A child being taught how to read at the Literacy Council for Central Alabama. Photo by David Garrett.
About one in five people suffer from dyslexia, a number that is probably higher than many people may realize, explained Stephanie Denton, a local pediatrician and advocate for children with dyslexia.
Denton, who heads up the Alabama Game Changers — a group focused on early diagnosis for dyslexia and other learning disabilities — said that many people may suffer from dyslexia and may not even know it.
“It used to be that dyslexia was considered invisible. You had really bright children or people and unexpectedly they were terrible at reading, writing and spelling, and you’d just wonder how this could be,” Denton said.
“The most common myth about dyslexia is that people who have it can’t read or read things backwards, but really they just use different strategies,” Denton continued. “Most of us see the trees in the forest, but a dyslexic sees the forest through the trees.”
After a structure fire caused damage to their office last year, the Literacy Council of Central Alabama had to retreat to a temporary office on Second Ave. North. Now back in their old building on First Ave. North, with a completely refurbished interior, the Literacy Council is beginning a year-long campaign to raise awareness about dyslexia and the anxiety and stress it can create in the classroom for those suffering from it.
“The more we look into it, the more we see a need for this,” said Steve Hannum, director of literacy initiatives with the Literacy Council. “The discouraging thing, however, is seeing this and wondering why I haven’t thought we needed to do this a long time ago,” Hannum said.
When he was in graduate school, he explained, no one ever talked about dyslexia, and there were never any resources available for people suffering from the widespread learning disorder. “People just assumed you were dumb,” he said. “And that’s just wrong.
“When I’m teaching people to read now, and I notice that they are suffering from dyslexia, it just breaks my heart, because I know they will never be able to read like I can,” Hannum said somberly.
Dyslexia cannot be cured. But techniques can be taught to help individuals cope with the disorder. One of the leading characteristics of someone suffering from dyslexia, Denton explained, is that they do not like to read for pleasure.
“Dyslexia is basically a learning difference. Learning to speak a language is one thing, it happens intrinsically, but about 20 percent of people learn differently when it comes to written language, which is essentially an alphabetic code,” Denton said, adding that it is a genetic trait that is often times passed down through families.
A lot of the time, students who suffer from dyslexia are placed into special education classes or given individual education plans. Denton believes this only serves to further ostracize children who are intelligent, but have challenges when it comes to reading.
“An individual education plan means that you failed so miserably and you’re so far behind your peers, you have to be put into special education programs. A lot of these students develop tricks to help them along the way. But it’s a constant struggle,” Denton said.
The Literacy Council’s year-long campaign against dyslexia kicks off Feb. 25 with a screening of HBO documentarian Susan Raymond’s film Journey into Dyslexia at the Alabama Theatre. Admission is free to the public.
Denton became involved with dyslexia after her son was diagnosed at an early age. “I got involved because one, I’m a pediatrician, but most importantly I am the mother of a dyslexic child. What I was taught in school is that when there is a learning difference or a struggle, you have the parents come in and seek assistance for this. My child received very detailed instruction from well-meaning teachers, and after watching his failures, I realized he wasn’t getting the intervention he needed from the school,” Denton said.
After watching her son fall further and further behind in school, Denton said there was frustration mounting over the lack of accessible resources for people suffering from this disorder. “It bothered me that it was so hard as a parent to find out what you needed to do to help a child who was struggling to read,” she said.
Typically people suffering from dyslexia are very bright, but without proper intervention, they are much more likely to drop out of school or to be unemployed or underemployed later on in life. By definition, dyslexia is a disorder that affects “intelligent individuals,” Denton said.
The emotional stress this puts on a child in the classroom is hard to quantify, she said. If their reading challenges are not addressed in school, this can spill over into adulthood. Denton said a vast majority of people who suffer from dyslexia “slip through the cracks” and go undiagnosed.
“The most common denominator in juvenile justice offenders is the inability to read,” Denton said. When those offenders get out of the system, they still run into road blocks in terms of finding employment. “Things like filling out a job application are immensely more complicated for people suffering from this,” Denton continued.
If no one intervenes, people who have gone through the system undiagnosed could end up in tragic circumstances, Hannum explained.
“About 65 percent of inmates in Alabama read below a fifth grade level according to the Alabama Department of Justice,” Beth Wilder, executive director of the Literacy Council, explained. “It’s just a terrible statistic.”
Hannum gave a cautionary tale — albeit extreme, he admits — about what can happen if someone never gets the proper intervention for their learning challenges.
A friend of his works as a tutor at Donaldson Correctional Facility in western Jefferson County. He said that he worked with a man who was executed for his crimes. After his death, the tutor was approached by his family members who asked the question, “What would’ve happened if the educational system here could’ve helped our son sooner?”
Denton said that the inmate — whom he would not name — failed the second grade three times before eventually being socially promoted through the system.
“I wonder what would’ve happened to him then if he hadn’t been failed three times and had someone help him through it. Would he have dropped out and gotten involved with gangs then? It’s an extreme example, but sadly it’s not that uncommon,” Hannum said.
On the other end of the spectrum, there is hope for people who are diagnosed with dyslexia. Denton said that a lot of people who are diagnosed, and even those who aren’t, eventually go on to become entrepreneurs because their whole life in school involved “having to think outside the box.”
According to Denton, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein are a few famous figures who made a name for themselves in spite of their dyslexia. The next big hurdle, Denton explained, is bringing this issue to the forefront and letting people who are challenged by dyslexia know they are not alone.
“Once people realize how many people this affects and they see who has overcome it, that will be a big step forward to making sure people have the treatment they need and they’re not just put into special education classes.”
For more information on the Journey into Dyslexia screening at the Alabama Theatre, or to RSVP for the screening, email Steve Hannum at shannum@literacy-council.org.
