DYSLEXIA IMBI?

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-09

[00:00:10]Fore 23578 Facebook.

[00:01:03]Thank you so much.

[00:01:07]and the educationist from county.

[00:01:17]Thank you.

[00:01:17]>> A very good morning. Maybe you can introduce yourself before we start. I am Clarice Jackson and I'm from the United States in a state called Nebraska and I'm a national dyslexia expert, advocate and literacy um awareness trainer. before I left dyslexic childhia awareness in me through art Maybe we can start with M Jackson.

[00:02:11]Please would you tell our listener what exactly is dyslexia?

[00:02:18]>> Great. I'm glad you asked that question.

[00:02:20]Dyslexia is a language processing disorder. So what that essentially means is it's trouble reading, writing, and spelling. So you have trouble manipulating the sounds of words and blending words together to make the word. And it affects children, youth, and adults all across the world in all different languages and dialects. It's just not specific to English. It happens in all languages. So you will have children who are unsuccessful in school and oftent times unfortunately misdiagnosed or mislabeled and told they are lazy that they are stupid that they have intellectual disabilities or cognitive disorders when in fact that is not what it is. It is just simply a learning difference. And so I have traveled all the way to Kenya to make sure that I support Lucy and this Lucy as well as they endeavor to raise awareness about what dyslexia is and isn't because there's a lot of misinformation and a lot of children are suffering because of that.

[00:03:32]>> Maybe you can add uh uh what uh how does dyslexia differ from other learning disabilities? Dyslexia differs from other learning diff learning differences because number one it is not an intellect issue. So it has nothing to do with how smart you are. A lot of people who have dyslexia are very bright individuals. Um but they just struggle to read. They can see a word on one page and then the very next page it's like they've never seen the word before. And so it's just uh uh the way that they their brain interprets language. And so they have to be taught in a way that is multi-ensory that is structured and that follows a scope and sequence so it builds upon the next. And so teachers have to be trained in that methodology of teaching in order for them to respond correctly. If not, you will have children who will never read a properly. And then what that does to them socially and emotionally is very hard, very detrimental. They will internalize and believe that they are somehow incapable, stupid, or something that is wrong with them. And it does a lot of damage to their self-esteem. And so it's very important that we all acknowledge that dyslexia is in fact real that it has nothing to do with how smart you are and we start addressing it in our schools whether government, private or or homeschool because children really need the support. And once a child understands the way their brain learns how to read and they are taught in the way that works, they are great. They have great success >> and their self-esteem changes.

[00:05:23]>> And so it is the difference between [clears throat] um life and death essentially. When I say that I mean there's human rights that we all must have. There's basic human needs which is having a place to stay, eating and water. Reading is right next to that and that includes dyslexia.

[00:05:42]Without reading, >> you can go any you can't go anywhere in the world. And so we must make sure that we are helping children who are dyslexic and not ignoring them and guessing. We have to take the guesswork out of it.

[00:05:55]There's so much information and research out there across the internet. There is a way you teach reading that works for dyslexic children and we must ensure that anybody who educates a child understands how to do that. Dyslexia is not a uncommon learning difference. It is very common. So one out of five students in a classroom will have some form of dyslexia. And it runs on a continuum from you can have a very mild case to a very profound case. And so anything in between there and so we need to ensure that we are educated and equipped to teach them >> so that they learn. And there are many many worldwide known individuals who have dyslexia. Some of the world's most prominent people this the iPhone.

[00:06:49]>> Yeah.

[00:06:50]>> Steve Jobs is dyslexic who created this.

[00:06:54]And so, uh, Octavia Spencer, who played in the movie The Help, the singer Usher, >> the singer Sher, um, Muhammad Ali, >> all of these individuals have dyslexia.

[00:07:07]And they've gone on to be very, very successful. And so, we must empower our children first to understand what dyslexia is, >> what it is not, to show them successful people who have had it, so they understand that there is no limit to what they can do. and then make sure that educators, ministries of education, kay all of these places have the understanding and can offer support and resources to families, children and educational centers.

[00:07:37]>> Okay, thank you so much. And before we get into details, maybe in no exactly what is dyslexia?

