Why Dyslexics Have Low Self Confidence
Why dyslexics have low self confidence and suffer is because they struggle with reading and don't think this can change. This just isn't true. Many kids start to have problems reading at a very early age, when they first start school and even before. Their struggles often continue their whole lives and become the reason why dyslexics have low self confidence. It's a problem many of us can relate to. Public speaking is a good example — one of the most common fears people have. The idea of speaking in front of others makes people nervous. It reminds them of being back in school and having a teacher pick them to read or answer a question in class. If this ever happened to you, you know just how scary this can be. Now imagine how much worse this is for someone who doesn't read very well. In my experience and speaking to hundreds of other families, most teachers don't know how to help students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Many don't know which kids struggle — it may be because they've never been shown what to look for, or maybe the student is ashamed to tell them. Even when parents tell teachers their kid is struggling, they probably don't know what they can do to help. It's often up to the parent to tell them. This leaves parents stuck about where to turn for help — they end up spending a lot of time searching online, just like my parents did.
1. They don't have a stress-free, non-judgmental environment to practice reading
As a struggling reader, practicing reading is very important. It makes a big difference how and where you practice. You need to be in an environment where you won't be judged and criticized — it's the most important part. Being able to practice reading in a stress-free environment where you won't be judged not only helps improve your reading skills, it helps build your confidence. I learned what to do from my own experience. A while back, I told my parents how nervous I would get about being called on to read in class. They decided I would take turns reading to one of them each night before going to bed. They both corrected me as I read — they thought they were being helpful, but they made me feel worse. We decided to try something different. One day my dad and I walked into Harbor Chase, an assisted living facility that opened just down the street from my house. We spoke to their life enrichment director, Kolette, and asked if I could read to a few residents one day. A few days later I went back with my mom, brought a book, and sat at a small table with two ladies who lived there. I read for about 20 minutes. When I was done they actually applauded! That simple change — reading to strangers who didn't correct and judge me — made me feel better than reading to my parents at home. I wanted to share that experience with other kids, so I started working on a plan to develop a software application that would connect kids with locations in their community where they could practice reading just as I did. As the project has continued to grow, we've formed relationships with assisted living facilities, animal shelters and rescue centers, and even a horse stable, so that dyslexics have options where they can go to practice.
2. They don't have incentives to practice reading and a way to track their progress
It's important to have incentives to practice reading. Unfortunately most kids won't practice reading without being rewarded — the bigger the reward, the more incentive kids have. Our software application provides a way for the family to keep track of and view their kid's reading over time, in addition to a recognition system that issues certificates the more they read. There's also a built-in community-service reward for both the reader and the person or animal being read to. Since the project began, I've read to more than a dozen seniors, read to dogs at Big Dog Ranch, read to a few cats at Furry Friends, and was even reading to a horse named Pepper at Horses That Help stables. It's hard to resist a cute dog or cat at a shelter, and our partners can look forward to increased adoptions as our reading-to-dogs program expands. We've learned that assisted living facilities have life enrichment programs, and our reading-to-seniors program fits right in.
3. They don't know where to turn for help online, on social media, or in their community
Finding the right resources, as well as providers in your local area, is very important — for many families that's easier said than done. Every struggling child has their own challenges, and learning disabilities impact each person differently. My parents realized I was having challenges reading at the very start of second grade. My reading skills were behind others in my class, and my teacher didn't offer to help — she told my parents they should pull me out of the school. My parents hired another teacher to work with me before school each morning, and eventually had me tested. The reading center told my parents I didn't have dyslexia and that I just needed one-on-one tutoring. They had me tested for a vision problem too, and I ended up in a year of weekly vision therapy appointments. After a year of a weekly reading tutor and vision therapy, my struggles with reading continued. My parents decided to move to West Palm Beach, enrolled me in a different school, and had me re-tested — convinced, based on their own research, that I had dyslexia. The test results proved it. We found a reading tutor who worked with me every morning over the summer between second and third grade. By the time school started again, I had a real process for sounding out words and putting them together to read. My parents and I don't want you to have to go through the same thing — wasting years of your kid's childhood, or spending the thousands of dollars my parents spent on the wrong treatments.
Having Dyslexia or Other Learning Disabilities Shouldn't Hold You Back
There are so many stories of famous dyslexics who've overcome their challenges to become huge successes. There are many more that go unrecognized. As a dyslexic who overcame my reading struggles and low self-confidence to obtain an investment from John F. Scarpa, one of the founding members of the Cellular One Network, for Let's Get Booking, I can help you. — Shane Herman (with a little help from my Dad), Dyslexic, Co-Founder Let's Get Booking