Dyslexic and Gifted
By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D
Q:
My 9 years old daughter's IQ test was non verbal 143 and
verbal 134. (UK IQ Test). She has mildly dyslexia. Her
school grades are Grade B. She is usually bored at home. She
is the quiet and shy student in School. How can I, as a
parent, help her?
A: You did not indicate the
test that was taken but generally such scores are above
average. It is very possible to be dyslexic and gifted and
each needs attention separately. The fact that she is mildly
dyslexic may mask the need for educational intervention,
which may actually help her perform better. Most of us have
vague ideas about people with dyslexia; for example, it is
often thought that dyslexics may reverse letters in words,
or reverse the whole spelling of words; or that the use of
colored lenses or a lower lighting level may help, and so
on. Carefully analyzed, the fact is actually that the
presentation of dyslexia from mild to severe, can vary
greatly from one child to another. This means, for some
children, they do reverse letters or spelling, others don't;
and some may be helped by colored lenses, to others these
may be totally irrelevant and unnecessary.
As a parent, you need to know how she is troubled. Perhaps
she is not able to express her difficulties and she is just
coping at school thinking that she is the way she is and
nothing can be done about it. This in fact may explain her
boredom, perhaps even at school and for bright children;
boredom creates a situation in which less and less actual
learning results. She may not be enjoying learning as it may
be too difficult for her. Being shy and quiet may not help
as well as she may be seen by the teachers as an obedient
student who is not having problems in class. Naturally
children who are more verbal would get more attention, be it
negative or positive. This may all mask the fact that she
has been finding it difficult to learn.
In dyslexics, the nature and variety of talents are directly
related to the different brain structures seen in and it is
no wonder that the problems and the unusual strengths come
together in a package that is difficult to separate into
parts. In other words, structural brain changes that produce
reading difficulties and other problems, may often (however,
not always) produce brain changes and differences that can,
in turn, be highly beneficial in other areas.
You may also find that apart from reading, writing and
spelling, your daughter may also face difficulties
memorizing a sequence, or random facts, and on
symbol-to-sound and sound-to-symbol despite being exposed to
phonics for many years. My suggestion is that you should
preferably get some kind of treatment to help her learn
better. Her condition may worsen if left untreated, or being
bright, she may initiate coping methods on her own as have
many other dyslexics (some of whom did not even know that
they were dyslexic). Just for your knowledge interest, SM
Lee Kuan Yew (Former Prime Minister of Singapore) has been
diagnosed mildly dyslexic in his 60's (he had complained not
being able to read fast enough without missing important
points) and so is his neurologist daughter. So is Einstein!
Books that you might find useful:
The Gift of Dyslexia: Why Some of the Smartest People Can't
Read and How They Can Learn by Ronald D. Davis and Eldon
M. Braun.
The Pretenders: Gifted People Who Have Difficulty Learning
by Barbara P. Guyer.
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