Highbury teen helps break Dyslexia stigma

DURING International Dyslexia Awareness Month, and in a move to help fight the stigma against dyslexia, a brave 13-year-old learner from Highbury Preparatory School, Luke Herman, has chosen to speak up for those who also tackle the learning disability head-on each day.

Luke referred to dyslexia as a journey and one that started for him when he was in Grade R at Highbury.

He really struggled to grasp the alphabet and, exposed to the phonics and sounds in the classroom, his mom, Heather, found he wasn’t as eager as his classmates to repeat the things he learned each day.

With extra help from his teacher, he progressed to Grade 1.

Daily struggles

“He was struggling to read and make out sounds and was very unhappy. He wouldn’t want to do homework and didn’t want to participate,” said his loving mom.

His teacher encouraged her to have him assessed and, on the spectrum, he was immediately diagnosed with severe dyslexia.

Luke has a language-based learning disability and, should he come across a mathematics question that involves a word problem, he needs help decoding that is being asked of him.

“I didn’t really know what dyslexia was and I just thought that I couldn’t learn as well as the other children,” he said.

Strength through support

He started Grade 2 at the school in the remedial unit. His mother said it was clear that a lot more assistance was needed and, in June during his Grade 3 year, he attended a school in America, Schenk School, for a one-month summer programme.

“It was strange at first but I got used to it and I thought it was nice there. There wasn’t a big class and we had a lot of teachers,” said Luke.

After his first day, he left the school with the biggest smile on his face.

“Mom, I can really learn,” he said.

For six hours a day, he was involved with intensive training and then finished it off with private tutoring for an hour each day.

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With the very concentrated amount of learning he needed to do, in a short space of time, he was able to build a solid foundation.

When he returned to school in Hillcrest, he did so with a facilitator to help guide him during lessons. He has had a facilitator from Grade 3 to present.

Self-belief

“I went to my parents at the end of Grade 5 and said that I would like to go back into mainstream school as I believed that I was ready for it. I felt that I had worked really hard to prove myself,” he said.

He has struggled and faced a lot of challenges along the way and was continuously doubtful of his own abilities. “I would tell myself that I was stupid,” said Luke.

Focus on the positives

Despite this, he was determined to succeed and continued to work hard and set out to achieve his goals.

“You will always live with it. Rather think about the positives and not the negatives.”

“Focus on the things you are good at and can do really well and keep doing those. If you work really hard, you will get there!” he said.

He prepares for work, sometimes weeks in advance, and, with the support of his family, continues to celebrate all of the positives.

“We have to prepare in advance and work at least five times harder than other children. I have realised that because of dyslexia I think out of the box more. There are so many other things that you are good at. If you figure out what that something is, it makes it a lot easier,” he said.

Rugby, water polo, mathematics and acting is where he has chosen to focus his positive energy and has continued to excel in those avenues.

So much so that he was offered a part in the show, Wonkaville which was unfortunately cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Forward planning

This year he will attend IPOP Los Angeles, with a national agency, for a week-long audition process to try and obtain an international agent.

“The best advice is to remind someone with dyslexia is that they can and will be successful,” said Luke.

His mom said that a lot of the hard work came from the child and, that a s a parent, you should be there to help them navigate.

“We were lucky with Luke. He was willing to work really hard each day, putting in the time and effort and building foundations to feel confident so that he could do it on his own,” said Heather.

Create awareness
Highbury Preparatory School’s HoD of Academic Support, Lea Lyle, said that dyslexia, like all learning disabilities, was not a ‘one size fits all’ diagnosis or remediation plan.

“It is as unique as each individual child is and characteristics of dyslexia can range in degree and number from person to person. Symptoms may be present from a young age or may only become evident during primary school years. A dyslexic child may display challenges in speaking and listening. They may be slow to learn their letters and sounds, show poor word attack skills, have difficulty building up a sight word vocabulary or show a slow reading rate. Some dyslexic children find organising and integrating their thoughts challenging. Their hand-eye coordination may also be weak,” said Lyle.

She noted that while the term may be daunting, it is crucial that parents and children do not see dyslexia as unmanageable.

“Dyslexic children also have a number of strengths and are generally highly creative thinkers who grow into adults with strong problem-solving skills, strategic business-minded approaches and people who see the big picture. Many argue that dyslexia is a gift and not a disability,” she said.

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