The original thought was that all dyslexic students were highly intelligent, but struggled at processing written language. Many individuals with dyslexia taught themselves how to read, usually during their adolescent and adult years (Hinshelwood, 1917). Students with a lower IQ were usually placed in special education or deemed mentally retarded. Today, with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) we know that any student at any level of intelligence can have dyslexia. Educators like Gillingham and Stillman (1956) believed that students can be screened to learn who has dyslexia and receive instruction targeted at their particular learning needs during the primary school years. Many states now have educational laws recognizing dyslexia as a learning disability. Some dyslexic students will still fall through the cracks of getting the proper supports. Many dyslexic students adopt the notion that they are stupid. Although, most are gifted. Dyslexic individuals usually think outside of the box. They can usually visualize an object in 3-D and spin-it-around. The types of supports students receive within their environment usually determines their literacy outcomes.
The following palindrome poem was written by a 10-year-old dyslexic student in Rebecca Brown’s classroom and posted on Twitter, February 27, 2019.
Dyslexia by AO
I am stupid.
Nobody would ever say
I have a talent for words.
I was meant to be great
That is wrong.
I am a failure.
Nobody could ever convince me to think that
I can make it in life.
Now read up⇑
