Just as there are typical readers there are typical dyslexic readers. What most dyslexics do is to visualize each word individually and hope they fit together some how. They create mental pictures of all the words they do know. It is like building a puzzle for them. Unfortunately there are many written words that are abstract concepts and there is no simple visual picture for. These words, such as 'the' and 'and', stop the flow of reading for dyslexic readers. By abstract I mean that they aren't action words or for real visual objects. Dyslexics have never 'seen' them before. Dyslexics can struggle through a number of abstract terms before they get overwhelmed. The mental pictures they are collecting as they go along fit into the puzzle with reasonable accuracy until too many abstract terms wear them out and they start showing symptoms. There are different typical dyslexic coping mechanisms that will display as dyslexic symptoms. Symptoms include skipping abstract words or changing words to a similar but wrong word. The mental pictures do not fit together to form the puzzle which the reading was meant to say. So, what is the solution? It is simple, though not necessarily easy. You need to create pictures for the abstract words. This can be done by a few routes, depending on your philosophy towards dyslexia. I have found the most effective way is to use clay and build a physical representation which can become the mental picture whenever that word is encountered. Most readers don't know what these abstract words mean, but it doesn't create a problem for them. Dyslexics read every word. Remember that. The typical dyslexic cannot 'skip over' or ignore any of the words of a written passage. But there is a solution. As I said, use a simple dictionary and define the missing word and find a way to build a visual picture of it. This picture can then be transferred into the mind of the dyslexic and the barrier of that word will go away. |
