Dyslexia Idea

Dyslexia is a language processing disorder that makes learning to read very difficult. However people I've known who had dyslexia were able to speak normally, so apparently it's primarily a problem with processing visual symbols such as letters and words.

The other day a probably crazy idea occurred to me, but it's possible that it might work. What if dyslexic children and others with learning disabilities that make it difficult to read were taught to read in Braille? Of course reading Braille wouldn't be as useful to them as being able to read written and printed words because far less material would be readily available for them, but it's not impossible that if kids were to become able to read with their sense of touch it might help their brains bypass whatever makes it so hard for them to connect visual images with speech so they could then learn to read visually.

I believe using tactile forms of regular alphabet letters may have been tried, but even adults who can read fluently would find it difficult to decipher small versions of those. That's why Braille writing was invented.

I can't be the first person to have thought of this and I'd love to know if Braille has ever been tried for children with normal vision who have dyslexia and, if it has, how well it worked.

Extra Post

I usually only post things on the blog on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but couldn't wait to share something I just heard about.

This morning at church a friend told me about a new contraption he just bought and I think other people might want to know about it. It's called a SARA and can scan and read things aloud for people who are blind or visually impaired. My friend is delighted that he'll be able to read ordinary books and even the local newspaper again.

I looked at the website of the company that makes the devices and discovered it can even convert things to Braille for people who are both deaf and blind. Here's the URL: http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/lv/sara-product-page.asp.

The one problem with the thing is the expense. It costs nearly $3,000! That means most people who would benefit from using it probably won't be able to afford one. But maybe the price will come down and as the economy improves more people will be able to benefit from the invention. Perhaps eventually schools and businesses will be able to buy them for employees and public libraries will make them available for people in their communities.

The SARA sounds like it will be extremely helpful to lots of people and I hope those who would benefit from it will have that option soon.