Dyslexia
By Harry
Brennan
What is Dyslexia?
 Dyslexia
is a learning
difficulty.
 This means it makes it harder
to spell, read & write.
 Dyslexia can be severe or
mild
Explanation……..
 It’s
not that you can’t
understand things……it’s
just that you can’t make
out words when they are
written down!
Welcome to the world of
Dyslexia……………..
How Dyslexia can affect you?

Dyslexia can affect these parts of your
life………but it doesn’t need to!
What does the word Dyslexia mean?
 The word Dyslexia originates from the
2 Greek words
 “dys”
meaning difficult
 “lexia” meaning language.
Lots of people have studied dyslexia
but the word Dyslexia was first used in
1887 by Rudolf Berlin in Germany
 It was used to describe when smart
people find it difficult to read

Who gets dyslexia?
 Only
humans
can have
dyslexia
because only
humans can
read!
How do you get dyslexia?




Dyslexia is not contagious you
are born with it.
It is genetic, you get it from
your genes
Genes decide everything about
you like your hair & eye colour
It’s not just 1 single gene,
there are several involved
You should be told
if you have dyslexia!



I think it is important for a child with
dyslexia to know that they have been
diagnosed with dyslexia.
It can be stressful not being able to read &
not knowing why.
It can make you angry if you have to read
out loud in class. You hear everybody else
reading perfectly & when it’s your turn you
trip over the words 
How is a dyslexic persons mind
different?


The minds are
similar but they are
still different.
The dyslexic persons
mind is a little less
organised but
probably more
creative
The dyslexic brain

The brain of a
person with
dyslexia is a
small bit
different to
the brain of a
person without
dyslexia
How to find out if you
have dyslexia?



You can test for signs of dyslexia from
ages 4 or 5
The only way you can find out for sure if
you have dyslexia is from a psychologist.
You have to do different tests like……
Matching things
 Memory questions
 Making images
 Lots of reading
 Some spellings

Getting Diagnosed
You can get properly diagnosed with
dyslexia after the age of 7 because
that’s when you should be learning
to read
 Some people only find out that they
have dyslexia when they get older.

Shane Lynch from Boyzone
was only diagnosed with dyslexia
in his thirties
How would you know if you
might have dyslexia?
Different people are affected by Dyslexia in
different ways
Some of the symptoms can be …….





The words on the page get bigger & smaller
You make a lot of spelling mistakes
You say the words backwards
When you are writing you only use easy words
The tricky words like ‘their’ & ‘there’ confuse
you
How common is Dyslexia?




Dyslexia is very common.
There are usually several children in
each class who have dyslexia
About 10% of people have some sort of
dyslexia
Dyslexia is oddly more common in boys
than in girls
Should you be
embarrassed?
Dyslexia
can be annoying & it
does make life harder but so do
other things
If you have Dyslexia it is not
the end of the world & there is
no reason to hide it
 Dyslexia
never goes away,
you have it for life
 It just means you have to
work a little bit harder &
learn some tricks to help you
along the way
(especially phonics rules)
You can have dyslexia but it doesn’t
have to have you…… if you fight
back…….
Strengths & weaknesses
We all have different strengths &
weaknesses
 A person with dyslexia might find
reading & writing hard, but there are
still lots of things that they can do
really well such as….

Sport
 Music
 Art
 Physical work
 Be good with animals

Advantages of having dyslexia
It is likely that……..






You are better at inventing
You have a better imagination
You see things differently
You are more ambitious- have get up & go
You can think in pictures instead of words
You are more mathematical than other
people
Helping yourself 





There are lots of practical things that a
person with dyslexia can do to help
themselves…………
Use a ruler to help keep track of where you
are on the page when reading
Use highlighters to show important
information
Use coloured overlays (Blue & green are best for most people)
Photocopy onto whatever coloured paper you
feel works best for you.
Use the font Comic Sans MS & use as big a
font as you can







Use joined writing as it oddly helps with your
spelling
Use a computer programme which will read the
writing for you like Read-Write-Gold
Learn how to type because the computer tells you
when you have made a spelling mistake
Maybe use fish oils & try not to eat sugary foods
with colourings & fizzy drinks to help you
concentrate
Try to keep your things organised
Pick books you are interested in reading to help
keep your concentration
Make sure to ASK FOR HELP if you ever need it
Famous people with dyslexia
Sports stars
Movie Stars
 Musicians
 Artists
Dyslexic authors
 Dyslexic
Business People
Bill Gates
Sir Richard Branson said “ If I
hadn’t been dyslexic, I would never
have done it”

He had to try harder in school so that
when he was older he could cope with
difficult situations in life
 Inventors

World Leaders

Chefs
Albert Einstein






Einstein was one of the smartest people in the
world even though he had dyslexia.
He was born in 1879 in Germany
The first time his grandmother saw him she is
supposed to have cried & said ‘Much too thick’ 
From a young age he like to do maths & science.
He left school at 15 & moved to Milan with his
family. He did another year of school there & then
studied in Switzerland to become a maths &
physics teacher.
He came up with lots of important formulas &
theories the most famous being E=mc2
Dyslexia Detector app


This ipod & iphone app
asks you questions about
when you are reading &
writing
At the end of the
questions it then says if
your dyslexia is bad,
medium or mild or if you
don’t have it at all
(We don’t know if this
actually works?)
Where to find help…..
 Here
are some helpful websites
 www.dyslexia.ie
 www.elsp.ie
 www.nbss.ie
(National Behaviour Support Services)
And some helpful books….



“All Children Learn Differently: A
Parent’s Guide to Dyslexia” By DAI
“Dyslexia An Irish Perspective (2nd
Edition)” By Mary Ball, Anne Hughes &
Wyn Mc Cormack
“Lost for Words-Dyslexia At Second
Level & Beyond” By Wyn Mc Cormack





“Living With Dyslexia:Information For
Adults With Dyslexia”Anne Hughes,
Mary Ball, Rosie Bissett & Wyn
McCormack
“Tom’s Special Talent” By Kate Gaynor
“It’s called Dyslexia” By Jennifer Moore
Mallinos
“Jenny Can’t Read”
“The Advantage Of Dyslexia”
Dyslexia never goes away but
you can overcome it!
Thanks for
listening 