Dyslexia: To Be or Not To Be?

Young Reader, Credit: Kriss Szkurlatowski; 12frames.eu

I was recently outraged at a recent post regarding the possibility of dyslexia being "unclassified" as an official learning disability.  If it's not an official "problem", then all the kid has to do is try harder. That's like telling a nearsighted person to see better (Thank you for that analogy, Dr. Ned Hallowell!).

This issue very closely parallels ADHD. A child that has ADHD or is at least struggling to sit still in a school environment and deal with a lot of distractions will not get any accommodations in a public school setting unless he has a diagnosis.

Many boys struggle with being able to sit still for long periods of time and write as much as these schools want them to. Schools are designed for the way girls learn, not boys, so boys will struggle. I'm almost thankful that my son has ADHD, so he can get accommodations that every boy his age should have.

Plenty of schools (mine included) will say they have individualized plans to help every child, but they are not held accountable to implement anything unless there is a 504 or IEP in place. Even then, only the boldest of parents, that are willing to tirelessly bird-dog the schools, will see action.

Then we wonder why doctors overprescribe ADHD meds so easily?  It's an injustice, especially because many people think ADHD is a joke at best, or at worst, an excuse. ADHD is a real condition that is really debilitating for many people that actually have it.

When a kid's brain flips letters around with dyslexia, and they need to remap their whole approach to reading, it's despicable to say it's not a "problem". Oh, and hold the phone.... ADHD and dyslexia are two conditions that are frequently co-morbid (or for us lay folks, they frequently occur together).

I hope you'll join me and sign the Yale Center petition decrying this change to the DSM-5, the upcoming edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).  Just because we can't "monetize" dyslexia and prescribe medication for it does not mean that it is not a valid medical diagnosis.

My Political Party - A Deuteronocrat

Credit: Chase Anderton http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1282859

I registered as a Republican many years ago because I wanted to be able to vote in my Christian candidates in the primaries.  I have since removed that designation because the current Republican Party is out of touch with most of the middle and lower class.

I can’t go Democrat, because they are too liberal for me, but frankly, if you examine the heart of these issues, and the fact that the Democrats are looking at how they would like to be treated, they genuinely want more compassion for others, even if it is misguided. The democrats do not depend on a higher power, they just think everyone should be treated fairly. The Republicans throw the name of Jesus around as an excuse to say “God helps those who help themselves” (which is NOT a verse in the Bible!)

Now, what I find repugnant is when the Republican Party uses all kinds of words like “pro-life” and “family values” to rope in the uninformed Christian voter. Then, they refuse to acknowledge that there will always be the poor, widowed and fatherless among us. They presume that everyone has to take individual responsibility, when clearly, many among us cannot.

As Christians, we are called to take care of the poor, widowed, fatherless and foreigner (Deut 10:18), regardless of whether they “deserve it” or not. Jesus even said, "The poor you will have with you." (Matthew 26:11) The true heart of the current Republican Party is cold and rife with self-determination and crass “forgetfulness” that we are beholden to the unrepresented in our communities.

The Republican Party stopped at nothing to launch personal attacks on an incumbent President. They refuse to accept that many people, while not fully agreeing with the Democratic party, cannot buy into the fact that the Republican Party, with it’s arms-dealing, oil baron influencing, conflict of interest dallying, is NOT a trustworthy or acceptable alternative.  This is why they lost the election and sadly, they are still licking their wounds instead of congratulating the person who got the people's vote.

What we all really need to do is roll up our sleeves and start a dialogue on how we can start to fix problems and reach across the aisles despite our differences. As a Christian, it doesn’t matter who is in office now. I need to pray for them and ask God for real solutions and wisdom. And, for the record, I am proudly NONAFFILIATED!

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He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigners residing among you, giving them food and clothing. - Deuteronomy 10:18