are very beneficial to students with dyslexia.

They can help facilitate decoding, reading fluency
and comprehension.

A person never outgrows dyslexia, but they can
overcome it. There are many successful people that
are dyslexic: Charles Schwab, executive chairman of a
successful Financial Company, Carol Greider, a Noble
Prize winning scientist…and myself.

Enjoy discovering the pleasures of reading with your
child, remember that there is a time and a pace to learn.

And when that doesn’t happen, there is help.

Kathleen Lanfear is the founder and owner of Reston
Montessori School. She is a certified academic therapist.




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