The 2022 Miss Mississippi Pageant will take place on June 25 in Vicksburg. Inverness native/Indianola Academy 2019 graduate Presley Scott Jackson is hoping to parlay her current title as Miss Delta State University and her social impact message about dyslexia all the way to winning the state’s top honor.
On Tuesday, this junior speech therapy major educated the Indianola Rotary Club about this very critical but poorly understood topic. “Dyslexia is a learning disability where there is difficulty recognizing letters, sounds and patterns,” Jackson said. “People who have dyslexia do not process language normally but have normal to above normal intelligence.”
Diagnosing dyslexia specifically most often comes as children begin progressing through school. Jackson said that children between the ages of three and five often display the normal signs of language development as they may get letters and numbers confused as part of the regular learning process.
Once children begin getting acclimated to the process of learning to read then the condition can be more accurately diagnosed. “A few of the signs that dyslexia might be present include late talking, problems forming words, and an inability to remember sequencings. For instance, if a child is learning his or her ABCs and cannot remember what comes after C, they might make up a song to help them learn their ABCs in rhythm.”
The condition also manifests itself as a disconnection between literal and figurative language. Jackson’s example was that when most people hear the phrase that a task was “a piece of cake,” we automatically think that it was easy. But a child with dyslexia would think that the speaker was describing a dessert.
Ramifications for not addressing dyslexia could be life-altering. Children with dyslexia often avoid activities that involve reading and develop social anxiety when called upon to read aloud in class. “It is a genetic and possibly an environmental condition whereby both numbers and letters can’t be processed,” she said. “It can cause low self-esteem and anxiety. It can have social and economic implications because if dyslexia is not treated, it can prevent someone from reaching his or her full potential.”
Although resources within the school setting are lagging behind the number of children who need help, there have been strategies and legislations (Americans with Disabilities Act) enacted to make sure children with dyslexia get a fair education. Classroom instruction can be modified for students by test/assignment instructions being read aloud, the instruction is broken down into smaller chunks, and audio recordings of assignments.
As Jackson concluded her remarks, she provided the Indianola Rotary Club with some true/false information about dyslexia. She hopes that one item from this list sticks with the people gathered in the room. “People with dyslexia have a very high level of comprehension,” Jackson said. “They are very creative. They are good at solving puzzles and recognizing patterns. They see the world differently. And I think that this is really cool.”
