五、閱讀測驗

Joseph hated school. Although he worked hard, his assignments came back covered in red marks highlightingspelling mistakes, letters written wrong, and incorrect spacing between words. He understood the subjects butstruggled with reading and writing. His grades suffered, and his classmates called him stupid. Luckily for Joseph,when one teacher heard him describe how words seemed to dance on the page, she recommended that he be testedfor dyslexia.

The word “dyslexia” comes from Greek and means “difficulty with words.” This disability affects up to tenpercent of people. Scientists have suggested a range of causes for it, including hereditary reasons. In other words,the disorder may be passed from parents to a child before it is born. Dyslexics often have great difficulty associatingthe sounds of letters with how they are written on the page—the most basic stage of learning to read. Althoughthere’s no cure, the good news, for children like Joseph, is that proper support can help. Through multi-sensoryteaching, which adds visual and tactile aids to learning reading and writing skills, students can overcome theirproblems and even excel in other areas.

Dyslexia doesn’t indicate low intellect, and many successful figures are known to have struggled with it atschool. Just look at what famous inventor Thomas Edison achieved despite his difficulties. He didn’t learn to readuntil he was seven and was kicked out of school at the age of twelve because his teachers didn’t understand hiscondition. It just goes to show that with hard work and the right support, dyslexics can go on to achieve anything.