Uncovering the Mystery of Dyslexia
by Camilia Sadik
Reason: The reason we can't spell turns out to be that a single English sound can be spelled in many different ways.
Can read but cannot spell: Most people can read the numerous spelling patterns of the various English sounds; however, they do not always remember which of the numerous spelling patterns to choose when spelling these sounds in words.
For example, most people may be able to read the word "ocean" but when they try to spell it, they may write osion or otion or ocian or ocion or oceon or oseon or osheon or oshin or ochin, etc. This is only one example out of hundreds. Examine the following two examples of a single sound being spelled in many different ways.
1. The single sound of long "e" is spelled in these 10 spelling patterns we call phonics: The e as in me, ee as in meet, ea as in meat, ei as in receive, ie as in believe, y as in happy, ey as in money, i as in ski, e-e as in complete, and i-e as in elite.
2. The single "k" sound is spelled in these five ways: The letter k as in keep, c as in cloud, ch as in chemistry, x as in maximum, and q as in queen.
Imagine: There are thousands of words that contain the sound "k" but are not spelled with the letter "k." Without any previous logical explanations or rules, how are logical learners expected to remember to spell the "k" sound in thousands of words? The "k" sound being spelled in five ways is only one of the reasons we can't spell. Imagine having to spell the rest of the English sounds in many different ways in a countless number of words! These are brief logical answers to the abovementioned problem about the "k" sound:
1. The "k" is a minor letter that occurs in approximately 50 short words.
2. The letter "k" is not allowed in long words like in "factory."
3. The hard "ch" as in "chemistry" occurs in approximately 71 useful words.
4. The "x" is to spell a "ks" sound, as in tax=taks.
5. The "qu" is to spell a "kw" sound, as in quit=kwit.
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A Traditional Definition: Traditionally, dyslexia is said to be a condition in which a person can have difficulties learning to read or spell. Some dictionaries define dyslexia as a learning disability or a learning disorder. Those who are labeled with dyslexia may sometimes see or spell letters in a crisscross manner. For instance, they may write a word like "shipment" as "shipmetn" and "for" as "fro." Some may also see or spell words in a crisscross manner. For example, they may see "My niece is nice." as "My nice is niece."
How much is known about dyslexia? In spite of the enormous amount of money being spent on dyslexia, very little is known about it. When I approached someone who did a PhD on dyslexia, he said there was no known solution for dyslexia and thus his specialty was not in finding answers, but in conducting tests in schools to diagnose children who had dyslexia.
Is dyslexia innate or is it acquired? The commonly held belief is that dyslexia is innate, but I believe it is acquired. People are led to believe that dyslexia cannot be prevented; I believe it can easily be prevented. They are led to believe that one must accept dyslexia and manage his life around it; I believe dyslexia can be ended among those who already have acquired it.
Finally, yet importantly, people are led to believe that dyslexics have learning disabilities; I believe they do not have learning disabilities. In fact, I will prove that dyslexics are the better thinkers, the most creative ones, and the finest type of learners. I will address each of the latter points separately.
Analytic learners can acquire dyslexia: Usually, logical and analytic learners cannot memorize the spelling of words without logical explanations as to why a single English sound should be spelled one-way and not the other. Memorizers, however, can remember the spelling of words without having to have logical reasons.
When analytic learners do not have anyone offering them the logical reason that they need, they end up becoming poor spellers, and some of them will not read at all. It is not a matter of choice for them; their logical minds cannot memorize without regularity. Their brains reject such unstable spelling patterns of the same sound in so many words.
Eventually, analytic learners acquire dyslexia. I will explain how they acquire it in the following paragraphs. Meanwhile, dyslexia is acquired but only among analytic learners (learners that need logical explanations first).
Dyslexia in English: Know that speakers of other languages do not acquire dyslexia in their native languages, and this is so if their native languages happen to have one spelling pattern for each sound.
In fact, most new immigrants who are completely literate in their native tongues come to the U.S. and then acquire dyslexia in English. Moreover, they send their children to schools assuming that their children will learn to read and spell in the same way that they learned when they were back in their homelands. Most had not heard before of a child going to school, passing from one grade to another, and not learning to read or spell.
Camilia Sadik's definition of dyslexia: Dyslexia is a name given to an acquired condition wherein analytic learners can have various levels of difficulties when reading or spelling words. Usually, a person labeled with dyslexia is forced into speed-reading before learning to read. Because of hurrying, he sees letters and words in a crisscross manner, and then he ends up spelling them in the same crisscross manner that he reads them.
