EDUCATION

This month, we look at how dyslexia affects children, as well as the best tips for minding kids’ mental wellbeing through the school term.

MINDING TEENS’ MENTAL HEALTH THIS SCHOOL YEAR

We look at some helpful tips for parents of teens on how to mind kids’ mental health through this school year.

School is one of the most important places where children learn and grow intellectually, socially and emotionally. While it’s been wonderful that children have been able to return to a healthy school environment this year after the pandemic, change can also be challenging, especially for older kids.

COMMUNICATION CAN RELIEVE STRESS

Helping your child manage school stress is all about communication. It can also be helpful to consistently talk with them and get a sense of how school is going and any tensions that may be troubling your child. Are they concerned about making new friends? Are they feeling overwhelmed by homework? Is there something new that may be causing anxiety, like dealing with a locker combination or who to sit with in different classes?

REASSURANCE GOES A LONG WAY

Sometimes just being able to talk about those details and expressing any worries in words can go a long way to helping a teen who's feeling anxious. Talk to your teen about your own experiences moving through secondary school and any difficulties you had and how you overcame it. Doing this will let your child know that they are not alone in the situation, that it's normal to find things tough sometimes and that there are ways to get through it. Most importantly, remind your teenager to stay flexible and be open to the possibility that their feelings may change over the course of the year. Don’t forget to let them know that it’s okay not to feel okay. Consider these tips to help manage your teenager's mental health this school year:

Be aware, positive and supportive

Be alert throughout the year to recognise any ongoing concerns or anxieties and keep the lines of communication open. It’s best to maintain a positive attitude when you discuss school and encourage your child to do the same. This fosters a healthy atmosphere around the idea of school and helps teens to frame challenges in a better light.

Manage stress

Practice relaxation and learn new skills to manage stress. Explore how relaxation, mindfulness or other stress management techniques, such as yoga, can calm the mind. Several free classes and mental health apps are online. Many of these skills are portable and can be used anytime, anywhere.

Set and maintain a normal daily routine

Encourage your teen to aim to wake up and go to bed as close as possible to the same times each day. Remind them to stay hydrated, try to keep up with a healthy diet and focus on getting physical activity, as a healthy body helps maintain a healthy mood and mindset which is crucial for everyone, but never more so than through the turbulent teenage years. Some people may struggle with more significant mental health difficulties, so if you believe your child needs additional resources, be sure to speak with a paediatrician or another health care professional for advice.

DYSLEXIA IN CHILDREN: AN INTERVIEW WITH THRIVE

With Dyslexia Awareness Day taking place this month, we talked to Sonia Singhal, the Lead Assessment Specialist at Thrive Wellbeing Centre, about this learning difficulty that affects so many children.

The start of the new school year is always nerve-wracking; everyone is adjusting to new schedules and getting back on their feet. While this can be exciting, it can also highlight the various difficulties kids may have when they are reading or writing. As children start new classes or new stages, parents and teachers might begin to notice a child struggling with academic skills. If these difficulties are significant and persistent and appear to be impacting a child’s ability to keep up with their classmates and their grades, it may be a sign of a learning difficulty. Dyslexia Awareness Day takes place in October and with this in mind, we spoke with Sonia Singhal, lead psychoeducational assessment expert at Thrive Wellbeing Centre, Dubai, to get a more thorough understanding of the difficulties that dyslexia presents.

What are your qualifications and experience in this area?

I am the Lead Assessment Specialist and a Counselling Psychologist at Thrive Wellbeing Centre, Dubai. I am a CDA Licensed Psychologist in Dubai and a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (California). I hold an M.Ed. in Psychology from Columbia University in New York and have 18 years of experience conducting psychoeducational assessments and assessments for children and adults. I also provide individual and family therapy and I hold a special interest in attachment theory and family systems. I am passionate about supporting children and adults in overcoming difficulties and improving their emotional wellbeing and relationships with others.

What is dyslexia and what causes it?

Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent reading and spelling. Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, reading speed and reading accuracy. Phonological awareness means being able to recognise and manipulate the spoken aspects of sentences and words. This includes the ability to identify words that rhyme, recognising alliteration, segmenting a sentence into words and identifying the syllables in a word. Dyslexia can occur across the entire range of intellectual abilities and is not caused by or indicative of problems with intelligence. Most children with dyslexia can succeed in school with tutoring or a specialised education program. Sometimes dyslexia goes undiagnosed for years and isn't recognized until adulthood, but it's never too late to be evaluated and to seek support.

What are the symptoms?

