TCKs and dyslexia
My daughter Jessica is a TCK and has dyslexia, which was particularly challenging while living abroad. I had suspected "something"was going on when she was in first grade, but her then-teacher could not see any evidence. (Jessica worked very hard on hiding it...). After three more excruciating years, plus all that comes with an undiagnosed learning disability, Jessica was finally diagnosed. A teacher picked up on her daily struggles, saw the huge discrepancy in Jessica's intelligence and her reading and writing skills. She told us about her suspicion and that she thought it could only be beneficial for Jessica to get tested. Yes! Jess was all in right away and within six weeks (instead of the normal three months) we got her diagnosis. The struggle was finally over and Jessi's first words were "So, I am not stupid" which broke my heart!
Finally, she was able to get all the support that she was supposed to be given for a learning disability. The challenge was to find the best way to ask for it, because the level of understanding what dyslexia actually is changed from teacher to teacher. In the end, Jessi asked if all the teachers could be to a meeting with her and her class teacher in order to get everyone on board having the same kind of information. Jessica understood what her rights were, what support to ask for, and how to best ask for it. From that moment on, she got all the assistance, help and support she needed in that school. It was amazing to see the change: her stress went down, her grades went up, her confidence grew!
Many more school changes followed and with every move, she had to fight for her rights, for the support and for the adjustments, for example to grade her school work. Jessi is the best advocate for herself and others. In the boarding school where she spent her high school years (Stanstead College in Canada), she took it again into her hands to inform the teachers about her dyslexia challenges and how they could help her. Again, she found great support and was able to study well. Jessica has meanwhile graduated from high school, undergrad, grad school, finished both degrees a year early (yeah, Jessi) and is in her third working year. I
n 2019, she gave a TEDx Talk about her dyslexia which is called: "The power of misspelling your name" and you can watch here:
https://www.ted.com/talks/jessica_lozano_schmitt_the_power_of_misspelling_your_name
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If you suspect, your child might have a learning disability, please keep on trying to figure out what it is and continue knocking on different doors! You just need to find the right person to assist you. This can be a teacher, as in Jessica's case, a school counsellor or a psychologist. The year long-suffering for children with undiagnosed learning disabilities can result in mental challenges due to the extended time of being labeled as "stupid". The results are low self-esteem because of constant negative feed back, bad grades as well as unkind comments from other students and often teachers. It can produce a downward spiral which can end in mental illnesses like anxiety and depression.
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I gained various certificates from "The Landmark School" (Boston) because I wanted to find out more of how I could assist my coaching clients. The seminars included "Cognitive neuroscience of dyslexia", "Executive function" and "Dyslexia in the classroom" amongst others. This allows me to educate and inform TCK children and their parents about the background of dyslexia but most of all what to watch out for when looking yet again for a new school, college or university.
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If you're feeling frustrated seeing your child without getting the necessary support while you are living abroad, please let me know. It is in my mission to lessen the suffering for TCKs with dyslexia. I will help your teen gain her or his confidence back, heighten her or his self-esteem back, feel less stressed and more confident while living with dyslexia.
Contact me for a free 30-minute session and tell me how I can support you and your family.
For your information, Landmark School near Boston is a great possibility if you would are looking for a boarding school that caters specifically to children with dyslexia. There is lots of information on their website:
https://www.landmarkschool.org/about-landmark-school
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And here are some dyslexia websites that I find very helpful:
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https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/​
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https://dyslexiaida.org/definition-of-dyslexia/​
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https://www.wizcase.com/blog/useful-apps-for-kids-with-dyslexia-and-learning-disabilities/
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​https://disabilityadvice.org/child-disability/