It's easy to shatter the confidence of a child. Laura Scallon found that out early on in life when at primary school she struggled with basic reading and writing skills.
She thought she was stupid or lazy, and her teachers did little to dispel the feelings. The reality was that Laura was an able student held back by the fact that she suffered from dyslexia, which was not diagnosed until she was eleven.
"I'd be reading a book and instead of saying `the kids were in the garden' I would say `the kids were on the lawn'. I would use an awful lot of word association and my teacher didn't notice at first because I was learning things off by heart. I never realised I was hiding it, I just thought it was the normal way of learning."
Even 12 years ago teachers could be forgiven for not understanding the nature of Scallon's problems. Dyslexia was not something they were taught to recognise, although the classroom is where it is most likely to become apparent.
It may manifest itself in children having difficulty in reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic. It can vary in severity and also in the forms it takes, and is a genetic condition thought to affect approximately 8 per cent of the population.
It wasn't until Scallon's parents paid for her to see a private specialist in Dublin that she was eventually diagnosed.
Being diagnosed made a difference, she says, but it was difficult after years of remedial classes to "train yourself to think you are not stupid." Even after the diagnosis, teachers now knew what was wrong but knew little about how to address the problem.
THINGS improved slightly at her secondary school, where a remedial teacher found out about a summer camp for dyslexic children that Scallon attended in Bray. There she learnt a lot about methods of learning to improve her spelling and reading, and the chance to meet other dyslexic children helped her socially.
It was a battle to get concessions when taking her Junior and Leaving Cert exams, and Laura says that the anxious weeks waiting for the Department of Education to make a decision did little to calm pre-exam nerves.
In the end Laura proved her ability by getting 385 points in the Leaving Certificate, and a place to study construction engineering at Dundalk IT. She is grateful to her career guidance teacher who had heard that engineering was something dyslexic people were often very good at and pushed her to give it a try.
Now in her fourth year she is well on her way to qualifying as a construction engineer, and has found Dundalk IT extremely understanding of her dyslexia. She has also developed the confidence to ask for extra assistance, and along with a fellow dyslexic student has successfully campaigned for concessions for their spelling and grammar in exams, and free photocopying for notes and suchlike.
She still worries that there is not enough understanding of dyslexia and that other children may be misunderstood as stupid or lazy by failing to have their condition diagnosed. But with greater awareness among parents and teachers, she hopes that these days the condition will be spotted earlier, and proper teaching assistance given to help those with problems compete equally with their fellow students.
Understanding Dyslexia
is a new information leaflet published by the Monaghan Association for Children and Adults with Learning Difficulties, with the support of the EU Peace Programme. The book explains how to recognise dyslexia, lists the concessions available from the Department of Education for dyslexic students, and who to contact if parents or teachers have concerns. For further information contact the Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities on 01-6790276.
