There is no quick fix to dyslexia. In fact, there is no fix at all. Dyslexia is just a different perspective on the world, not a problem to solve. A quick search of Google will show you that some pretty impressive people are gifted with the creative outside-the-box thinking of dyslexia.
Still, we all wish there was a quick solution for teaching our kids to read, write, and spell.
In the last few months, I have picked up two books proclaiming that they had found a way to quickly teach dyslexic children to read. One was written in the 1970s and the other in the 1990s. Some of what they said rang true to modern-day research and some of it had been disproven many times over.
As I read through their promises, I wondered: If they had truly found the fix 50 years ago, why are kids today still struggling with reading?
If these methods had truly been a magic pill then 68% of 4th graders in this country wouldn’t be behind grade level in reading. What’s more, I wouldn’t be blogging on this topic, and you wouldn’t be searching the internet for answers.
I get nervous when I hear people professing that they can get kids caught up in just a few short sessions. I wonder how they can promise that without first meeting the specific child in question, evaluating her, and understanding her challenges.
I also get a bit nervous when I hear people professing that their program has solved the mystery. There are plenty of unknowns and plenty more research studies to do.
Have we gotten better at teaching dyslexic kids? Absolutely!
Should we use the best and most efficient ways to teach our kids? Of course!
But by its very definition, the Science of Reading is not something we can solve. Science is a process of asking a question, hypothesizing, testing, observing, interpreting, and then using those interpretations to ask new questions, make new hypotheses, and test new ideas. As a result, a strong dyslexia program should be shifting, updating, and adjusting as we learn more about the Science of Reading.
This is hard. It will not happen overnight. Some kids will struggle for many years despite the best interventions.
The strength it takes to keep practicing the same thing over and over for years while wondering when it will actually click is heroic. You haven’t failed your child because the quick fixes didn’t work.
You deserve a stamp or a coin or mountain in your honor for the dogged determination you have to just keep reading the same lame readers day in and day out and so does your child!