A recent New York Times article entitled “A Good Mystery: Why We Read” brought to mind an interesting question:
Are children with reading disabilities less likely to develop a love of books and reading?
Logically, the answer should be yes. Children with Irlen Syndrome who are not diagnosed have an especially difficult time perceiving the words on the page, let alone experiencing pleasure from reading. Like other people diagnosed with Irlen Syndrome, I assumed everyone saw the print the way I did, until the question, “What do you see when you read?,” arose in my family.
Wait, you mean the page doesn’t flash for everyone?
The words aren’t supposed to gyrate? Move in waves? Swirl?
Others don’t see additional colors like blue and yellow appear around black type on the white page?
Do you mean to tell me that others can read and read and read…and it still looks the same to them?
They don’t get headaches that can grow into migraines?
They don’t experience eye-strain?
And they don’t have to constantly reread to understand a morsel of what’s written?
Even with all of this happening when I read, I still loved it. I have always loved to learn and saw books as an endless resource for learning more. I still do.
There are many books that stand out from my childhood, but my favorite was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I believe this book struck a chord with me because it opened up into a world created by endless imagination. In short, it showed me that life had endless possibilities.
As I grew older, I began to favor nonfiction works. I believe this is partly due to the fact that nonfiction works are easier to jump around in, as well as put down and pick back up frequently. Only recently did I delve back into fiction with a fantastic book, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.
Although reading has always been a struggle, lessened by colored lenses, I never stopped. Nor have I ever desired to cease the pursuit “to finish a book.” In fact, I’m currently reading Helen Irlen’s Reading by the Colors and am determined to finish it in a few days. Today, I read an anecdote from a teacher that made me smile with familiarity:
“I constantly bought books. I would read a chapter or two and then put the book down. It hurt to read, it wasn’t comfortable, and it was just too much work. Now that the colored filters have stopped the distortions, I’m reading all those books that I’ve collected over the years.” (Reading by the Colors: Overcoming Dyslexia and Other Reading Disabilities Through the Irlen Method by Helen Irlen, p. 77)
So, what do you think? Do you believe that people with reading disabilities are less likely to love reading? Or, do you think that the strategies those of us with these disabilities use give us a deeper understanding for what we read?
Are children with reading disabilities less likely to develop a love of books and reading?
Logically, the answer should be yes. Children with Irlen Syndrome who are not diagnosed have an especially difficult time perceiving the words on the page, let alone experiencing pleasure from reading. Like other people diagnosed with Irlen Syndrome, I assumed everyone saw the print the way I did, until the question, “What do you see when you read?,” arose in my family.
Wait, you mean the page doesn’t flash for everyone?
The words aren’t supposed to gyrate? Move in waves? Swirl?
Others don’t see additional colors like blue and yellow appear around black type on the white page?
Do you mean to tell me that others can read and read and read…and it still looks the same to them?
They don’t get headaches that can grow into migraines?
They don’t experience eye-strain?
And they don’t have to constantly reread to understand a morsel of what’s written?
Even with all of this happening when I read, I still loved it. I have always loved to learn and saw books as an endless resource for learning more. I still do.
There are many books that stand out from my childhood, but my favorite was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I believe this book struck a chord with me because it opened up into a world created by endless imagination. In short, it showed me that life had endless possibilities.
As I grew older, I began to favor nonfiction works. I believe this is partly due to the fact that nonfiction works are easier to jump around in, as well as put down and pick back up frequently. Only recently did I delve back into fiction with a fantastic book, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.
Although reading has always been a struggle, lessened by colored lenses, I never stopped. Nor have I ever desired to cease the pursuit “to finish a book.” In fact, I’m currently reading Helen Irlen’s Reading by the Colors and am determined to finish it in a few days. Today, I read an anecdote from a teacher that made me smile with familiarity:
“I constantly bought books. I would read a chapter or two and then put the book down. It hurt to read, it wasn’t comfortable, and it was just too much work. Now that the colored filters have stopped the distortions, I’m reading all those books that I’ve collected over the years.” (Reading by the Colors: Overcoming Dyslexia and Other Reading Disabilities Through the Irlen Method by Helen Irlen, p. 77)
So, what do you think? Do you believe that people with reading disabilities are less likely to love reading? Or, do you think that the strategies those of us with these disabilities use give us a deeper understanding for what we read?
