Dyslexia and anxiety – two words that don’t always go together in the same sentence. However, when you think about it, they may be more closely related than you realize.
Think back to your school days… how many children were stressed out about tests? I can think of quite a few from my elementary school days.
How many of them had dyslexia?
I don’t know since this condition was unheard of in my grade school days, but I’m willing to bet a lot of them did!
Adults — parents and teachers… are quick to label children who do not do their assigned work, but I want to emphasize that dyslexic children aren’t stupid or lazy; their brains just work differently from other children’s which makes reading, writing, spelling, and a whole lot of other things so much harder for them.
When anxiety is experienced, it is common to avoid the causative situation as a protective response.
That’s why it is important for parents to do all they can to help their children learn at home, so when they get to school, anxiety won’t get in the way!
What is anxiety?
It’s always important to have a common understanding of the meaning of a term before launching into a discussion about it.
According to the dictionary, it is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an event that is approaching or something with an uncertain outcome.
When referring to anxiety, people often use other words like worry, concern, apprehension, nervousness, etc.
Anxiety is a normal human response to situations of stress. It is a flight or fight response to a fearful situation. If anxiety becomes out of control and starts to impact one’s daily life then anxiety becomes a problem.
Anxiety Symptoms
- Avoidance of schoolwork
- Requests to visit the restroom.
- Constant sharpening of pencils.
- Putting the head down on the desk.
- School absenteeism
- Frequent complaints of illness causing trips to the doctor only to find out there’s nothing physically wrong with the child.
- Panic attacks characterized by
- Increased heart rate.
- Increased breathing.
- Tensed muscles.
- Excessive nervousness
- More than the task generates for most students.
- Visible symptoms of physical illness when time for academic tasks
- Headaches.
- Vomiting.
- Upset stomach.
Causes of Anxiety
Children with dyslexia are under a great deal of stress. In my last article, I mentioned some things that cause this.
They face daily tasks that they find extremely difficult.
Many of those situations generate “what-if…” thinking in their minds.
For example,
- Reading time is coming up and the child begins to think, “What if the teacher calls me to read aloud and I trip over words in the passage? The others will laugh at me.”
They often have fears about what might happen if they need to do something that involves reading or following directions, etc. (whatever their area of weakness is)
They are afraid of failing, or of being judged, or feeling embarrassed.
Sometimes, they may even fear they’ll never learn or succeed at anything in life because of their learning challenges.
When these children have stressful experiences often, they start worrying in advance, the emotions can pile up. And so can the anxiety.
What You Can Do To Help
- If your child is struggling academically, and you have not yet had him tested for dyslexia, talk to the teacher and arrange for testing.
- The sooner you identify the source of your child’s trouble the better.
- Early intervention makes a big difference… now and later in life.
- Know the signs of anxiety
- The signs differ based on the age of your child.
- Help your child get a proper understanding of what dyslexia is and what it isn’t.
- Share success stories about famous people who have succeeded in spite of having dyslexia
- Help your child anticipate and defuse stressful situations
- Brainstorm strategies to lessen stress when difficult assignments are due.
- Talk to the teacher about accepting work in different forms, e.g., a recorded report instead of a written one.
- Find ways for your child to shine
- Identify a special strength in your child and help her cultivate that skill until she excels and is constantly admired for it.
Children with dyslexia are as smart as their peers. However, because of their challenges, they face more daily stress, which can lead to anxiety.
Think about it!
They have to cope with many types of struggles, setbacks, ridicule from their peers, and negative feedback from most of the adults in their lives.
This often leads to “I can’t” feelings.
This negative view of themselves will impact their everyday life.
Feelings of a lack of control are a common source of anxiety for children with dyslexia, but you can be the difference-maker in your child’s life.
What levels of anxiety have you seen in your or a friend’s child?
While the biggest challenge parents see and want to tackle is their child’s struggle with reading, teaching the child with dyslexia how to read is only part of the problem.
Parents must understand how to help their children develop the foundational skills that are needed to prepare them for learning success and help them navigate life.
That’s why I’m launching my program to help parents of children with dyslexia.
If you have a child with dyslexia and want to be a part of the program, let me know in the comments.
Florence, your writing is content-rich as always. And what an important topic! You make me recall discomforts of my early education. My brain clearly worked differently than it was “supposed to”, and this didn’t always work well with teachers’ ideas. I have many moments of wishing I could have had study counseling in school. I would like quite a few more people to discover your expertise in dyslexia and explore your work.
Thanks, Kebba, for your continued support. When I consider the discomfort my siblings and daughter had in school, I wish I could save thousands of children from that kind of stress and anxiety. Oh that the minds of parents and teachers be expanded “outside of the box” of what is considered learning.
My mother believes my youngest brother has undiagnosed dyslexia. It can be so challenging to parents whose child has challenges, especially when the school won’t investigate. I don’t like seeing children suffer. Thank you for bringing this issue to light.
When someone, regardless of their age, gets tested and is identified with dyslexia, it is always a relief. Now, there is a reason for their struggle. It is never too late to remove the uncertainty and begin the road to improved self-esteem and self-concept. Have you considered encouraging your brother to get tested?
Florence, thank you as always for a wonderful, informative post… I am also pretty certain that so many of my peers who struggled while at school might have had issues like this which were either unheard of or not diagnosed at all when we were younger.. Today, I am so glad that most of them (at least who I have kept in touch with) have figured things out, conquered their issues, and are successful but I always wonder how much easier and better their student lives would have been only if we had known then
You are correct, Vidya. I believe that life would have been less stressful and more enjoyable sooner if those people knew what we now know about dyslexia. Thank God, those who are persistent and persevering eventually work out how they learn and how to live a fulfilling life.