When an analytic learner, who only knows the ABCs, is asked to read stories before learning phonics, he acquires dyslexia.
He needs to be taught phonics with logic before being forced to read sentences and stories. He needs to read phonics with logic before reading a sentence like "My cat is cute." An analytic learner expects to see "My cat is cute." to be written as, "Mi kat iz qut."
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How is dyslexia acquired? Is there anything wrong with asking an analytic child who has just learned his ABCs to read a sentence like "My cat is cute"? All the teachers I asked said no there was no problem with this sentence and that they would continue to ask young children to read more such simple sentences in children's books.
I agreed with the teachers that memorizers would learn to read and spell "My cat is cute." However, teaching, "My cat is cute." to an analytic and logical learner who had just learned his ABCs is like committing a linguistic crime. An analytic learner expects to see "My cat is cute." to be "Mi kat iz qut." and there is nothing wrong with the way an analytic learner thinks. In fact, he is the most coherent and commonsensical thinker who cannot simply accept what he has just seen and heard; he simply questions WHY it is that English words are not written in a consistent way.
It is this WHY that makes a huge difference between the two types of learners. It is because of this why that analytic learners fall behind in class while memorizers are reading at a faster pace. Because they are so young, analytic children cannot form all the linguistic questions they need to ask; and, the number of whys overwhelms them at such a young age. They may wish to ask their teachers why the "q" sound is spelled with a "cu" in "cute" and why the "i" sound is spelled with a "y" in "my" but they cannot form such complex questions. Eventually, they become too overwhelmed with the number of questions they wish to ask, and then they decide to keep their mouths shut and put the blame upon themselves.
As a result, they continue to fall behind in class and no one realizes why they are falling behind. No one else around them knows what they have been through; even they, themselves, lose track of what is taking place. This entire episode happens so fast; it is like a quick nightmare that one forgets its details after waking up. Shortly after that, the commotion created around them and the worried parents lead these poor kids to believe they have some type of an innate learning problem. Before they know it, the testing specialists come to schools to diagnose them as dyslexics.
Their condition remains a mystery to them, to their teachers, to their parents, and even to the specialist who may have a PhD in dyslexia. It is an outrage to watch our nation's finest type of thinkers being forced to live with illiteracy and falling behind in schools. Since when was analytic thinking a defect? In time, they fall behind not only in reading and spelling but also in all other subjects that require reading and spelling. This explains why so many of the so-called "dyslexics" are very creative in performing arts that do not require as much reading or spelling.
Consequently, analytic learners become aware of the need to hurry to read faster to keep up with their classmates who are memorizers. They feel the pressure of having to read faster coming from their teachers, their peers, their parents, and from society at large. They are told to try harder and their teachers and other literacy advocates advise them to read interesting stories to improve their abilities to read.
They ask them to read more stories when these poor kids cannot yet read or spell words or certain sounds in words. Nevertheless, they continue to try harder to read as they are told. In the midst of all this pressure, they develop the ability to speed-read before learning to read. Eventually, they speed-read without seeing the way words are spelled and they may not differentiate single words like "three, tree, there, etc." Some say that words jump at them. They hurry so much that their visions travel rapidly from left-to-right and vice-versa so that they end up seeing letters and sometimes words in a crisscross manner.
When they write, they write in a hurry, in the same crisscross manner in which they read. They are in a desperate need to read slowly in order to see the way words are written. Yet, they are forced into speed-reading, and that only worsens the situation. Speed in reading or in anything is a result of a process that one can only achieve naturally; speed cannot be achieved through force.
Constantly, dyslexics think they have to hurry and then they become obsessed with hurrying. Even when asked to look at words and copy them, they hurry and may copy words in a crisscross manner. They hurry more when their teachers ask them to find the main idea in the story they are reading. Analytic learners can only focus on one thing at a time; hence, they focus highly on the main idea but not on the way, words are written. And this is the story of how dyslexia is acquired.
Typically, dyslexics focus highly on one thing and they become extremely creative at it. This explains seeing various types of creativity among dyslexics, but not among good spellers. Albert Einstein could not spell and he is a fine example of such highly focused and creative persons. Additional examples of such analytic persons are James Joyce, Thomas Edison, Agatha Christie, Robin Williams, Danny Glover, Tom Cruise, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Living an entire life with dyslexia: Some dyslexics may “get by” with reading but will have difficulties spelling the words that they read. Others may not learn to read at all. If they did not learn to read or spell by the end of third grade, chances are they are not going to learn from traditional learning methods at all. According to them, memorizing without reasons is impossible. Their minds will never open up to the way words are written without logical explanations.
