Family

Living with dyslexia becomes a family affair whether you are the child or an adult. According to Betty Osman, parents need strength, imagination, and many resources to cope with a child with a special need like dyslexia. It is extremely important that parents develop an in-depth understanding of what their dyslexic child needs in order to learn successfully. This enables parents to understand their child's needs, monitor their educational progress, and advocate for their child in school and other social settings. It is important that the person with an SLD becomes comfortable with understanding their needs enough to accept it and teach others about this "hidden" disability through self-advocacy for their success and for the success (in academics, vocations, and society) of future persons with SLDsRichard Lavoie stresses that children with a learning disability such as dyslexia need to be prepared for a new situation, and the situation needs to be prepared for the child. He cites an example where a young boy with dyslexia joins Little League. Of course the parents could not foresee that the baseball field would be a situation in which their son's learning disability would be tested. However, when the coach was reviewing the rules of the game from the handbook, he asked the boys to take turns in reading the rules. When it came time for the young man with dyslexia to read, he adamantly refused. Consequently, the coach said he could not be on the team. Although in the end all was straighten out, the whole event could have been avoided, if something had been mentioned to the coach prior to the first practice.

When addressing the issues of dyslexia within the family, it is important for siblings of the dyslexic child to understand why their brother or sister learns differently. Because the self-esteem of the child with dyslexia is extremely fragile, it is crucial that any competition, particularly academic, is not encouraged. This, however, is a difficult task to achieve, for there is a natural tendency for siblings to compete with one another.

Oftentimes, the adult dyslexic also has difficulty in admitting their learning disability to their children. The depth of Susan Hampshire's sadness is illuminated as she describes not being able to read her son a bedtime story and having to create stories of her own when she wanted to share this special time in her son's day. When she attempted to read a Christopher Robin story her son would correct her, "No, Mummy that's not right, that not what happens there. Have you missed a bit?" Understanding how dyslexia effects you and subsequently your family is important. The Dyslexia 2000 Network provides information about dyslexia including an adult dyslexia checklist and a list of the learning styles of adults with dyslexia.

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