UAEBBY Family Workshop on the Plight of Dyslexic Children

As part of its ongoing efforts to reach more people through the magic of literature, the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) recently organised a training workshop aimed at educating parents and teachers on providing the best support for dyslexic children.

The reading disorder, which can cause severe difficulty in reading, writing and spelling, can have a profound effect on a child’s education and social integration, regardless of intelligence or social background. Around 35 people participated in the workshop, which was conducted by Shereen Jassim AL Nuwais, Founder and CEO of Taleem Training and Skill Development Centre, at Umm Al Quwain Cultural Centre and formed part of the UAEBBY’s Read, Dream, Create campaign.

Organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, the workshop, themed ‘Understand Me... I Am Different’, addressed the roles parents and teachers can play in helping dyslexic children both at home and at school.

Following a brief introduction to dyslexia, its potential causes, signs and symptoms, the workshop stressed the importance of early detection and therapy, as well as the evaluation strategies used to diagnose what is medically referred to as “a learning disability that alters the way the brain can process written material”.

Meera Al Naqbi, UAEBBY's General Coordinator, said: “Read, Dream, Create is committed to promoting reading among children and young adults regardless of any challenges they may face. We enable and encourage all children, including differently-abled youngsters, child refugees and those with learning difficulties.”

Al Naqbi stressed that the campaign supports all entities which engage with dyslexic children by providing them with trainers and therapists for specialist workshops. The campaign facilitates and designs the workshops to suit the needs of those taking part, including any special support for some of the children who need help fully integrating.

Shereen Jassim AL Nuwais said: “Dyslexia is considered a neurological condition and is a specific disorder relating to distinguishing letters, words and other symbols. It is important not to mistake children with dyslexia with specially-abled youngsters or those who have been diagnosed with other disabilities such as autism, or physical and mental health issues.”

“Statistics indicate that dyslexia affects up to 10% of the global population. Medically speaking, it is referred to as a hidden disability because it affects people regardless of their intelligence levels. We are delighted to announce that we have helped 1,500 students with dyslexia at the Taleem Training and Skill Development Centre since its inception in 2014,” she added.

Al Nuwais pointed out that the signs and symptoms of dyslexia in early childhood include delayed speech development, problems understanding what is heard, mistaking numbers for letters, difficulty in differentiating the shape of a letter and the way it is pronounced, difficulties in learning new words, and weak spelling and reading abilities along with poor handwriting. However, many of those problems are evident in young children at different stages in their learning, making diagnosis highly difficult at an early age.

The workshop also shed light on some of the world’s most revered individuals who were diagnosed with dyslexia and made significant contributions to humanity in the fields of science, art and literature. These include Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric light bulb; Auguste Rodin, French sculptor; Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish inventor; Albert Einstein, German-born American physicist, Leonardo Da Vinci, Italian painter; Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor; Mohammed Ali Clay, American boxer; Agatha Christi, English crime novelist, among others.