[00:07:46]Yeah. [cough and clears throat] Oh my >> dyslexia condition.

[00:08:23]So very common dyslexia.

[00:08:50]Yes.

[00:09:01]Dyslexia. Is that accurate?

[00:09:10]Maybe. How bad is the is it? Thank you so much. [clears throat] Approximately it's a research >> approximately 20% of the awareness is very low.

[00:09:38]These people are and especially the proper support.

[00:10:09]I think the proper supported performance.

[00:10:27]It is not up to date in that aspect.

[00:11:01]So in the process is in a fighting mood.

[00:11:14]in the process.

[00:11:23]developmental issues.

[00:11:33]So it is true quite a number of our learners are or even people have got dyslexia. Yeah.

[00:11:42]>> Okay. to you Miss Jackson maybe you can tell us if this is a condition that someone have to live with it for long life or maybe they can get treated and get well >> so dyslexia is a if you have dyslexia you will always have dyslexia but that does not mean that you won't be successful um if or when it is determined that you have dyslexia and you begin to use a very structured program, a child will have great success, but there will always be times when um they may need to reread something a number of times versus someone who is non-dislexic who can just read it one time. But there are many successful people. Um Tyler Perry has a um a man on his show in the United States called Zatima >> and his name is Amir Baraka and he's a friend of mine and he is dyslexic and so he's very successful. However, what he has noted is that when he is reading his script for the show, he has to get his script two weeks ahead of time and he has to practice it well in advance and then he's well prepared for um the scene. So, it just may take you a little bit longer um to get uh the words right.

[00:12:59]However, you can be very very successful and it's hereditary. So, it runs in families. So if you are dyslexic um nine times out of 10 someone else in the family has it or will have it as well.

[00:13:11]>> Is it a vision problem?

[00:13:14]>> Not at all or because people may think that it is a problem that someone may be seeing the letters backwards.

[00:13:23]>> No, that's a myth and I'm glad you brought that up because many people think people who are dyslexic are reading backwards or that um they are somehow cognitively slow. It has nothing to do with intellect. It has to do with how the brain processes language and normally um language comes from the left brain and um we have to activate it in the brain by the way we teach which kind of rewires it from a learning perspective so that it ignites the left side of the brain which is where reading and all of that normally happens. And so it it it has nothing to do with vision.

[00:14:01]M >> now people who are dyslexic just like anybody else may need to wear glasses because they literally have a vision problem but vision does not have anything to do with dyslexia.

[00:14:28]Yeah. Let me just uh let Clarice Yeah.

[00:14:32]that >> um about the vision.

[00:14:35]>> Yeah.

[00:14:36]>> At one time um I got an advice from a friend.

[00:14:41]>> Yes.

[00:14:42]>> Uh who advised me to go for those lenses for my child >> because I thought it was a vision problem.

[00:14:53]>> So we went all the way to Nairobi and >> some type of grasses. that really costed a lot of money around 20,000 >> Ken sharing >> and it did not change it did not bring any change in my my son dyslexic condition. Yeah.

[00:15:28]Mhm.

[00:15:48]Mhm.

[00:16:09]Mhm.

[00:16:21]So is not a vision issue. Yeah.

[00:16:33]Is that one [clears throat] human beings?

[00:16:59]anybody that condition. So that one is a myth.

[00:17:25]All that is misconception.

[00:17:28][clears throat] Exactly.

[00:17:50]It's a it's witchcraft and so forth. But it's not true. Anybody is a candidate. Yeah. Maybe to clarify.

[00:18:21]in the society.

[00:18:41]Maybe to you, Miss Jackson, you can tell us h the early stages of the condition because maybe we may be having a parent somewhere who has a child with dyslexia, but they don't know. How can they detect earlier?

