Dyslexia: Be positive

The Bluebird of Happiness and Positivity
It is often difficult but very important that you try to stay positive about dyslexia. The more positive you are the easier it will be to address and possibly overcome, the drawbacks and difficulties that you, or your children, may be experiencing.

A positive mindset always helps when tackling any ‘difficulty’ in life. It assists in keeping things in perspective and stops a ‘challenge’ that you are trying to overcome becoming a 'problem.'

Challenges can be FUN!
Challenges are achieveable goals and can often be seen as fun to tackle. Whereas ‘problems’ are generally perceived to be enduring, stubborn and near impossible to solve.

If you consider reading ‘difficulties’ as a ‘challenge’ to overcome, you will most probably do more reading each day in an attempt to improve your reading skills. Whereas, by seeing reading ‘difficulties’ as a ‘problem,’ you will most likely reduce the amount of reading that you do or avoid reading all together.

Easy to say
It may be easier to say that, having a positive mind set towards dyslexia helps, but it is easier said than done. Some children who suffer from dyslexia go through a predictable stage of being quite negative about their condition.

This is particularly the case for many children who discover later in life that they suffer from dyslexia. They have spent a long time trying to deal with it on their own terms and have built up a number of 'unofficial' coping strategies.

Having gone through this pain, they are now trying to make sense, not only of their new found ‘problem’ but also of all the past ‘failures’ in their lives, even if they now realise that they were connected to their dyslexia.

Late arrivals
Some ‘late arrivals’ look back over there school years and feel resentment for being let down by the educational system. They feel angry that their dyslexia was not spotted and that their needs have not only, not been addressed but have also certainly not been met.

Most, will feel the anguish of having been wrongly categorised and judged ‘stupid’ by teachers, friends and family. Many people become insular and depressed, feeling that they could have made more out of their lives if they had known earlier about dyslexia.

Acceptance and the Future
In such cases, it is neither easy nor realistic to expect that children will suddenly dismiss their feelings, switch off their negativity and start thinking positively towards dyslexia, even if it is the best path to take.

There is no future in living in the past. Let it go! It is necessary that they work through their feelings and emotions, to the point where they can accept and forgive the past for what it is, and position themselves to look to the future.

They will have self-esteem issues and these can be deeply rooted. They will need strong, reliable support to help them work their way through this. They will need positive re-enforcement to ensure they emerge outwards and upwards.

Maintain a Positive Attitude
If you are going to assist and support someone who suffers from dyslexia, always create a strong feeling of security, well-being and encouragement. Focus on, and maintain a positive attitude and outlook that lead to positive activities.

Think positively of the destination and take progressive steps to get there, the path and speed of travel are yours to select. Enjoy the journey!