‘Why is My Bright Child Struggling in School?’

By Kimberly Hudson

If the question above is one that keeps you awake at night, your child’s struggles may be a result of dyslexia.

Dyslexia and other language processing disorders cause bright people to struggle. Why?

Good readers activate highly interconnected neural systems in three regions of the brain.

This intricate system is tightly bound together and stored.

Skilled readers activate certain regions in less than 150 milliseconds. But when that processing center is delayed, the automaticity is lost.

This causes over-activation of one area of the brain and under-activation of the remaining two.

At first, bright children can learn to compensate, but given time and increased complexity of reading material, this ability is swallowed up by the monster preventing your child from activating neural pathways required for successful spelling and reading.

One day, my 10-year-old daughter broke into a cold sweat and had red blotches appear all over her body.

She was crying and felt sick to her stomach. Why?

She had spent hours working on a homework packet, and it became an insurmountable mountain.

The issue morphed into this scary beast that she felt was about to swallow her.

As a parent I was puzzled by this scenario because my daughter’s test scores indicated she is gifted in math.

As a professional, I know her dyslexia just made her math packet morph into a scary beast that was about to eat her.

If you are puzzled by your bright child’s academic struggles, please join us on Monday, April 29, 6-9 p.m., at The Lexington School at 1050 Lane Allen Road.

The Curious Edge is pleased to present Susan Barton, a nationally recognized expert in the field of dyslexia.

This is an ideal opportunity to hear a leading dyslexia expert share the symptoms, explain intervention techniques and review classroom accommodations that are necessary.

Parents, teachers and other professionals are welcome.

Register online: www.thecuriousedge.com.