There are a variety of signs that a child is struggling with dyslexia, including: • Phonological skills: problems with basic phonological skills such as difficulty learning the letter sounds or mixing up the letter sounds

• Issues forming words: problems forming words correctly, such as reversing sounds in words or confusing words that sound alike • Difficulty expanding vocabulary: learning new words slowly • Word differentiation: difficulty seeing similarities and differences in letters and words

• Confusion with pronunciation: inability to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word

• Difficulty reading: this includes reading aloud and slow and labour-intensive reading • Lower reading age: the child is reading well below the expected level for age • Difficulty spelling: this includes letter reversals, such as ‘b’ and ‘d’

• Difficulty translating from print to speech: this could include tracking, decoding and word building • Understanding: difficulty with reading comprehension • Slow to finish tasks: spending an unusually long time completing tasks that involve reading or writing • Task avoidance: this could be any activities that involve reading

As per the DSM 5 (which is the standard reference system for classifying and diagnosing difficulties and disorders, as used by global professionals), the official diagnostic term of Specific Learning Disorder with Impairment in Reading refers to difficulties with word reading accuracy, reading rate or fluency and also reading comprehension. It’s important to note that a child who is diagnosed with a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) is not necessarily dyslexic; however, dyslexia is the most common SLD and the word ‘dyslexia’ is a term used to refer to a pattern of learning difficulties characterised by problems with accurate or fluent word recognition, poor decoding, and poor spelling abilities.

At what age do the symptoms of dyslexia typically manifest in children?

Symptoms of dyslexia typically manifest during the elementary years, when a child starts to read. This is often around the age of 5 or 6 years old, but symptoms can be missed until the child is much older.

How can a parent or teacher tell the difference between the normal process of a child learning to read and write, versus the early signs of dyslexia?

Many children have some difficulty with learning to read and write. However, if a child’s reading levels persistently remain below their grade level expectations and they continue to struggle to make the expected or average progress in reading skills, despite formal education and interventions, this can indicate a learning difficulty.

If a parent or teacher suspects that a child may have dyslexia, what course of action do you recommend?

If a parent notices that their child might have reading difficulties, they should discuss this with the child’s teacher as soon as possible. If a teacher has concerns, they should notify the parents and discuss the necessary steps involved in the evaluation process. Many schools utilise dyslexia screeners as an initial way to identify possible symptoms of dyslexia and then refer the child for a psychoeducational assessment. The assessment should be completed by a qualified professional to obtain an official diagnosis, in order to implement the appropriate and most helpful interventions at school.

What can a parent do to help support a child with dyslexia?

• The first step is to understand and take care of your own feelings regarding your child’s diagnosis so that you can be the most helpful caregiver throughout this process. • Ask questions and have conversations with psychoeducational professionals and educate yourself about dyslexia so that you are well informed and as prepared as possible • Take all the support that you can get, from family, friends, school systems and anywhere else that you find helpful. • Talk openly with your child about dyslexia, in an age appropriate manner, and discuss the support that they will be getting. • Make reading fun and focus on topics that interest your child. Involve your child in choosing what they want to read. • Try different modalities such as audio books, comics and magazines, to add variety to how your child is reading. • Make reading a family event and take turns reading and acting out parts. • Play word games, make up stories, use flash cards - try different activities, not just traditional book reading. • Reinforce, celebrate and reward any efforts your little one has made in reading.

For children whose dyslexia is not identified until they are older, what is the psychological effect on the child?

The longer a child with dyslexia goes without appropriate diagnosis and intervention, the more likely it is that they will continue to fall behind academically and this might result in a loss of interest in their studies and an increased sense of failure and low self-esteem related to academic performance. This can also lead to difficulties with self-confidence and social skills, psychological difficulties such as depression or anxiety, or additional behavioural difficulties at home or at school.

If a parent or teacher misses the early signs of dyslexia, how should they look to help an older child?

It is never too late to seek support for dyslexia and the first step would be to follow through with an assessment and then implement age-appropriate interventions. Additional educational support can be provided at home, in line with the interventions that are being provided at school. Parents should focus on reinforcing and enhancing the child’s strengths and talents, in order to encourage the child to feel successful despite their academic difficulties. This is an important step in developing a positive self-image and can be very important for confidence and self-esteem.

How can Thrive help children with dyslexia and support their parents?

Thrive can support children with learning difficulties by conducting assessments and providing therapeutic or even psychiatric support, if needed. We work with children and adolescents aged between 3 and 20 years old. We can support your child with any behavioural, emotional, and social challenges they have. Our expert psychologists use a combination of talk therapy, art therapy, and play therapy. We also collaborate closely with parents who need support and with teachers to offer guidance in supporting the child at home and at school.

What is the importance of Dyslexia Awareness Day?

Dyslexia is a widespread challenge that can impact school grades and cause social and emotional issues in children such as low self-esteem, depression and anxiety. Dyslexia Awareness day is crucial because it highlights the progress that has been made in how this difficulty is perceived and understood. Although biases may still exist, there is a much greater appreciation, recognition and understanding of the experiences that individuals with dyslexia face. Raising awareness also improves the likelihood that people may feel more encouraged to get a diagnosis and treatment, safe in the knowledge that there is support and interventions available and accessible to them. I would also like to highlight the importance of obtaining a formal assessment from a qualified professional to get a diagnosis and not relying upon self-diagnosis, media trends or online diagnostic options. This day is important because it raises awareness of dyslexia and chips away at the stigma of this struggle. If you have been affected by this information and suspect that you or your child might be struggling with dyslexia or any other learning difficulty, we advise you to talk to a professional psychoeducational assessor to get the best support available. For more information about the work done by Thrive Wellbeing Centre and the services they provide, please visit www.thrive.ae