Except in arts, music, and some divisions of science, dyslexics will naturally suffer in schools from low performances and low grades in the subjects that require reading and spelling words in English. They often express their sorrow from the way society looks down at them or blames them. The saddest part is that too many dyslexics tend to think society is right and that they are to blame because they did not do it right when they were little kids. Society owes them a huge apology.
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A woman came to my spelling class and said she had not accepted a promotion where she worked for 22 years, because she was too afraid they would discover her spelling problem.
After attending the spelling course, she accepted the promotion. Millions suffer from low self-esteem and many books can be written about dyslexics' heartbreaking life stories. Before the labeling of "learning disability" was accepted in schools, children were told they were too lazy to study.
Isn't time to try to make up for some of the damage done in the past? Should we keep the name "dyslexia," which rhymes with medical conditions like anorexia, asphyxia, hysteria, etc.? I suggest changing the naming of "dyslexics" to "analytics," and "dyslexia" to "analytic strictness."
Cases of ADD caused by dyslexia can be ended in a few weeks: Reading is the foundation for all learning. Obviously, a dyslexic child forced to sit in classrooms year-after-year without learning is going to be bored to the point of developing ADD; if dyslexia is prevented early enough, so are most cases of ADD. Yes, the cases of ADD caused by dyslexia can end in a few weeks while ending dyslexia. In 1998, I met Lee who was a child in sixth grade. Lee had been sitting in classrooms for six years not being able to read any words. He was labeled with dyslexia, ADD, learning disabilities, etc. Repeatedly, his parents were told he was an impossible-to-learn case. In August 1998, Lee learned to read in six days, not in six years. Lee's lifestyle changed after reading and ADD had no more presence in his new way of life. B.J. could read but he could not spell; he also recovered from ADD after studying in my spelling class for 10 days. Months later, I ran into him and his father and he said, "My grades are all straight A's now Ms. Sadik." B.J.'s overflowing energy was reversed into positive energy. Anticipate seeing a separate book written by Camilia Sadik about the life stories of those who used to have dyslexia or ADD.
Camilia's Program for preventing dyslexia: Dyslexia can easily be prevented among analytic thinkers, only if the principle of Informing Before Introducing is applied in schools right after teaching the ABCs and right before asking students to read sentences and stories. It is best to begin by placing all phonics in a queue to await their turns to be introduced logically and one-at-a-time. In Read Instantly, all phonics are placed in a queue and then introduced logically one-at-a-time and then presented in 20 or more words; the words presented must not contain any new phonic that has not yet been introduced. When dyslexia is understood and when educators know how to avoid it, it will be easily prevented.
If teachers decide to use Read Instantly, they need not change the order in which the lessons are presented; in this book, each new spelling pattern of a sound is placed in a queue awaiting its turn to be logically introduced and in a sequence of lessons. Each lesson is carefully planned and no lesson is placed there arbitrarily.
Right after learning the ABCs, teachers must inform learners of any new spelling pattern of a sound before asking them to read words that contain such a pattern. If the principle of Informing Before Introducing were practiced in schools, our children would have no reason to acquire dyslexia.
To avoid acquiring dyslexia, no analytic student should be asked to read any new combination of letters (phonic), unless first being warned about it and shown enough examples of it. For example, they need not be asked to read any words like "geography" unless they are first warned that the "ph" sounds like an "f." Using Camilia's Program, students are informed that the letter "f" is not allowed in long words and thus we have to use a "ph" in a long word like "geography."
If possible, tell learners how many words there are that contain that specific phonic; also, show them all the words by listing them on a page or a few pages. Tell and show; don't only tell. Teach all of phonics, not bits and pieces of phonics. For instance, no analytic student should be asked to read "cian" as in "musician" unless first being warned about the "cian" and then shown enough examples of it in words like electrician, pediatrician, mathematician, etc. Since the "cian" is in 18 English words, show them a comprehensive list of all the 18 words that contain "cian." Furthermore, tell them and show them that the sound of "tion" at the end of words is spelled in three major ways as in emotion, expression, and musician. Tell and show by listing the words that have:
1. "cian" as in "physician" in 18 words that refer to careers or hobbies.
2. "sion" as in "expression" is in 47 words, and there is a rule for that.
3. "tion" as in "motion" is in the rest of such words.
