Understanding Dyslexia: Challenges and Support in Education

Psychology
Dyslexia
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Psychology
Introduction
Alex is 11 years and 7 months old. He is a male final year a student at primary school and will be
heading to secondary school. It is evident that Alex is suffering from a condition known as
dyslexia.
His parents understand that this particular condition has a high likelihood to affect physical
growth and development of Alex as a child. It is evident that dyslexia is typically a learning
disorder which is highly characterized by reading challenges.
Alex condition started at childhood during speech development and was initially placed under an
intervention program for 6 months.
Its symptoms include having late talking, having to learn new phrases and words slowly and also
rampant delays during the reading of a particular text.
This condition makes it hard for children to read or learn since there exists a challenge in what
the brain of the particular child processes things like graphics symbols (Eden, Olulade, Evans,
Krafnick, & Alkire, 2016).It is also important to note that the challenge in dyslexia is a linguistic
problem and not a visual one.
In this case, we note the intelligence portrayed in Alex is in spite of suffering from this disorder.
However, Alex faces many challenges in school caused by this particular disorder
Describe features of a ‘dyslexia friendly’ school where inclusive educational practices support
individuals with dyslexia and the identified associated learning differences:
Alex school has programs features that enable students with dyslexia
Some other features include;

Psychology
 Inclusive classroom environment
 Debates clubs
 Library features like reading materials
 Technology advancement like computers
 Playgrounds special for them
In spite of him being placed in a program meant to improve his present condition, it does not
improve and shows itself during his times in schools (Gooch, Snowling, & Hulme, 2011).
Analyze historical and contemporary challenges
Alex faced this condition from childhood and past experiences. Some of the challenges that Alex
face as a result of the condition is having a continued disinterest in books, being highly sulky and
trying to avoid school work as much as possible. Dyslexia is a syndrome that brings about
various difficulties decreasing the chances of school success.it specifically affects the aspects of
reading, writing making one have short term recall difficulties and processing abilities.
This has future long term effects in his academic performance as it is seen that he performs
poorly in reading.it can also have future impacts on his communication and reading skills that are
important in the job market (Handler & Fierson, 2011). His parents are equally worried that this
condition may drag him completely down after joining secondary school. They are worried that
Alex will not have normal physical and cognitive development such as other children.
Alex has a bad attitude towards reading and interacting with peers in school since he is afraid
that they might laugh at him because of his present conditions. This highly influences his self-
esteem hence rapidly lowering his confidence to approach learning in school (Hornickel, Zecker,
Bradlow, & Kraus,2012). This might bring about feelings of anxiousness and depression in

Psychology
future.it is evident that Alex becomes quite uneasy during reading and does everything possible
to avoid reading in the classroom.
He prefers being alone making him feel discriminated and socially excluded in the classroom
setting.
He has a negative attitude towards himself since he compares himself to his peers. This makes
him consider himself as stupid and worse. This aspect can result in mental trauma. He feels that
he is worthless and cannot hence achieve anything (McBride et al 2011). This requires
psychological needs for counseling and advice. He also requires health intervention needs.
Alex has various personal strengths. He has the ability to understand comprehension easily and
can read short texts well in a silent manner. He is able to understand clearly when a particular
text is read to him thus indicating his high level of intelligence. He also has great listening skills.
Alex is a hardworking young man and puts great efforts in subjects like maths. According to the
case study, Alex performs highly in math tests. Therefore he has excellent problem solving and
reasoning skills as key strengths.
Alex has interests in solving various complex puzzles and has the ability and interest to engage
in designing model airplanes during his free time. It is a great interest which in future will bring
positive results acting as an ability and or talent (Robertson, Joanisse, Desroches & Terry, 2013).
This is specifically in relation to language-related activities (Van der Mark et al 2011). A person
suffering from this particular condition will have difficulties in sequencing, coordination, motor
skills and also visual processing abilities of large phrases and texts in a certain passage.
There are other factors like structuring of information that are problematic issues associated with
dyslexia condition. Others include organizational, having a long attention span, increased