THE DYSLEXIA SOLUTION

Volume 4 • #4 • April 2005

NEWSLETTER

I often watch “Judge Judy” and admire her ability to zero in with sharp questions that extract just the information she needs, whether the hapless plaintiff wants her to or not. But one time I got so mad at her that I actually found her web site and wrote her a note explaining something in VERY CLEAR language—polite, but VERY CLEAR. The plaintiffs were twin high school age boys who had some complaint against a boy who had done something wrong to them -- I have forgotten the exact circumstances-- and the other kid ha d a countersuit against the twins because they had biffed him good.

Judge Judy ascertained that the twins were poor students at school and the butt of endless jokes, but what she didn’t see was the depression and quiet despair in their eyes that marked them as dyslectics. Before the end of the program she delivered a stern lecture to them on working harder at school and getting better grades so that they would not be the victims of teasing.

This was too much for me, so I explained, in my e-mail, about dyslexia and how kids were bullied in school- often right under the eyes of their teachers, for something for which they were not responsible etc., etc., etc., implying that she should find out before the show whether dyslexia was a contributing factor in a case.

I never heard from her, of course, and I haven’t seen any cases since in which bullying in school was a factor, so I don’t know whether she reads her e-mail or not.

But violent kids are becoming a menace in places. A dyslectic student can turn violent just as fast as a good reader, even to murdering a parent, as happened three years ago in bucolic rural Vermont. How do you tell whether the violence is frustration from endless humiliation in school, or perhaps the result of a violent home life where rebellion is the norm? Or both?

First you test for a discrepancy between his IQ and his reading level. Then you do the tactile localization test described on my web site. This will tell you whether dyslexia is responsible for part of the behavior problem. If the answer is yes, you teach him to read. If he calms down and becomes able to do his schoolwork, the violence will abate. If not, you have done your part, and it is up to somebody else to deal with whatever else is fueling his bad behavior.

Dyslectic children are just as complicated as any other kids. They can be subject to schizophrenia, clinical depression, epilepsy, fetal acohol syndrome, abuse, and every other Awful Awful that afflicts mankind. If you can lighten a child’s load with good reading, you have done your bit. The rest is up to that “village it takes to raise a child”.

Teaching Tip:

This is good advice for anyone who tends to get involved in a fracas in school (especiallly, apparently, in the cafeteria). Make yourself scarce when you see trouble brewing. Go buy an ice cream and walk back very slowly to your table, or ask the teacher for permission to go to the bathroom, or whatever, but beat it. If you are not around, the teacher can’t blame you and send you to the office. (The voice of experience).