Therefore, teachers need to begin by teaching letters, then phonics with logic, and if possible show all the words that contain that specific phonic. Only after all phonics are introduced and learned in a number of words, should we be asking logical learners to read and write words in sentences, stories, or any other written text.
Millions are Confused!
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The following examples are to show how confusing it can be to ask a new analytic and logical learner to read words that contain letters that do not sound like their letter names:
The "a" sounds like the name of the letter A in "rain," but not in "ran" and not in "auto."
The "e" sounds like the name of the letter E in "meat," but not in "met" and not in "trailer."
The "i" sounds like the name of the letter I in "hide," but not in "hid" and not in "skirt."
The "o" sounds like the name of the letter O in "hope," but not in "hop" and not in "choir."
The "u" sounds like the name of the letter U in "tube," but not in "tub" and not in "virus."
The "g" sounds like the name of the letter G in "huge," but not in "hug."
The "h" sound in "hot" is different from the "h" sound in the "th" as in "mouth."
The "s" sounds like the letter Z as in "rose" and as in "was."
The "y" is a consonant in "yes" but a vowel at the end of words: by, happy, day, boy
The "c" sounds like the name of "c" in "cell," but like the "k" in "cut," like the "sh" in "social," and like the name of the letter "q" in "cute."
The "q" always sounds like the letter "k," not like the name of the letter "q" and every "q" is followed by a "u." Students must be informed ahead of time that every "q" is followed by a "u."
They also need to be informed that every "qu" is followed by a vowel and that the "qu" sounds like "kw" as in "quit."
The sound of the actual letters "q" is not found in "q," but in "cu" as in cute, cucumber, accurate, accumulate, cure, secure, etc.
Unless informed beforehand, analytic learners will spend the rest of their lives trying to figure out how to spell these words. For instance, the sound of "shin" at the end of words is spelled in tion as in action, or sion as in expression, or cian as in musician, or cean as in ocean.
Likewise, the sound of "shil" at the end of words is found in cial as in social, or tial as in substantial, or sial as in controversial. If such endings are introduced too soon and without presenting any logical rules that govern phonics, they can cause a young learner to think something is wrong with his ability to learn.
There are 26 English letters and 13 of these letters change and make sounds that are different from their letter names; it does not make sense to tell analytic learners that the name of this letter is "s" as in "nose" before informing them that the "s" can sound like a "z" when between two vowels. Otherwise, they may expect to see "nose" written as "noz."
A sample lesson taken from Read Instantly to prevent dyslexia:
For teachers: Inform Before Introducing these phonics made by the letter "y":
● The "y" is a consonant in the beginning of words or syllables: yes
● The final "y" in short words becomes a long "i": by, my, fly, why
● The final "y" in long words becomes a long "e": happy, history
● The final "ey" becomes a long "e": key, monkey, valley
● The final "ay" becomes a long "a": play, day, stay
● The special sound of "oy": boy, toy, joy, enjoy
● The stressed final "y" is a long "i" again: bypass
● The middle "y" can sound like short "i": Lynn, gym, gymnasium
To students: Read aloud slowly to memorize the spelling of these words:
my why by sly shy
funny happy happily carry hurry
key donkey monkey valley alley
day play way tray say
boy toy employ joy enjoy
■ The same above lesson is expanded in Learn to Spell 500 Words a Day. Every spelling pattern of any English sound has a logical rule and all the useful words that follow a specific rule, are listed and then used in a story.
Conclusion: Dyslexia is acquired but only among analytic learners, and what causes it is being compelled to speed-read before learning to read. Reading too fast, too soon causes analytic learners to see letters in a crisscross manner and eventually that causes them to write letters in that same crisscross manner.
The severity of seeing words and letters in a crisscross manner varies from one learner to another. Some dyslexics may write letters and words in a crisscross manner; others may say letters in a crisscross manner like "asked" as "aksed." Some dyslexics can read but cannot spell; others cannot read at all. Traditional teaching continues to pressure learners with dyslexia into speed-reading and into reading stories that are more interesting, hoping that, in the process, they will learn to read or spell. When the community of educators understands dyslexia, it will be eradicated within a very short time.
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©1997 Camilia Sadik. All rights reserved. Each new rule that governs phonics and English spelling, which is discovered by the author, is patented worldwide by Camilia Sadik. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher. Schools may not copy any pages or ideas from this Website to distribute to students. Please note that the books are for sale at a reasonable rate, whereby teachers and students can each use a copy.
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