Marking it Read

You have probably heard the word “dyslexia” at one time or another at school or home. Maybe you even know someone who is dyslexic but do you know what this actually means? Dyslexia is a learning disorder that is more common than we realise. It is labelled as a “disorder” because it is different then the norm.

People with dyslexia have a hard time reading, writing, and/or sometimes even speaking because it is difficult for them to pronounce sounds. They find it difficult to understand sounds and how they relate to letters and words. Please keep in mind that dyslexia is different for everyone and this information is generalised.

Have you ever heard of “you are toast” to mean you are in trouble? A common symptom of dyslexia is not understanding such idioms because their expression is not deduced from the actual words being used.

Dyslexic people are not any less intelligent; they need some extra help to be able to express themselves fully or require some accommodations in order to fully understand things. One example is getting extra time for tests. They need more time to read in order to comprehend and effectively answer questions. A test question can stump a dyslexic not because they don’t know the subject matter at hand, rather than because they don’t understand what is being asked, which, of course, requires reading for most tests.

October is International Dyslexia Awareness Month and one way to support this campaign is to ‘Mark it Read’. The colour red is used to convey dyslexia because red symbolizes the common red pen marks found on children's assignments to highlight errors. Mark it Read, deliberately spelled this way to highlight the challenge with reading, is celebrated across Canada. The red signature of the Mark it Read movement appears in various forms, such as monuments being lit up. Here in Ottawa, City Hall was glowing red from the 12th to the 17th of this month.

What is dyslexia?

• A learning disorder

  • Actually a different way the brain works and has just been labeled a disorder

• Results in a hard time reading

  • Difficult to understand sounds and how they relate to the letters and words

• Can mean they read slower

• No cure

The learning differences

• Same intelligence as others

The misconception of dyslexia

• They are dummer

• Dyslexia is a label for dum people

October is dyslexia awareness month

• Mark it Read

• The colour red was chosen because of the common red pen found on children's assignments to mark errors

• Monuments around Canada are light up red for different days in October

What you need to know about dyslexia

• Can cause low self-esteem, anxiety, aggression, and withdrawal from friends, parents and teachers in social interaction.

  • Do not make fun of them

• Having dyslexia can cause people to have little confidence reading, writing and speaking to others

  • Teasing them would just hurt them because it can be something they are insecure about

• Students with dyslexia, just like other learning differences, can get accommodations

  • Extra time, for example, is not because they are stupider.

    • For more time to read and effectively answer questions because they need more time to do the processing

• 15-20% of people have a learning challenge including dyslexia

  • People may not even know they have it while others are extremely affected

Works Cited

Dyslexia Canada. “Dyslexia Basics.” Dyslexia Canada, https://www.dyslexiacanada.org/en/dyslexia-basics. Accessed 14 Oct 2021.

Dyslexia Canada. “Mark it Read.” Dyslexia Canada, https://www.dyslexiacanada.org/en/mark-it-read. Accessed 14 Oct 2021.

Mayo Clinic. “Dyslexia.” Mayo Clinic, 22 July 2017, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dyslexia/symptoms-causes/syc-20353552#:~:text=Dyslexia%20is%20a%20learning%20disorder,the%20brain%20that%20process%20language. Accessed 14 Oct 2021.