QUESTION: I have a seven-year-old daughter whom I suspect has dyslexia. She has a hard time reading word. Oftentimes, she just guesses a word or writes a letter in an inverted way, She's good with Mathematics, she under-stands stories we read to her, she's good at following instructions that you tell her. But when it comes to word problems, I don't think she understands it well especially if you don't read it to her.

Is there a place where we can go to have her checked? Are there summer classes that she can attend? Are there books that we can purchase to better help us in teaching her? She is a very smart kid and artistic, too. And we just don't want her to feel that she's inadequate when she is asked to read out loud. I also want to be able to help her and not get frustrated when she can't read a simple word. I do hope that you can you can help us. — Tweet Aldana

I always admire parents who face their concerns with their children head-on, immediately searching for ways and options, realizing fully that time is of the essence when it comes to children’s development.

Acknowledging that your daughter may have “dyslexia” is not easy. Instinctively, parents would have their suspicions of possible special needs, but not all would be quick to “act” on them. Seeking for an assessment requires courage, but it is the necessary first step in order to determine your options for intervention at home, in school, and with specialists.

Is it really dyslexia?

A developmental pediatrician, clinical psychologist or reading specialist can conduct a comprehensive assessment using a combination of standardized tests and informal reading measures to find out if your child has dyslexia. Your child’s teacher and guidance counselor can help the professional who is conducting the assessment by providing input regarding her performance in school. Your observations and insights are equally valuable in the over-all assessment process.

Specific learning disabilities are evident in approximately five percent of school-age children. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that hinders a person’s ability to read and spell. Research would show that difficulties with phonemic awareness, or the ability to identify and manipulate sounds in words, can be the underlying root cause of dyslexia.

Children with dyslexia have average to above-average intelligence, but often experience academic difficulties and perform poorly in school. There is a significant gap between their learning potential and their actual academic performance.

The problem lies in their ability to process the information that they receive visually or auditorily, and make sense of what they see (printed word) or hear (sound of words).

If you liken their brain to a computer, it is like working on a Mac which uses a different operating system from what is typically used by most computer users, thus information that you provide as input is not accurately interpreted nor stored, and retrieving the information you need may pose a challenge to the user.

We would not want to presume at this point that your child has dyslexia since she has not been assessed yet. Letter confusions and reversals can still be evident in children until they are eight years old, and this can be due to immaturity rather than a specific learning disability. As the child’s brain matures, she can learn to self-correct and developmentally advance in her reading skills.

However, as the cliché goes, “prevention is better than cure.” The earlier intervention is given, the greater the child’s chances of catching-up with normal development. This can also prevent what we refer to as “secondary wounds” of disability such as lowering of the child’s self-esteem or unnecessary feelings of inadequacy, fear and shame because of her difficulty in learning how to read.

Developing love for reading

Books can be the gateway to the world beyond our reach where fascinating characters come alive and we can unleash our mind’s ability to create and imagine! Being a child gifted with creativity, use this strength to make your child discover the magic of reading. Find out what she likes to draw and what she is interested in, then find books with such themes in mind. She may not be able to read the books fluently at this stage, but it may spark an interest in books that would downplay her difficulty in reading. Motivating her to read is important in order for her to overcome “learned helplessness” which some children with reading difficulties experience.

There are specific strategies to teach word recognition and reading comprehension that can facilitate learning how to read for children with dyslexia. These remediation strategies can help them “attack” printed material suited to the unique way their brains process information. So do not lose heart — with appropriate reading intervention, she will learn how to read and can even turn out to be a voracious reader.

This summer, there are reading programs in reading clinics and early intervention centers wherein your child can benefit from reading instruction especially designed for learners with specific learning disabilities.

Most likely, the professional who would be assessing your daughter would arrive at recommendations for intervention which can include both individualized reading remediation and group reading intervention programs. There are likewise many references and resource materials on teaching reading to beginning readers in specialty bookstores, as well as online. You can try logging on to free e-learning sites which can be an interactive and visually-stimulating way of teaching reading skills to children.

An informed and empowered parent is a child’s best advocate. Don’t just read to your child, read WITH her too. Reading together can help your daughter discover the joys of reading — it would make the struggle worthwhile.