[00:18:58]Some of the earlier signs uh that a child has dyslexia would be very slow, choppy reading, um struggle sounding out words, um a refusal to even read because it's so frustrating for them. Um there are some other things that are not necessarily tied to reading per se, but still are signs that maybe dyslexia is rearing its ugly head. um trouble tying shoes, directionality issues, so knowing their left from their right. Um so they'll reverse letters beyond first grade like the letter R or the letter um P and D, B and Q, those type of letters, those are things that are reversed for them. Um really frustration um with the whole reading process. And so where a child um a regular child who has doesn't have dyslexia, well, they'll get done with a a homework assignment or translating from the board to their paper in a very quick time. And a child who has dyslexia, it will take a very very long time and they may never finish. M >> so they're probably not going to always get done with their tests, especially tests that have a lot to do with reading in the um regular amount of time that a traditional student without dyslexia would have.

[00:20:40]Correct.

[00:20:59]The cereos.

[00:21:14]Yeah.

[00:21:19]M. Okay.

[00:22:02]So what can I do? Mhm.

[00:22:17]Yeah.

[00:22:36]With time.

[00:22:39]sickness.

[00:22:52]Yeah, it is. And they fake sicknesses.

[00:22:55]They do things. They they blade the pencils so that they are not going to write.

[00:23:10]Okay, thank you so much for that.

[00:23:14]>> Let me hand a little bit.

[00:23:17]>> Yeah. uh concerning signs >> so that can also hear >> that um when the child takes long in speech >> in talking >> for example to expect we expect a child to speak at maybe a second year >> is fluent and then you find that this child has taken longer >> that one is a sign >> a parent should have some questions in the mind what could be happening with this child.

[00:23:51]>> So that could also be a sign that there >> before now he goes to school to be the teacher to realize that this child is not able to write and and read.

[00:24:06][clears throat] some steps. Number one.

[00:24:44]Mhm.

[00:25:06]maybe three sentences.

[00:25:12]Three sentences.

[00:25:14]One sentence after some minutes.

[00:25:29]A lot of patience with this child a good step something positive even if it is very minimal.

[00:25:41]Let the parent acknowledge >> clapping it is enough.

[00:25:48]>> Patting the child on the back it is enough. that one.

[00:25:56]>> The same case even in schools bit of bit of work environment. The environment at home and in school should be very conducive for this child. So that the child then the self-esteem the self-esteem goes up. So teachers in school let us see these children. Let us value these children.

[00:26:47]Let us see that they are doing something.

[00:26:52]We are acknowledge them. We we also grab for them >> and um rewind is not money for it is >> very good. You have done well >> and so the child will feel good.

[00:27:11]something else.

[00:27:24]The child will read at his own pace because he's reading differently. He's standing differently with others.

[00:27:32]When these children, they going to appreciate this child. And even you will find It is a task that this child has been done has been given.

[00:28:11]a very good relationship with the teacher. Keep on contacting the teacher.

[00:28:21]Yes. Maybe to you Miss Jackson. There is a question here. Maybe you can answer.

[00:28:27]Someone is asking. We often hear about a dyslexic thinking being a superpower.

[00:28:34]What are the common cognitive strengths associated with it such as creative problem solving or or 3D thinking and you can combine with how can the workforce benefit from the lateral thinking and innovation that dyslexic individuals often bring to the table.

[00:28:54]>> I'm glad that question was was asked. I want to be careful with that and I want people here to be careful with that particular statement. Dyslexia is a superpower.

[00:29:05]>> Um in the United States um and even here as I've I've done work here across Nairobi and and and um at the Kenya Institute of Special Education where we've had a couple of trainings >> um dyslexia people who have dyslexia often have strengths that are counter to the weakness where they're more weaker in reading. So you will find people who are very creative, very artistic, very innovative, um very athletic and that that is in fact true that you will find people who are that way. But uh for a lot of people who have dyslexia, um it's it's in fact counterproductive to say that it is a superpower >> and it's when you have no privilege. For those who are more privileged, who come from money, who come from access and resources, um then dyslexia is not as harmful or traumatizing when it goes unressed. So for those individuals, they would absolutely say it is a superpower because they have the access to get the help, the tutoring, the specialized schooling that they need in order to be successful. and then they can concentrate more on the creative, the artistic, the athletic side of things.

