2/26/2020 A Day in the Life of a Child With Dyslexia

Dyslexia

A Day in the Life of a

Child With Dyslexia
By The Understood Team

Meet Henry, an eighth grader with dyslexia. He’s a

sma kid, but his trouble with reading a ects
almost every aspect of his day. To see how dyslexia
can impact kids, take a look at a typical day in
Henry’s life.
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6:15 a.m.
Henry turns o the alarm, but he doesn’t want to
get out of bed. After years of being stared at and
overhearing comments about how slow and painful
his reading is, he dreads the thought of going to
school. He stayed home a few days ago because of
a stomachache, and he wishes he could stay home
again and de-stress.
Challenges related to dyslexia: Avoiding school,
self-esteem

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9:30 a.m.
Henry isn’t ready for today’s history class. He tried
to nish his homework, but reading takes so much
time and e o that he only got through a few
paragraphs. And because it took him so long to
read each sentence, he had trouble understanding
how those sentences t together. He’s listening
carefully to the teacher and struggling to take a
few messy notes. The test on Thursday is going to
be rough.
Challenges related to dyslexia: Reading
comprehension, note-taking

10:45 a.m.
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Henry is good at math except for the word

problems. They take forever to read. That makes it
hard for him to remember the details and decide
what to do with them. He often makes a simple
mistake—like switching two numbers or mixing up
the sequence of steps. So he gets the wrong
answer even though he understands the concepts.
Challenges related to dyslexia: Remembering
information long enough to use it

12:15 p.m.
It’s hard for Henry to relax during lunch. He’s either
cramming in homework or running around campus
trying to meet up with teachers for extra help.
Today he’s looking over ashcards for his French
vocabulary test. He drills and drills, but somehow it
still feels like he’s looking at these words for the
rst time. The same thing happens when he studies
for other classes. Why won’t these words “stick”?
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Challenges related to dyslexia: Recognizing sight

words, building vocabulary

1:45 p.m.
French class is the worst! Henry has trouble
following spelling rules for English—how is he
supposed to spell words in another language that
has di erent sounds? Plus the teacher makes
everyone read out loud. When Henry senses he’s
about to get called on, he gures out how to cut
class. He’s learned the hard way that it’s be er to
hide out in the restroom than to say something
rude to the teacher and get sent to the principal’s
o ce.
Challenges related to dyslexia: Learning a foreign
language, avoiding reading

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2:10 p.m.
Chorus is the one thing Henry likes about school.
Sight-reading the music is tough, but he can learn
the pieces by listening to them. And it feels
awesome when people tell him what a great voice
he has. But he worries that if he has to take another
remedial class, he won’t have room in his schedule
for any electives. If he couldn’t pa icipate in
chorus, school would be a total drag.
Challenges related to dyslexia: Anxiety, reading
music

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4:40 p.m.
Texting is stressful. It takes Henry a long time to
gure out which words his friends are abbreviating.
His trouble with reading and spelling makes it hard
for him to be pa of the conversation.
Challenges related to dyslexia: Decoding, spelling,
social trouble

8 p.m.
Henry’s grandma keeps nagging him to nish his
essay. His spelling is so bad that sometimes the
autocorrect can’t gure out what he’s trying to say.
Proofreading is hard for him too—he doesn’t notice
errors, so he needs his grandma to look his essay
over to be sure it makes sense. She’s trying to help,
but he can tell that she doesn’t always understand
how hard he tries. Sometimes she thinks he’s being
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lazy. But homework just takes him a lot longer than

it takes other kids.
Challenges related to dyslexia: Writing, spelling,
proofreading

Midnight
Henry’s main way of “escaping” his dyslexia is by
playing video games. It’s late and he’s tired. But he
needs to unwind. Tomorrow will be another long
day.
Challenges related to dyslexia: General stress
about school
About Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a common learning di erence that
makes reading hard. Dyslexia has nothing to do
with how sma someone is. It’s also not a problem
with vision. It’s caused by di erences in the brain.
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Kids don’t outgrow dyslexia, and their trouble with

reading can a ect how they behave in school. They
may act out to avoid reading out loud or to avoid
admi ing they don’t know the answer to a
question.
People sometimes misunderstand dyslexia, like
thinking kids just need to try harder. But with the
right teaching and suppo , kids can overcome
reading challenges and thrive in school and in life.
Share

About the Author

The Understood Team is made up of passionate writers,

editors, and community moderators. Many of them learn
and think di erently, or have kids who do.
Reviewed by

Margie B. Gillis, EdD is the founder and president of

Literacy How, which provides professional development
for teachers on research-based reading practices in the
classroom.

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2/26/2020
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A Day in the Life of a Child With Dyslexia

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