Dyslexia and Language Learning: Challenges and Opportunities

 

Are People with Dyslexia Doomed to Struggle with Foreign Languages?

It is a common belief that students with dyslexia inevitably face difficulties when learning foreign languages. Indeed, many dyslexic students encounter challenges at school with second languages, so much so that in some middle schools, they are even offered exemption from these subjects—a highly debatable option that can cause significant issues later on.

Why Choose a Specialist Laboratory for Neurodivergences

Recently, I met several new families interested in beginning a tutoring path with us. It is always stimulating to hear their perceptions about the tutor's role and the expectations they have for our laboratory.

To Diagnose or Not to Diagnose: That is the Question!

As a tutor, I have often faced parents of children and adolescents with neurodivergent disorders, SLD (Specific Learning Disabilities), or ADHD, who are reluctant to disclose the diagnosis to their children. Their reasons vary: fear of labeling, concern about making them feel different, belief that they are too young to understand, and worry that the diagnosis might be used as an excuse not to try.

Learning: What Fun!

It is a real pleasure to observe a group of kids trying to solve a thrilling detective case: amid laughter and concentration, they collaborate to find clues and discover the culprit. Pride and joy at having solved the mystery are evident on their faces. But, more importantly, while having fun, they are learning.

The Timeline

This week I worked several times with timelines. The investigative group from the course "Learn Like Sherlock Holmes" used a timeline to solve a complex case. By reconstructing the sequence of events and the times precisely, the kids could assess alibis and get closer to the truth. The timeline proved to be a precious ally to sharpen critical thinking and solve a complex problem.

What Does Neurodiversity Mean?

Imagine a world where all brains were wired the same way, where thoughts flowed following identical patterns and experiences were universally uniform. It might seem like a scenario of maximum efficiency but devoid of everything that makes our existence special: creativity, innovation, and diversity of thought. Luckily, reality is quite different: our brains are as unique as our fingerprints, each with its strengths and specific challenges. This extraordinary variation is what we call neurodiversity.

"The Best Compensatory Tool is a Good Teacher" – Giacomo Cutrera

Last week, during two different meetings preparing training sessions, I reflected on the role of teachers for students characterized by neurodiversity. Teachers play a fundamental role in the lives of all students, but for those with neurodivergences, their influence can be truly decisive.

It’s Report Card Time

This year, summer seems unlike the usual one. Temperatures below average, frequent rain, and occasional weak sun make us doubt it’s really mid-June. But if there is something that truly marks the arrival of summer, it is the end of the school year. With report cards and the end of lessons, summer officially arrives for students! A moment full of emotions, between joy, relief, and sometimes disappointment.

Processing Speed

My younger daughter now studies law and often complains she needs the same time to study twenty pages that her friend uses to study a hundred! But she doesn't get discouraged: she is very aware, studies five times more, and manages very well.

Mathematics and Executive Functions

When performing complex math exercises, one must engage mental processes that plan, organize, monitor, and evaluate one’s work. First and foremost, working memory is constantly challenged. It is necessary to keep many pieces of information in mind and simultaneously use them: all steps of the problem-solving method, formulas, partial results, and previously executed steps. If working memory is inefficient, there is a risk of getting lost halfway through.

iPad: Effective Tool or Disappointing Expectations?

By now, it is widely known and repeated everywhere that neurodiversities are not diseases and therefore cannot be cured. So why do people expect that, like an antibiotic against a bothersome bacterium, simply "administering" a compensatory technological tool would solve all problems?

Beyond the Fear of Making Mistakes

Over the past year, I have often thought about how important a good relationship with students is in tutoring, which allows working more easily and effectively. I am even more convinced after starting to work with a 13-year-old girl, whom I will call Sara, who struggles a lot with mathematics.

A Simple To-Do List

On Wednesday morning, I had the chance to observe one of the boys I follow at his workplace. Elia (a pseudonym) is twenty years old, an apprentice in commerce, and besides a brilliant mind, is characterized by evident ADHD and rather limited working memory.

Who Needs Maps?

The claim that “maps are for students who don’t want to study” is a great example of contradiction in terms. Those who say this probably do not know there is a big difference between a cheat sheet and a map!

The Study Method: This Unknown!

When we talk to older students, we discover that the top ten of their goals is dominated by the frantic search for their own study method, which they believe would magically solve all their school problems. Now, the question I ask myself is: who should guide students in this difficult but necessary search? And what are they actually looking for?