[00:30:21]For people who are environmentally poor, um, don't have as much access in a school system that does not really understand dyslexia, then dyslexia does not feel that way to them. It feels, um, like a curse. It feels like kryptonite, if you will, like Superman, you know, you put the kryptonite on because it's it's wearing something that is weighing them down and they may not have the understanding for it. So, I think um there are there's actually um an organization that does a lot of great work. It's called Made by Dyslexia and it's out of London and they have coined dyslexia is a superpower and I know the founder of that uh it's Richard Branson's organization and they've got an executive director named Kate Griggs a wonderful woman and so she has done a lot of great things around dyslexic thinking and all of that and so those attributes absolutely do exist however we have to balance it out with what is happening generally for most people and for most people the challenge of dyslexia and the misunderstandings and the myths and the access and the resources supersede getting to that point. A lot of those people that end up um with the understanding of, hey, I've got these other gifts, they don't find that out till later in life. And so, if you were to ask them, they would not necessarily say, this is a superpower.

[00:31:43]It's a wonderful thing to have. They would say, "School was hard for me. I didn't want to go. I didn't want to read. I was bullied. Uh children thought I was stupid. My teachers called me lazy. And so for those children who are typical, >> it is not looked that way.

[00:32:00]>> That makes sense.

[00:32:01]>> Yeah.

[00:32:01]>> And Lucy, maybe are these children accommodated maybe in environment or places that have other children. Let's talk about children now having the condition. Are they accommodated where maybe we have for example a school that has a child with dyslexia and other children without the condition. Maybe to say the truth.

[00:32:49]>> Yeah.

[00:32:50]>> Uh what happens in our school >> is totally different.

[00:32:57]>> This child is kept at the back of the class.

[00:33:00]>> Mhm.

[00:33:12]catch up.

[00:33:29]Just give him busy work.

[00:33:33]>> Yeah.

[00:33:39]>> In our public schools.

[00:34:02]behavior problem punished.

[00:34:35]Yeah.

[00:34:47]I helped with the time out of school.

[00:35:01]Yeah.

[00:35:03]At work places.

[00:35:06]I grew it in a condition.

[00:35:20]Okay.

[00:35:30]Very difficult time. Yes.

[00:35:40]And so you find that very difficult time.

[00:35:58]And so that is why Yeah.

[00:36:04]It's not only for a small child.

[00:36:08]So themselves they going to tackle their work. Yeah. Miss Jackson, maybe h you can tell us how people maybe colleagues, friends, and people around h these people who have the condition can support them maybe emotionally.

[00:36:38]Yeah.

[00:36:39]>> How?

[00:36:40]>> So, um, great question.

[00:36:43]But can I back up just a minute? I don't know exactly what she said when she was talking about uh the workplace, but what I wanted to share with that if I if I could >> is that when people who have dyslexia are in the workforce, you're not going to be able to tell that these people have dyslexia right off. We they they're very common people. There's no physical disability. There's they're very highly in intellectual. I could be dyslexic and you wouldn't know it because you cannot tell by someone having a conversation.

[00:37:12]But in fact, that is a sign. If you're having a conversation with someone and you cannot suspect anything wrong with them, >> that person could have dyslexia >> because it has nothing to do with how smart you are. So, a person who is in the workforce is going to be um as far as verbal communication and interaction with other people will be perfectly fine. The only way you would probably figure out that there is something that has characteristics of dyslexia if you were to read something they wrote or typed. There would be some spelling issues possibly or if they were having to read to you and then when they read they may be slower or something of that effect. Outside of that, they're very normal individuals. It's only going to show up in their reading, writing, and spelling >> if it's in the workforce. But to the counter part of that, when we went back to dyslexia is a superpower, you're going to have a lot of pluses that come with someone who is dyslexic. So for the workforce, I want to make sure that we don't leave viewers with these people are unemployable or they're a um they're a detriment to the workforce. They are very positive contribute contribution to the workforce and they are otherwise as normal as you and I outside of the struggle in the written and the spelling arena. And with accommodations and AI and all of the things that we have today and and spellch check and all of that, they will be very productive in the workforce. In fact, they may thrive there because of the other abilities that come forth that um supersede the lack and the weakness in that particular area.