A Biomedical Engineer with Dyslexia

The end of the school year is always a tough period for everyone. First of all, for “our” students who have had to work harder than others to achieve their goals. Some made it, others must postpone this moment and hold on a little longer. It is a challenging time also for families, teachers, and us tutors, who must support the students’ journeys all the way, even when it is uphill.

The Mind, Paper, and Screen

Last Sunday, I was literally dragged to the Triennale of Milan for an event within the Book City festival: "Annotate." Designer-writer Riccardo Falcinelli spoke about the ancient yet contemporary gesture of annotation, while illustrator Andrea Serio created one of his wonderful drawings live on paper. A “magical” atmosphere that did not prevent me from swiftly returning to my field when Falcinelli mentioned declarative and procedural memory...!

Mathematics with a Stopwatch

Another thing I don’t understand is all this rush: math teachers seem obsessed with time! They seem like many race judges equipped with stopwatches, only focused on time-outs!... Wouldn’t it be better to try to do things well with a little more calm? But instead, from elementary school, they start with timed calculation races and continue with very long tests in just one hour... What a rush, kids! And then we should not get anxious about math!

Checking the Tests

Evaluating the school preparation of students with SLD is neither easy nor straightforward, and if done superficially, one risks seeing lanterns where there are fireflies. Two young dyslexic individuals who animated our evening, Giacomo Cutrera and Francesco Riva, repeatedly expressed this deep feeling of injustice in being judged incorrectly: lazy when they had studied, indifferent when they were interested.

Resilience and Fragility

Today, the word “resilience” is so overused (often improperly) that it has become somewhat annoying to me. Before psychology adopted it, it was simply a technical term indicating a mechanical property of materials: the ability to resist shocks, absorb energy, and deform without breaking.

Goal: Homework Completion

Completing all homework is one of the biggest worries for students and parents. In elementary school, the interlocutor is generally just one, but in middle school, things get complicated: individual teachers assign homework for their own subjects without much consideration for the overall weekly workload. Hence, from a general concern, homework can become a real nightmare for students and families.

A Journey of Awareness

Combining tutoring work with my interest in mathematics has been natural for me, an engineer by training. Supporting dyscalculic students in understanding and managing this subject has been a continuous challenge over the years.

So Much Effort!

When I went to school, summer was infinitely longer. At the beginning of June, we were already eagerly awaiting the last bell announcing those endless holidays. The first month was wonderfully pleasant: waking up late, hanging out with friends, time flowing without commitments and deadlines. Then came the beach holidays, awaited like a promise of adventures and new friendships. When the end of August arrived, we started thinking about school, which would begin only on October 1st.

How Hard It Is to Take Notes!

“I can’t take notes during the lesson!” I have heard this phrase many times as a tutor, and I have read much hidden frustration between the lines.

Reading with Ears

A mother watched us for a bit and then remarked: “You are lucky to have a child who loves reading!” We looked at each other and burst out laughing, leaving the unaware lady rather perplexed. Before that moment, how many hours had I spent reading books for him? And many more years later, for his sister?

Please... Draw Me a Horse!

In tutoring, it often happens to highlight the implications of ADHD in schoolwork, showing that incapacity and laziness are unrelated. I find this image effectively illustrates the effects of inattentive attention, fluctuating motivation, and difficulty in pacing one’s energy throughout a task; despite evident abilities, what happens when strength runs out?

Reflections on School

In the early 2000s, in Ticino, the discussion about dyslexia was vague and confused. I was part of a pioneering association with Fabio Leoni, Feliciana Tocchetto, and a few others. Cantonal guidelines were not yet issued in 2014, and teachers could even deny the existence of Specific Learning Disorders.

Kids Who “Suffer” from Dyslexia

If there is one phrase that really makes me angry, it is: “he/she suffers from dyslexia.” Yet, if you google it, 47,000 results come up. Do you really suffer from dyslexia? Some dyslexics don’t suffer at all, and those who do, is it really the dyslexia that makes them suffer? It is not dyslexia that causes suffering but ignorance (meaning lack of knowledge) from the non-dyslexic world.

Neurodiversity and the World of Work

Next week, I will talk about neurodiversity and work to some apprentice trainers, and for this precious occasion, I must thank the city of Lugano and the ADAT association. To prepare for this important meeting, I have reflected on all the apprentices with SLD and/or ADHD I have met over the years and thought deeply about the factors that determined their success or failure.

Fairies, Magic Formulas, and Wrong Goals

At more or less regular intervals, dubious proposals for “miraculous treatments” appear, promising to transform the “ugly duckling” into a swan and, listen carefully, in a short time with little effort! I learned to distrust these promises early, based on two simple considerations.

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