[00:38:56]>> And one last thing I would like to add um is that I want to make sure that every viewer understands that dyslexia is not a mental illness. If you are a part of an educational system or um anyone that you go to for help and they want to send your child to the hospital for dyslexia or to send your child to a psychiatrist for dyslexia, they do not have um the worldwide view and understanding of dyslexia and that is absolutely wrong. And so I want to make sure that we dispel that because it's happening a lot here.

[00:39:31]>> Yeah, we just have five minutes.

[00:39:36]Maybe your story behind this awareness briefly found sorry not a disease not a disease so you understand >> okay um Kenya >> so far so good >> there is some positive awareness >> through groups. Groups groups >> number two.

[00:40:16]>> Mhm.

[00:40:24]>> People living with disability.

[00:40:26]>> Mhm.

[00:40:28]>> Yes.

[00:40:31]Legal action. 2025.

[00:40:34]>> Mhm. Among those people living with disability of which is happening so much to if I take a child to a school they will do a interview if he or she doesn't qualify.

[00:41:06]They may not agree to take that in their school.

[00:41:24]Neuron diverse >> running training organization professional dyslexia Kenya needed a certificate course.

[00:41:44]>> Mhm.

[00:41:45]>> She was there when it was launched at Mount Kenya University. Yeah.

[00:41:55]>> So you can see there is something going on now in Kenya >> that we can say >> it is recognizing >> the child. My story >> very briefly.

[00:42:34]brighter than the others.

[00:42:42]Very creative.

[00:42:48]But I went to the thank you to internet that is where I got [laughter] >> I met Clarice on the internet Facebook >> 2018 and other so that is where I got the word dyslexia da and d search >> I've been advocating for my son throughout changing schools from one to another almost Um right now I can say I'm very proud of my son.

[00:43:24]>> He's now in college.

[00:43:25]>> Thank you so much. Unfortunately we have our time is up there briefly to >> kindly let me touch on teaching.

[00:43:36]Let me appeal that.

[00:43:45]Identify the signs in these children.

[00:43:49]Identify then take time with them.

[00:43:55]>> And also, methods of teaching every child.

[00:44:04]So the system of education CB which is touching every it it is it is actually nurturing every learner's potential that maybe this child is good at there is a talent that this child has it has got it is encouraging methods of teaching it on every child in our crowd. Let us approach in the classroom touch every child in that classroom. They change methods of teaching so that this child will feel also also encouraged in the in the school. Now let them not see that children as learners.

[00:45:08]>> These children are just take time. They are time takers very patient with them.

[00:45:15]>> Eventually they will reach where God has planned them to reach.

[00:45:19]>> Yeah.

[00:45:19]>> You want to add something briefly?

[00:45:21]Second, >> I would just like to thank uh the viewers for listening. If there's information about dyslexia that you don't understand and don't know about and you are uh suspecting that the information that possibly you've been given by someone, do your own research.

[00:45:36]Um there's plenty of information out there about dyslexia, dyslexia has had information about it since about 1970, if not longer than that. And so, um, there's a lot of misinformation and there's a lot of accurate information.

[00:45:51]Make sure that it's just evidence-based.

[00:45:54]And I would say, um, that we need to be careful about labeling children, period, that affects their identity. And so, be sure before you put a name on a child that you lack that you have the understanding, especially when it comes to dyslexia.

[00:46:08]>> Okay. All right.

[00:46:13]Yeah.

[00:46:15][laughter] Mhm.

[00:46:43]The pain of course.

[00:47:19]It can be anybody.

[00:47:21]>> Yeah.

[00:47:21]>> Yeah.

[00:47:22]>> You have an event tomorrow and you people are not talking about it.

[00:47:25]>> Yes. I was about to say [laughter] you need to you need to mention that. Please tell them where you're going to be for more information.

[00:47:33]>> Yes. conducted by our guest Jackson gate.

[00:48:01]Mific welcome you again here in Kenya and when you go back USA.

[00:48:33]Absolutely.

[00:48:58]TV.

[00:49:09]>> [music]